Home » Mind & Soul » Scriptural Studies » The Spiritual Reading of the Scriptures: An Overview

The Spiritual Reading of the Scriptures: An Overview

© alberto esmeralda

The "Spiritual" Reading of the Scriptures (also known as "lectio divina") is the way by which the community of faith (the Church) reads the Scriptures. The aim of this reading is contact with the Word of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, who is also the fullness of God's Self-Revelation. It is an intelligent reading of Scriptures: it is an "informed" reading in that it respects the human dimension of the sacred text (its historical and cultural setting, its the literary nature, the mode of thought and language of the human author). At the same time, it is also a reading done in "faith," that is, while respecting the human dimension of a biblical passage, it is open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, the primary author of Scriptures, the One who has made it "Holy" Scriptures.

A General Overview. This article and the articles that will follow it will explain this characteristic manner of reading the Scriptures. The principles which guide this reading are anchored in the Church's understanding of the "Word of God" which is not primarily a text, but a "Person." Further, such principles came to light slowly through the centuries, unarticulated at first, beginning from the time when the gospels were written (in fact, the written gospels derive from such a "reading"), and then, in an articulated form, through the Fathers of the Church. The Doctrine of the Catholic Church regarding this manner of reading is contained in the New Catechism of the Catholic Church, and formulated in the language of "Dei Verbum," The Church's Constitution on Divine Revelation.

The Reason for this Series of Articles. In explaining the "Spiritual Reading of Scriptures" I have in mind two objectives. The first is to help the Church in encouraging the faithful to continue reading the Scriptures. With the Second Vatican Council, a new impetus was given to the personal study and reading of the Scriptures. The interest in biblical matters that the Council awoke in the faithful is now evidenced by the fact that there are more and more Catholic lay people who are involved in Bible ministries. Basic Christian Communities have sprung up around the practice of reading the Scriptures, thereby changing even the face of the Catholic Church and giving it a new meaning for the word "ministry." Prayer retreats and recollections have become more biblical in climate, quite different from the "philosophical" retreats of days gone by. This must be encouraged, and I hope that this series of articles on the Spiritual Reading of the Scriptures would help the bible-reading Catholic appreciate better what he or she is already doing.

The copyright of the article The Spiritual Reading of the Scriptures: An Overview in Scriptural Studies is owned by . Permission to republish The Spiritual Reading of the Scriptures: An Overview in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.