Lectio Divina - Broken Bay Institute

Lectio Divina Praying the Scriptures in Lent and Holy Week 2011 Year A• There was a clear distinguishing of the competentes from the baptised:those who were thirsty hot and dry longing for the washpool of the font(Augustine likens them to “As the deer longs for fl owing streams, so mysoul longs for you, O God” Psalm 41) and those who have been alreadyplunged once and then drunk again and again, of the water of life thatis Christ–in–Eucharist. Each has their role, but there is a particularchallenge for those already baptised. Lent calls the Faithful to ask are weliving out our baptism by drawing others to long for the fl owing streamof faith and be baptised? Do we stand in solidarity of prayer and witnesswith those candidates who have asked for Baptism in our parish? Do weregard the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults as the primary form ofevangelisation in our local community? Lent challenges us to spread ourfaith on the seas and rivers so that all can come to knowledge of Christ.• The competentes were examined to see if their wish for Baptism wasunderstood as necessitating a change of lifestyle, to the radical morality,justice and mercy of Christ. With photos of the past fl ood cleanup still infront of us, we can feel the relief when mud slimy and smelly is gurneyedout and the pipes and gutters run with clear water. We are told to boilthe drinking water, lest the invisible e-coli invades our system withdebilitating disease. The life of a Christian in Hippo was meant to beradically different from the pagans. They were to cleanse themselves fromthe dirt of sin and take precautions against the disease of temptations.We too are called to be counter-culture, swimmers against the tides ofeconomic dominance, of gender, racial and status discrimination, ofimpatience, scandal, notoriety, of false gods and of self-indulgence.• Lent was marked by particular observances, and we still use the term“Lenten Disciplines” to highlight the purifying nature of the season. Thecompetentes and all who could, fasted, restrained from sexual intimacyand bathing, and gave serious time to prayer and listening to catechesis.Our culture might cringe at the thought of not bathing, but the emphasisin Augustine’s teaching was on simplicity, on frugality, on cutting backto essentials, so that those heading to baptism would be freed from oldnon-Christ habits, and those already baptised could reshape themselves,“dry-out” from addictions which kept minds and hearts from responding toGod’s love. Hydration has been the buzz word of the past decade. Not onlyin sales of bottled water, but in classrooms, clinics, offi ces, factories andfarms, the current wisdom stresses that regular, clean water intake is vitalfor wellbeing. It is such a simple thing (in our Australian society wherewater is generally clean and available) which cleans out toxins, maintains15