Let's return to Mary of Bethany. She Was listening to the teaching of Jesus. She had reflected on it and responded to it, and now she was communing with it and resting in it. The four moments of relating to Christ through the external word of God are all designed to awaken us to the interior word of God, the divine presence that has always been there. It is waiting for us. We can be awakened to it by listening at ever-deepening levels to the word of God.

As a result of listening to the Person of the Word beyond the visible presence of Jesus and his speech, she was "being assimilated" to God. In other words, she was becoming the word of God. This is the dynamic process of lectio: it changes us into the word of God so that we become a kind of fifth gospel by manifesting in our time and place the values of the Gospel to the people we know and love. Above all, we make tangible the presence of Jesus living in us in his glorified body and through the Holy Spirit. Our minds and hearts and all our other faculties have been refined over time by the process of lectio so that they are now habitually docile to the movements of the Spirit.

There is another aspect to becoming the word of God that is important. It joins together contemplative prayer and contemplative service so that one is resting even in the midst of activity. This is to do what God does. God is always at rest and always creating at the same time, and yet beyond both.

Contemplative prayer, however profound, is not the perfect reflection or full manifestation of God. Nor does action, however effective from a human point of view, manifest God. It is only when the two are habitually working together that we have made significant progress. At that point we become an apostle in our very being, not only in what we say or do. We are apostles in the sense of being immersed in the infusion of divine love that the apostles received at Pentecost, which is the way the early fathers of the church understood it. We transmit the Gospel more by who we are and how we love than by any other means. All rituals, prayers, and sacraments further this transforming movement so that we can be Christ in every moment. Then we manifest the infinite tenderness of God whether we are sleeping or awake, eating or walking down the street, doing household chores or counseling. Such persons pour into all their relationships and even into the atmosphere the energy of divine love and compassion.

With regard to the dynamic process of Lectio Divina, the four moments of relating to Christ at the center of the circle are the focus of each period of lectio. When we take up the Scriptures and begin to read, we may stop after the first line or even after the first word. Normally, however, we read a passage and pause when we feel an attraction to a particular sentence or phrase. It is not a question of thinking about the text, but of simply thinking the text. This gives the Holy Spirit the chance to teach us how to listen to the particular text at ever deeper levels as well as to move with great ease and freedom to other moments on the circle of Lectio Divina to which the Spirit may attract us.

That is why to do lectio in common is not the traditional way of doing Lectio Divina. The very nature of Lectio Divina is its spontaneity or unstructured character. Whenever we partake of any kind of prayer in common, there has to be some structure. Lectio in common is a way of sharing the word of God. It can be extremely supportive and inspiring, but Lectio Divina is primarily designed for private consumption. The Spirit then deals with each of us where we are in our life of prayer right now. This is not possible when we are reflecting on the text, responding to it in prayer, or resting with it in silence for a specific period of time, normally for a couple of minutes. This is a good practice for getting acquainted with Scripture for those who have little knowledge of it, and with the members of the prayer group. It is also a good way to prepare for the Sunday liturgy.

Now let us look at one other great practice that brings us into the presence of God. In the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy we hear about four presences of Christ in the Eucharist.

The first presence of Christ in the Eucharistic Liturgy is the gathering of the assembly. "Wherever two or three people are gathered together," Jesus promised, "there am I in the midst of you." So before the priest makes any gesture or even greets the community, Christ is present. This first presence has significant implications for ecumenical gatherings. It means that at least at that point everyone is united in Christ. Where did he come from? Where did he come from when he visited the apostles on the night of his resurrection and appeared suddenly in their midst, despite locked doors. Perhaps he came out of their hearts where he was living already! In any case, when as a community we come to a eucharistic celebration, we are united in Christ. The mysterious but real presence of Christ in his glorified body emerges from the community as it gathers for prayer before the participants have said a word.

The second presence identified by the council fathers is the formal proclamation of the Gospel. Perhaps you have seen processions to the lectern in which the Gospel book is held over the head of the deacon and there are incense, bows, and other rituals. According to the document of the council, Christ is present in a special way when the Gospel is proclaimed in the worshiping assembly. In view of this, the Gospel should not be proclaimed by anybody who happens to pick up the book. Liturgical readers are encouraged to prepare the text and read it in such a way that the presence of Christ is transmitted through their voice, demeanor, and understanding of the text.

It was through this presence that St. Anthony of Egypt received his monastic vocation. He went into a local parish church one day and heard the Gospel text, "If you want to be my disciple, go and sell all you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me." He understood these words to be addressed directly to him. The Gospel, when it is proclaimed, addresses the heart of each individual person in the assembly. There is a message for us each time it is read.

The Gospel when it is proclaimed has the characteristic that the apostle Paul called a word of wisdom. A word of wisdom is not just a wise saying. It can be a casual remark or even a joke, but it resonates in one's heart, and one knows intuitively that God has spoken. It may suggest that it is time to change something in one's life. Maybe there is some reconciliation that needs to be attempted.

A thousand years after Anthony, St. Francis of Assisi heard the same text. He too went out and sold everything he had. If the message goes to your heart, you can be sure you can do what it says. That is the specific difference between an exhortation and a word of wisdom. We have a lot of good ideas that we would like to carry out. There are lots of self-help programs that might help us. But a word of wisdom is empowering and according to this text of the council, is available whenever the Gospel is proclaimed. The reception of the divine message normally depends on the minister to communicate the power that is there. That is part of the mystery of redemption. We are invited to share in the mystery of Christ's redeeming passion, death, and resurrection.

The third presence noted by the fathers of the council is the eucharistic prayer in which the glorified body of Christ becomes present on the altar. Christ who is present in the community and in the proclamation of the Gospel becomes bodily present in the Eucharist and gives himself to the community as a whole.

The fourth presence takes place when the presence of Christ on the altar is communicated to the community one by one. This is the way that personal redemption takes place. Redemption is not mass produced; it happens one person at a time. As each member of the congregation receives Communion, the glorified body of Christ enters into his or her inmost being. The species of bread and wine that are brought forward at the Offertory represent ourselves, indeed the total gift of ourselves like Mary of Bethany's total gift of herself. God wants us, not so much what we can do or what we can say. During the time that the sacred species of bread and wine are subject to the digestive process we are physically the temples of the glorified Christ. Notice the ascending levels of presence, the movement from what is external and general to what is most intimate and particular.

Unfortunately, the council fathers did not go on to the fifth presence. Although it is implied in the document, it is not explicit.

What is the fifth presence of Christ in the Eucharist? It is the presence that Mary of Bethany attained through the dynamic process of listening in Lectio Divina and of assimilating and being assimilated by the Word of God. The Eucharist received in Holy Communion awakens us to the permanent presence of Christ within us at the deepest level. The Eucharist, like the Word of God in Scripture, has as its primary purpose to bring us to the awareness of God's abiding presence within us. In these five presences of Christ we find the same movement towards union with God that we noticed in Lectio Divina.

Contemplative prayer, of course, has the same movement. It reduces the obstacles to the transforming energy of the Eucharist so that we can manifest in our attitudes and behavior the living Christ within us. As Jesus said, "He that loves me will in turn be loved by my Father; and I will love him and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21). This text refers to this fifth level of presence. A contemplative practice is not dissociated or separate from the dynamic movement of lectio and the sacraments. If we do not have a discipline to reduce the obstacles in us to experiencing the presence of God, the full power of the sacraments are diluted and do not achieve their full potential to transform us. That is why some people can receive Communion every day for years and remain unchanged. They do not make a serious effort to face the obstacles in themselves. They crave security and power, affection and esteem, and unstinting approval. If one person dislikes them, they may have to go to a rehab center for a month to recover. They demand to have control over everything and everybody in their lives. They are upset if somebody opposes them even in trivial details. Perhaps you know somebody like this. There is usually one in every family or workplace. Maybe you are one of them! But even if we are not a classical example of these childish drives, we all bring with us something of the frustrations of early childhood. Our ways of dealing with them are rooted in us by our endless efforts to find happiness as we grow up without the experience of God's presence.

Continued . . .

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Excerpted from The Better Part by Fr. Thomas Keating

You can obtain a copy by visiting the Contemplative Outreach Bookstore.