So many extraordinary things are happening around our Archdiocese. God is working, bringing new life. Sometimes that new life comes from parts of our faith family that we don’t hear much about except for the negative news on TV. Such is the case with the Catholic Hispanic community.
Marta Gale, a catechetical leader at a local parish who works in a local hospital reminded me of the many ways our Hispanic Catholics are a blessing to our community.
"I did a series of four talks on how to pray with the scriptures, Lectio Divina," she explained. "A Hispanic woman approached me afterwards and said they have been looking for this for two years and asked if I could do this in Spanish." Marta, an immigrant herself to this country, responded, "I could probably do it better in Spanish."
Thus began a new group of Hispanic men and women who are gathering regularly for instruction, ministry formation and intense periods of prayer and silent meditation on the scriptures.
Gathering every other week, twelve to twenty people have invested in this process of spiritual growth through Lectio Divina for the past two years.
"We do Lectio Divina because the early Christians grew in holiness praying this way," says Marta. "The more you do Lectio Divina the more you see the revealing word of God in your life and you can change your values to Gospel values."
Each session begins with enthroning the bible followed by a short introduction by Marta to give a historical and narrative context for the scriptures to be read. Music is then used to calm people’s minds and candles are lit to engage the senses. Someone reads the Gospel and then the group sits in total silence and total darkness for 20-30 minutes.
"In our culture today it is very hard to quiet our brains and allow God to speak to us. Lectio Divina is one way to learn to listen to God’s voice by prayerfully sitting with the scriptures," asserts Marta.
"We are like monks or Quakers," she jokes.
The focus is on the words of scripture and how God is speaking to them in their hearts. This ancient practice of meditation is a time honored discipline that leads to knowledge of God and knowledge of self.
"When you grow in self-knowledge, you grow in knowledge of God," offers Marta. "Seeking and discovering is what we are doing in Lectio Divina."
She adds: "We need to keep that silence because that is when we hear God; that is when the Holy Spirit will work."
Some who come fall asleep in the darkness and silence. "I just tell them that it’s ok. Maybe this isn’t the right time for them for this."
Since the group began, they have taken two silent weekend retreats. The first retreat was held in someone’s house. "That is the way the early Christians did it, in a house," recounts Marta.
Each retreat has been a mix between an Ignatian silent retreat and a Cursillo. Following each conference, the retreatants are given 60 minutes of silence with questions.
"The silence is essential for the retreat but afterwards we speak to one another about what God is saying," she describes. "It’s so important to hear from one another, to learn to share like that, growing in trust, facing our humanity even at painful levels and to experience the support of a group that is coming together in this way around prayer and the scriptures."
"We have to walk with each other," Marta admits. "There are wounds that can be healed when we walk together."
On the last day of the retreats, Marta challenges the people to become pastoral agents who are centered in Christ and living the mystery of Christ.
"I call it ‘la mystica personal’," Marta explains. "The goal is to create pastoral agents for the Hispanic community."
"I remember when I studied theology I read a piece from Fr. Karl Rahner where he said that if your pastoral agents are not mystics then they are not pastoral agents. We have to find that mysticism that is centered in Christ in order to do ministry."
Imagine that! Mystics right here in our midst. Even more exciting is to realize that these mystics are just like you and me-workers, students, parents, parishioners, lay people trying to find God in their everyday lives. They are seeking God for themselves and for the purpose of serving the greater community. Sounds like discipleship to me.
 | About David O’Brien David O’Brien is the Associate Director of Religious Education for Lay Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. His column, Everyday Faith, appears regularly in the archdiocesan newspaper, the Catholic Week. Email David at dobrien@mobilearchdiocese.org. |
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