8. THE WORD OF GOD – DIALOGUE
Patroness of the month – Mary, Mother of the Word, pray for us
Hear, O Israel! Mary, daughter of Zion and Mother of the Word, fulfilled this Old Testament’s invitation perfectly. She preserved it, pondered upon it and faithfully hid it in Her heart. This allows us to be more mindful of God and of man.
Intention of the month
Let us pray for all apostles and missionaries, so that the Word of God may always be proclaimed, the Eucharist may be celebrated and that the gift of God’s Love may be brought to all people.
Lectio Divina
“In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him. What has come into being in him was life” (John 1:1-4a).
” (…) You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).
St. Vincent Pallotti writes
Ah my Jesus, since through your infinite mercy, and through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, of the Angels, and of all the Saints (…) you have made me feel, and you make me feel in my poor heart that always, and with greater abundance of grace when in the Holy Church your Most Holy Gospel is Read (!), or when each devoutly also Reads it privately with faith then, and at every moment, you want to and do renew in us, those warnings, teachings, and precepts of eternal life, and moreover you want to renew, and multiply in our souls those prodigious operations of grace, of which all the Miracles worked by you on earth are a figure, and together with this you want to communicate grace to us to benefit from it as you wish (OOCC X, 258).
OWL
“St. Vincent Pallotti recommends that we meditate often on the life of Jesus as portrayed in the gospels. With faith and love we will follow this advice so that Jesus may be formed in us more perfectly” (75).
Exercise
Proposal for the community:
Let us take care of the practice of sharing God’s Word in the community. Where it is practiced let it be continued with greater commitment, perhaps in the form of a service, the celebration of the Word. Where it has been abandoned, let it revert as a permanent practice. Perhaps this novena month will be an opportunity for the members of the community to meet more deeply with the Word and with each other. It is also an opportunity to LISTEN together to what the Lord says to us and what we say to each other.
