Pope Francis called Mary the “mother of listening,” because she didn’t just hear the word (in our case read, also), she understood how to interpret it in light of her own relationships, circumstances, and habits.
Modeled on the Annunciation, LOVE the Word is a new lectio method that invites our Blessed Mother to guide us in her own personal “listening” practice: L – listen, O – observe, V – verbalize, E – entrust. We learn how to LOVE the Word like Mary, from Mary. She teaches us to interpret the word we hear and read through the landscape of our lives.
Study Audio
LOVE the Word™ is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. This week’s LOVE the Word™ exercise uses Mary’s practice as an example.
Listen (Receive the Word)
And the angel came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Observe (Connect the passage to recent events.)
We’ll have to speculate here…How would you connect the angel’s visit to the word you received, and to Elizabeth’s pregnancy?
Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.
“How can this be, since I have no husband?” “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”
Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)
“May it be done to me according to you word.”
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*LOVE the Word™ exercises vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic. These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.
Scripture References for the Show
Luke 1:28-36
28 And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” 35 And the angel said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy,
the Son of God.
36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Episode Resources
“In an address in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis once compared our ability to hear the voice of God with that of the Blessed Mother and her kinswoman Elizabeth.
‘What gave rise to Mary’s act of going to visit her relative Elizabeth? A word of God’s angel. “Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son . . .” (Lk 1:36). Mary knew how to listen to God. Be careful: it was not merely “hearing” a superficial word, but it was “listening,” that consists of attention, acceptance and availability to God. It was not in the distracted way with which we sometimes face the Lord or others: we hear their words, but we do not really listen. Mary is attentive to God. She listens to God.
‘However Mary also listens to the events, that is, she interprets the events of her life, she is attentive to reality itself and does not stop on the surface but goes to the depths to grasp its meaning. Her kinswoman Elizabeth, who is already elderly, is expecting a child: this is the event. But Mary is attentive to the meaning. She can understand it: “with God nothing will be impossible” (Lk 1:37).
‘This is also true in our life: listening to God who speaks to us, and listening also to daily reality, paying attention to people, to events, because the Lord is at the door of our life and knocks in many ways, he puts signs on our path; he gives us the ability to see them. Mary is the mother of listening, of attentive listening to God and of equally attentive listening to the events of life (emphasis added)'” (Unleashed, Sonja Corbitt).
Read the Transcript
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Kitty almost gets her tail burned off in the Holy Spirit candle; Bible software; favorite saint; the mystery of suffering, on this week’s…
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Image Credits
Did I miss a Monday episode for July 3, 2017 ? It is not in my email.
BTW I LOVE all of your works. I am blessed that God has graced me with you!
I feel this is a new beginning for me and my journey with God. Praise God!
You did not miss it; I was traveling with no internet and my phone hot spot didn’t have enough juice to upload it, so I just postponed that show till this Monday. You might want to like my Sonja Corbitt Facebook page for those spur of the moment updates, if you haven’t already. FIAT!