LOVE the Word®

As we consider all of the areas we want to improve, where is God in this new year? Make 2020 a year when you are focused on Jesus: God and rest first. Yes, rest! Vocation second, work third. This series looks at key passages in the Old and New Testaments, and explores ways we can place Jesus at the center of our everyday living.

Action items are in the LOVE the Word® exercises, below. Choose one!

Thank you to my newest Friends of the Show, Natalie K, and Bob R, for loving and lifting me!

LOVE the Word® is a Bible study method based on Mary’s own practice: lectio without the Latin. Get the book based on her method in the right margin, How to Pray Like Mary.

L – Listen (Receive the Word.)

O – Observe (Choose one or more of the following personality approaches to connect the passage to your life and recent events.)

F | Franciscan – “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10). What comes to mind when you read this verse? What “good work” is the Holy Spirit inspiring you to do? Use the gift of your spontaneity to offer that sacrifice this week.

I | Ignatian –  Consider your go-to sin, then one you fall into over and over without even thinking, until you’ve done it, or failed to do it, and feel the guilt hanging over you. Notice the situations that provoke that reaction. This is called “the near occasion of sin,” and the Church exhorts us to avoid these situations. How can you avoid your near occasion of sin? Outline a two or three-step strategy for dealing with this reaction when it comes up next. Use all your senses to visualize yourself using the strategy and winning. Expect a pop quiz in the near future!  

A | Augustinian – “What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things he has rendered unto me? I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord” (Ps 115:12-13). Meditate on this passage for a few moments. What does Jesus ask of you? How can you obey?

T | Thomistic – “Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17). Make a list of all your blessings; list as many as you can in ten minutes. How can you thank Him?

V – Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)

Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O – Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word® journal. Or, get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.

E – Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)

May Your name be glorified for You alone are worthy, for You looked down on our pitiful world and chose to give Your only Beloved Son to be the perfect sacrifice to pay the price for the sins of all of Your people. There are no words sufficient enough to praise and bless You for all that You have poured over the heads of Your children, and into the hearts of those that love and trust You. You alone are worthy of our thanksgiving and praise, and we bless Your name forever and ever. Amen.+
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*Find out your prayer temperament with this quiz! LOVE the Word® exercises are offered according to FIAT: the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Franciscan, Ignatian, Augustinian, and Thomistic: FIAT! These prayer forms correspond to the Myers-Briggs personality types.

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