Une promotion de la lectio divina, dans le sillage d’Africae Munus de Benoît XVI

Abstract

Pope Benedict XVI signed the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation ‘Africae Munus’ at Ouidah, Benin, on 19 November 2011. This is a presentation of the fruits that emerged from the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops which took place in Rome from 4 to 25 October 2009 on the theme “The Church in Africa, at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. ‘You are the salt of the earth; [...] you are the light of the world’. (Mt 5:13-14). ‘Africae Munus’ recognizes the beneficial effect of the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church. Thus, the document is full of references to Holy Scripture.Father Mathurin’s article – the promotion of lectio divina in the light of Africae Munus – is made up of four points. The first point is trying to define the concept of lectio divina. The second and the third points are a reflection on the importance of the Word of God in Jewish Tradition and Christian Tradition respectively. The last scrutinizes the fundamental stages of lectio divina. In order to be salt of the earth and light of the world, Christians need to be nourished by the Word of God. The Liturgy of the Hours presents a passage from Psalm 118 on the Word of God: a praise of his Word, an expression of the joy of Israel in learning it and, in it, to recognize his will and his Face. The Apostles received the Word and passed it on to their successors as a precious gem kept safely in the jewel box of the Church. The Word of God is like a stairway that Christians can climb and, with Christ, even descend into the depths of his love. A time-honoured way to study and savour the word of God is lectio divina which constitutes a real and veritable spiritual journey marked out in four stages. The first stage is the lectio, which consist of reading a passage from Sacred Scripture and taking in the main elements. This is followed by the meditation. It is a moment of interior reflection to understand what the Word is saying. The third moment is prayer in which we linger to talk with God directly. The fourth stage is contemplation. This helps the heart to be attentive to the presence of Christ whose word is a lamp. Reading, study and meditation on the Word should then flow into a life of constant fidelity to Christ and his teachings