WRAP Yourself in Scripture | Sunday Reflection | 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the things that I love about Scripture is that the graces that can be received from reading it and praying with it can never be exhausted. There is always something new that the Lord wants to reveal or to teach every time we open up our Bibles. It makes sense - if God is infinite, then any time we engage with His Word, we are brought into this infinite mystery, and so we can never run out of things to learn or for God to show.

While there are a number of ways to meditate on Scripture, one particular way that I, as well as many others, find incredibly fruitful is called Lectio Divina, which is Latin for “divine reading.” Lectio Divina is more than just reading the Bible as we would any other book. The point is to deeply pray with and reflect on the Scriptures, asking the Holy Spirit to help guide our prayer, so that we can come to an encounter with Jesus Christ through the Scriptures. As beautiful as the Bible is, it is not simply a book or collection of books that just teach us about God. It is also a way for us to meet God.

The basic idea of Lectio Divina is that you take a passage that you would like to reflect on, put yourself into a good contemplative environment, and dedicate a quiet period of time to praying with it. You would start by reading through the passage slowly and attentively, at least two or three times. If there is a word or phrase that sticks out, sit with that and bring that to Jesus - what is He trying to communicate to you with those words? You would have a conversation with God about those words and what that might mean practically for you. You would allow that to become prayer by letting God love you through that time.

Just doing this kind of prayer has completely changed the way I engage with Scripture. When I was younger, I did not really understand what Scripture was beyond a “holy book.” But now, I have had some beautiful encounters with Jesus and have heard His voice clearly through His revelation put into words in Scripture. This was also very much the case for the people who taught me how to pray like this. The Bible can help anyone actually talk to God and listen to Him.

There are also a number of helpful tips that can be used to make things easier or pray better. For instance, using a journal or writing down the things that come up in prayer can be a fantastic way to better reflect and to have something that you can keep going back to. Many people also find it helpful to incorporate some form of Ignatian imaginative prayer. Basically, this means asking the Holy Spirit to guide one’s imagination to place oneself in the scene in some way. Perhaps you are imagining yourself as one of the crowd, or possibly one of the disciples, or possibly one of the people Jesus is talking to. With the imagination engaged, there might be more that God is revealing than just the words themselves. What are the people doing? How is Jesus acting? What is Jesus saying and how is He saying it? How does Jesus look at you if He is talking directly to you? What are the sights, sounds, and smells? These also become ways in which God communicates. All these things can help open up the Scripture to see how God is speaking to us.

It is often helpful to have a series of steps to follow to help guide the process. While there are a few different ones, one that I’ve found very helpful is called WRAP. It stands for: Write, Reflect, Apply, Pray. First, as you are praying with the passage and possibly imagining yourself in the scene, write down what stands out to you, whether it be a word, phrase, or even an image. Second, reflect on what stood out to you. It stood out to you for a reason, and now you have a chance to speak to God about it. Using your own mind and in dialogue with Jesus, write down what this might mean. Third, consider how Jesus is calling you to apply this particular image, word, or verse in your life right here and right now. Something stood out to you, so what does God want you to do about it? It would usually involve some concrete call to action. Continue to write down all of this. Lastly, write down some prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God for these graces that were given.

Like any prayer, it is not always going to be as vivid or as fruitful as one might like it to be. There are going to be days where nothing is standing out or where prayer feels very dry. It happens. Still, it is far more important that we continue to engage with prayer, even when it is dry. Building up the habit can create a foundation for God to do beautiful things.

As a brief example, we can look to this Sunday’s Gospel passage. When I teach people Lectio Divina, this Gospel passage is one that I would often go to. It involves a beautiful encounter between Jesus and a blind man whom He heals. It also involves a number of other people who play some part - the crowds that keep Bartimaeus away, the ones who bring him closer to Jesus, the onlookers, and others. Imaginative prayer with Lectio Divina can give plenty of opportunities to place oneself in the scene in a number of different ways. Who might Jesus be calling you to imagine yourself as in this scenario? How the Lord speaks to us and illuminates our imaginations can vary, depending on our particular circumstances and what God wants to communicate to us in each particular moment. If you are part of the crowd keeping Bartimaus away, maybe God wants to help you to see where you need to fix a relationship in your life or an area that needs improving in your own life. If you are part of the crowd bringing Bartimaeus to Jesus, maybe God wants to encourage you to help bring others closer to Jesus. If you are imagining yourself as Bartimaeus, maybe Jesus wants to heal something in your life. The possibilities are endless. Trust that the Holy Spirit will guide this time.

This week, we should do some Lectio Divina on this Scripture passage - the WRAP method can be very helpful, so I would highly encourage using it and writing everything down. The Lord wants to speak, but the way He wants to speak to you is unique to you. Perhaps this can be a helpful tool to pray with the Scripture passages before going to Sunday Mass. Imagine the fruits that you can get from praying on your own, and then God revealing something new to you at Mass. It is amazing how much we can see and hear God when we engage deeply with the Bible. St. Jerome says, “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” The corollary to that would be that engaging with Scripture is to engage with Christ. Jesus wants to speak, and we have some amazing tools to help us to hear Him. Remember, Scripture can never be exhausted, so there will always be something new to see!