Gospel Reading: Luke 4: 14-21

Jesus, with the power of the Holy Spirit in him, returned to Galilee, and his reputation spread throughout the countryside.  He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.  He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did.  He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:  “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.  He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.”  He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down.  And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.  Then he began to speak to them, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.”

Blessing :

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis writes:  “The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes from contemplating it with love, lingering over its pages, and    reading it with the heart.  If we read it in this way, its beauty will amaze and constantly excite us. We have been entrusted with a treasure (God’s Word) that makes our lives more human and helps us to lead a new life.   There is nothing more precious that we can give others  (Chapter 5. Spirit-filled Evangelist par 264.)

In response to this challenge we come before you, Gracious Father, this evening, and ask your blessing on this Lectio Divina  Centre.

We thank you for the gift of your Word in sacred Scripture that gives life to the Church in every age.

May this project awaken in all of us a greater desire for your Gospel – that we may become more familiar with it, enjoy it, and reclaim it as one of the primary and greatest sources of nourishment for the Christian community.

Let it be a new space to hear the Gospel together- a new space that will nurture direct and immediate access to your Gospel for all your hungry children.

Let it be a space where we can come together in small communities around your Word: young and old, strong and weak, saint and sinner,

Catholic and non-Catholic.   May nobody feel excluded from the banquet table of your Word.

Together may we come to recognize and experience your living and  life-giving presence and activity in our world today.

Let the energy of the Gospel, the transforming power of the Gospel, touch our lives and renew and regenerate the church, society and world today, so that it may lead us to a more passionate following of Jesus and a more fruitful collaboration with Him in the great project of His life:   the ushering in of the Reign of God – making our world the kind of place that you long for it to be…a place of fraternity, solidarity and justice.  And in the words of Pope Benedict through the practice of Lectio Divina may we come to experience a whole new spiritual springtime to our church and world.  May we come to embrace your Word in truth and in fact as  “A Light for our Steps and a Lamp for our Path.”  Ps 119:118

Blessing inside and out with Holy Water.                                                                                                       

Conclusion:                                                                                           

Father of All

We thank you for bringing us together

For the blessing of this Lectio Divina Centre

May this building always be used for your honour and glory and for the good of all the people of this community.

May your Word always be in our hearts and on our lips that we may worthily proclaim your Gospel by the way we live.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.

May God bless us and keep us

May he let his face shine upon us.

May he look upon us with kindness and fill our hearts with peace and love.

And may almighty God bless us

We remain now in the peace and friendship of Jesus Christ.

Word of God – John Michael Talbot

The word refreshes the soul,
Rejoices the heart,
Enlightens the eye;
The word of God is clear,
Bringing wisdom to the simple.

The word, more precious than gold,
Sweeter than honey
From the comb;
The word of God is pure
Bringing wisdom to the simple.

The word is a lamp for my steps
A light for my path –
I will not stumble.
I have sworn and made up my mind,
I will obey the word of God forever.

The word of God,
The word with God,
The word is God incarnate.
The word made flesh in Jesus
What our eyes have seen,
Our Hands have touched.