The previous articles have pointed out some characteristics of Biblical poetry. We have also explained that the characteristics of parallelism and balance can still be discerned in the Bible translations that we have. In this article, I propose a six-step programme for the reading of a psalm. I remind the reader that the kind of reading proposed here is intelligent and done in the spirit of the lectio divina Thus the six steps that I am here proposing is meant for prayer. I am assuming that the reader wants to begin reading the psalms but does not have the time nor the facilities to consult biblical encyclopedias and dictionaries. As has been explained in a previous article, the minimum requirements for the lectio divina are: a good modern translation of Scriptures (with explanatory notes), the desire to read with intelligence, and a faith that seeks dialogue with "the Father who wishes to reveal himself to his children." Biblical encyclopedias and dictionaries may be consulted later for a more rounded Biblical culture.

To illustrate how this six-step programme works, we will read Psalm 51, "The Miserere." This psalm has this sub-title: To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. The reference is to 2 Samuel 12 when Nathan confronts David due to this latter"s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah whose murder David himself ordered (see 2 Samuel 11). In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan traps David into pronouncing a sentence on himself through the parable of the ewe (vv. 1-5). When David realizes that the parable is about himself, he says: I have sinned against the Lord (v.13). The sub-title provides the mood of the psalm, that of a discovered guilt (or guilt finally faced?), remorse, and contrition.

1. Create a sentence flow. There is an example of this in the previous article. Copy the psalm on a piece of paper, writing it in such a way that the parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) or main and dependent clauses are highlighted. Copying the psalm forces the reader (especially the beginner) to pay attention to the words and helps him/her interiorize the psalm. Go to the attachment below and download a "rearranged" version of Psalm 51 that you can use as reference for the rest of the article.

2. Search for the thought-rhymes. Once the psalm has been copied, it becomes easier to spot parallels -- the thought rhymes. Look for repetitions, contrasts, ideas that are completed. It helps if one pronounces the words softly allowing them to reverberate. No attempt must be made at this point to apply rational categories. Allow the lines of the psalm to direct your thoughts. For an example, look at verse 1. I have italicized "according to thy steadfast love" and "according to thy abundant mercy". Seeing that, one can consider the relationship between "Have mercy on me" and "blot out my transgressions." Without entering into a too detailed analysis of the text, one senses that "blot out my transgressions" is the particular form of mercy that the suppliant -- the "I" of the psalm -- is asking for. Verse 1 easily flows into verse 2 with parallel lines that echo "blot out my transgressions:"

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin

The recourse to parallel texts that can shed light on the meaning of a particular passage is one of the ways by which certain biblical difficulties have been resolved (Augustine). At the same time, parallel texts, understood as resonances of a given text have been regarded as by products of a fruitful dialogue between the "ruminant" soul and the Word of God in Scriptures (Guy the Carthusian). The first approach sounds scholarly and more akin to what serious students do now when they use Bible Concordances, or Dictionaries and Encyclopedias of the Bible. And it is in a way "scholarly"; the passage from Augustine that we used to exemplify such an approach comes after all from the De doctrina christiana, the saint's manual on the proper explanation of the Scriptures.

In the previous article we showed how the ancients understood a biblical passage using as their aid texts that were similar to the passage being considered. For Augustine, it was a rule that he recommended especially in cases where a passage is difficult to understand. Guy the Carthusian explains that a particular text resonates through the whole of Scriptures and that it is the task of meditation to capture those resonances. In practice this would mean a mental search for passages that clarify a passage being read.

The present article and the one that will follow it is intended to explain how the parallel texts supplied in our modern translations of the Bible can be used to aid in understanding a passage one is reading. For our purpose, I understand "parallel text" to be "a scriptural passage similar in words or in theme to the bible passage being read." The parallel texts supplied in our modern translations should be understood as minimal helps in the understanding of a given passage. These can still be enriched by the reader's own contact with the sacred page : attentively reading, assiduously remembering the lesson learned, and constantly reflecting on its meaning for his/her life. Following is a discussion of how parallel texts were used by men in the past whose experiences with the Scriptures form the bedrock of the tradition of the lectio divina.

The present article, archived at Suite101 seeks to explain the four rules previously mentioned using Mk. 9:14-29.

The present article seeks to illustrate the four rules outlined previously by a reading of a story from Mark's Gospel.

Before proceeding with this article, I would ask the guest to first, download the New American Bible text of Mark 9:14-29 and then, read it intelligently by

• identifying the setting (with special attention to transitions)
• identifying the principal actors
• identifying the action performed and by whom

The present article submitted to Suite101 in the year 2000, has two parts. The first part deals with the benefits that our generation derives from the work of scholars in producing modern translations of the Bible. The second part, deals with the way these modern translations should be used, lest they become a hindrance to the reader's intended encounter with the Word of God.

Jerusalem Bible  |New American Bible

Four Rules for Using The Notes

1. The explanatory notes of some modern translations of the Bible normally elucidate what is already explained in a general way in the introductions to the individual books. The reader should have read the introduction if he/she expects to profit from explanatory notes.
2. Check the notes only when the context does not help in understanding the passage being read. What has been explained in the previous article cannot be laid aside even here. The notes found in your Bibles do not exempt one from using one's capacity to understand a given passage. Most often the understanding of a given passage (and even a word) depends a lot on the context of that passage (or word).
3. The notes are meant to be guides. Do not treat them as the Word of God. Like the numerical references that we find in our bibles, marginal notes and footnotes have been supplied by human beings whose ministry to the Word have moved them to aid their brothers and sisters in the faith in the study of the same Word that has enlightened them in the first place. And no matter how enlightened they may be, they can not become substitutes to the Holy Spirit who is the primary author of Scriptures.
4. Once a note (whether marginal or footnote) has helped you understand the passage, stop reading it. Enough said. This last rule only elucidates what is already implied in Rule No.3.

In the next article I will be giving a concrete example of how these Rules work.

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This article, published formerly at Suite101 is about reading Scriptures intelligently. The author explains why.

There are three ideas behind the title "Reading Scriptures Intelligently" that I wish to explain lest I be misunderstood. The first is that any passage of Scriptures must be read and understood as one would read any other piece of human literature, i.e., with the full use of one's God given intelligence. Reading with intelligence, in this first sense would be to read a piece of writing respecting (a) its language, grammar and syntax, and context; (b) the particular way in which it is written (i.e., whether it is written as poetry, or as chronicle, or as a story with a moral lesson, etc.); (c) the intent of the author (in the case of the Scriptures, it is always to proclaim the mighty deeds of God in the history of His people.) In this three-fold way of "respecting" the written Word of Scriptures, we are actually doing homage to the Humanity of the Word of God who -- in the language of St. Augustine -- is echoed forth in the many human voices of the books of the Bible.

The following article was published in April 2000 by Suite101. Here, the author begins to discuss practical ways of doing the "lectio."

"The lectio divina arose as a form of personal prayer in that solitude which, having all the characteristics of that prayer "in secret" (Mt. 6:6), allows one to have a transforming experience with the Lord, ..." Luciano Pachomio, Lectio Divina, p. 50

The previous articles have described in a general way the theory behind "lectio divina". In this and in the following articles, I wish to discuss "how" it is done. This being the first article on the practical aspects of the lectio divina, I will share with you some guidelines drawn from the practise of the monks and the Fathers of the Church relevant to the practice of the lectio.

This article looks at "lectio divina" -- the spiritual reading of the Scriptures -- as it is explained in the fourth part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The article was published at Suite101 for March 2000.

The fourth part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is dedicated to prayer. It should not be surprising that the lectio divina is discussed in these pages since the "lectio" is a prayerful reading of the Scriptures. It is a conviction dating back to the Fathers that "when you read the Scriptures, God speaks to you; when you pray, you speak to God" (cf. CCC, par. 2653). Five paragraphs will serve as our basis for the discussion that follows, namely: pars. 2653, 2654, 2705, 2706 and 2708. The first two paragraphs (2653 and 2654) set forth the connection between prayer and the reading of Scriptures; the last three (2705, 2706 and 2708) deal with Scriptures as a source book for meditation.