February 2025 Oblate Reflections

Lectio Divina: Luke 5: 1-11

Each of us in our Oblate community comes to a Lectio Divina discussion from our personal experience of the Divine. The beauty of Lectio is that the reading, insights, and discussion fall differently on each of our hearts. When we practice Lectio Divina, we learn from each other by sharing a word or phrase that resonates. We see a deeper meaning to the reading with each contribution as we “listen with the ear of the heart.” (RB Prologue) What resonated with our group:

“The crowd was pressing in…put out a short distance from the shore.” Sometimes what we bear seems so much. Perhaps we could break our feelings, responsibilities, or worries into smaller pieces. Jesus only asks us to go a short distance–taking on only what we need to while trusting that when we go into deeper waters, God will be with us. Even Jesus sat down for a bit to continue his teaching. We learn from his example: our work sometimes requires distance and healthy boundaries from others. We must listen and discern.

“We have worked hard all night.” In times of weariness, feeling overworked, defeated, or unsuccessful, we must carefully listen for the hopeful words of Jesus. The first word in the Rule of St. Benedict is “Listen”—he knew that we cannot go out into deep waters alone. We find encouragement in pausing, resting, and receiving help from others.

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets.” Keep casting the net; cast your net one more time. This time might be the time that you are blessed with abundance. We need this constant encouragement to try and try again when we are feeling hopeless.

“They caught a great number of fish…They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them.” Be surprised by abundance; be astonished. Abundance and lack are two sides of a coin. When you have more than you need, share; when you have too much to handle, pray that others offer help, just as you would for them. We are the body of Christ; we are meant to be there for each other when we are weary and under pressure. What a blessing it is to share our joy!

“Be not afraid.” How things look in the moment may not be what is to come. Remember the abundance you have experienced for the next lesson in life; do not give up hope.

“Hope is a gift and a task for every Christian. It is a gift because it is God who offers it to us. To hope, in fact, is not a mere act of optimism, like when we sometimes hope to pass a college exam or when we hope for good weather for a trip out of town on a Sunday in spring. No. To hope is to wait for something that has already been given to us: salvation in the eternal and infinite love of God, that love, that salvation, that gives flavor to our life, and that constitutes the cornerstone on which the world remains standing, despite all the wickedness and evil caused by our sins as men and women. To hope, therefore, is to welcome this gift that God offers us every day. -Pope Francis, A Light in the Night, Meditations on Hope

The Jubilee of 2025 is a holy year dedication to the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.“