New Year Prayer Chapel—Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is an ancient practice of prayerfully reading scripture.

We will follow the rhythm of Read, Reflect, Respond, and Rest.

Opening Prayer

Father of love, hear our prayers. Help us to know Your will and to do it with courage and faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Read + Reflect

First Reading – Mark 1:29-39  NLT

After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them. That evening after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. The whole town gathered at the door to watch. So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak. Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.

What are one to three individual words that really stood out to you?

Second Reading – Mark 1:29-39  NLT

After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them. That evening after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. The whole town gathered at the door to watch. So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak. Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.

What do you feel when hearing the text? What specific situation or internal conversation in your life today relates to it?

Possible Reflections:

• Jesus restores life for the service of others. As Jesus, fresh from the Sabbath’s embrace, heals Peter’s mother-in-law, her rising is more than a mere return to health. It’s a resurrection to purpose. In her renewed vigor, she serves, a beautiful echo of the healing she received. Christ’s healing is thus transformative; it ushers us into life-giving service, restoring dignity and calling us to partake in the sacredness of giving and sustaining life.

• Jesus opens his arms to the outcast. As the Sabbath wanes and stars pierce the twilight, those who have been pushed to the margins find a haven in Jesus. The sick, the demon-oppressed, the untouchables of that age, bereft of hope and human solace, are drawn to Him. Deemed unclean, they are cut off from communal worship, from the perceived presence of God. Yet, in Jesus, they encounter the heart of the Good News: A God who reaches out to the marginalized, who dismantles barriers, who reweaves the fabric of community to include all.

• Jesus remains united to the Father, in prayer. In the silence before dawn, He seeks solitude to pray, to align His heart with the Divine heartbeat. These moments of quiet, these interludes of soulful conversation, are the wellsprings of His actions. They remind us that prayer is the pulse of mission, the conscious attunement to the whispers of the Spirit that guide each step.

• Conscious of His call, Jesus resists the temptation to remain within the comfort of success. His mission is not confined to the accolades of the moment. As His name becomes a balm to multitudes, His disciples revel in the burgeoning fame, yet Jesus is undeterred. “Let us go on,” He insists, for His journey is propelled not by popularity but by divine purpose. In this, He invites His followers to a forward momentum, to a horizon ever-expanding, ever calling. It’s a summons to resist complacency and to embrace the unfolding path of the Kingdom.

• “That is why I came!” Jesus proclaims. This is the first rift between His vision and that of His disciples in this gospel. It’s a subtle divergence at first, but as Mark’s narrative unfolds, this gap widens, foreshadowing the profound chasms that will emerge. Mark’s account beckons us to vigilance, to an awareness that in the proclamation of the Good News, misunderstandings may arise. Yet, they also invite deeper discernment, a closer following of the Christ path, an attunement to the true essence of His call.

Third Reading – Mark 1:29-39  NLT

After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them. That evening after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. The whole town gathered at the door to watch. So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak. Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.

What is Christ’s personal invitation to you from this passage?

Respond

How would you like to respond to Jesus (write your prayer if you’d like)?

Rest

Simply rest in God’s presence, the focus is on simply being with God-no agenda. If Jesus speaks to you during this time jot it down here: