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Interpreted by Love A Priest-poet’s lectio divina: The Example of Peter Steele (1939–2012) The work of the Australian poet Peter Steele (1939–2012) may be approached as lectio divina, opening up new opportunities for contemplative prayer centring on the life of Christ and the gospel narratives. Download this article in PDF format by clicking here Finding Him in the Temple The twelve-year-old Jesus is caught in the adolescent tension between the need to be protected by his family and wanting to break free. He attains maturity by asserting that his place is the Temple where he stands in solidarity with the people. Apostate or Apostle? : Apostasy as Conversion in Shusaku Endo, Silence The character of the priest Rodrigues forms the focus for this intriguing study of apostasy as conversion in the most famous novel of one of Japan’s best known Christian writers. The Patience of Job? Job 13:13–19 as Drama Although the Book of Job can be interpreted in a number of different ways, an awareness of its orality helps us to recognise its protagonist as both saint and rebel, caught up in the depths of relational prayer. Mind The Gap: Ignatian Contemplative Prayer and Reader Response Criticism The imaginative prayer of the Spiritual Exercises can be understood as a strategy for reading. This literary explains how ‘gaps’ in the narrative help the one praying to appropriate the meaning of gospel texts. ‘Whereof One Cannot Speak, Thereof One Must Be Silent’: The Problems and Possibilities of Naming God Apophatic theology maintains that language must fall silent before the mystery of God. This disposition, alongside the insights of modern feminist theology, can lend words an experimental character which enables them to reach towards the transcendent. The Invisible Mugged Traveller: Encountering God as Hero or Casualty The parable of the Good Samaritan is interpreted from the perspective of the victim. It gives new insight into the traumatic experience that gave birth to the vocation of St Ignatius Loyola as well as our understanding of such trauma today. The Art of Paying Attention Julian of Norwich, Mary Oliver and Elizabeth Goudge form an unlikely trio, but all were known for their attentiveness to what was going on around them. Their unhurried lives and faith in the mystery of God are conveyed through their writing. ‘A Dayspring to the Dimness of Us’ The poem ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’ by Gerard Manly Hopkins inspires this reflection on poetry as the ‘mother tongue’ of God. When we listen deeply to his voice we are empowered to respond. From the Foreword As we try to understand the human words in which the mystery of God is expressed, perhaps it is helpful to recall the advice of St Ignatius Loyola. He invites us, when we are interpreting another’s words, to be more ready to justify than condemn a neighbour’s statement (Exx 22). He went further by giving advice to Jesuits attending the Council of Trent that they should ‘rely upon readiness to listen, keeping quiet so as to sense and appreciate the positions, emotions and desires of those speaking’. Perhaps he was inspired by St Paul’s exhortation that all human understanding be informed by love (1 Corinthians 13:2). The articles in this issue explore how we interpret human words about God, in the scriptures, in poetry and in prayer. Each author offers us a different way of allowing those words to be interpreted, not by our own lights, but by love itself.Philip Harrison SJ Please click here to subscribe to The Way, | ||
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