Paul quotes form the Torah, the Jewish book of the law, in our passage from the epistle to the Romans today: “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.” (Dt.30:14) If that is not our experience, it’s likely because we haven’t been paying attention. Lent provides “the opportune time” for us to begin to open our eyes and ears to notice the word of God active in our lives, to ready ourselves to absorb the message with our name on it.

As Christians we know Christ Jesus as the incarnate Word of God (Jn.1:1), but do we spend time with the Holy One on a daily basis? Do we open our hearts and minds to receive the Word of God as he comes to us today? We also recognize holy scripture as the word of God, but do we read it regularly, pondering what it has to say to us here and now? For the word of God to come into our hearts, it takes more than a lick and a promise on a quick read through. The Ignatian way of hearing the word of God in scripture involves using one’s imagination to see oneself in the story, to see, hear, feel, smell, taste what is going on, to let it become real in our minds in order to “inwardly digest” what it has to say to us. The Benedictine way, known as lectio divina, takes a word or phrase from the passage that gets our attention and uses it as a focus for meditation, contemplation, letting the word seep into our being. Have you tried either of those practices to internalize the word?

As from the beginning (Gen.1:1-3), God continues speaking the divine word in creation, from the tiniest quantum to the most far flung galaxy, always hoping for our attention. God’s word may come to us through dreams just as it did in biblical times, if we take time to notice them, or through spiritual reading of all kinds if we are alert, or through the mouths of those around us if we have ears to hear—and not just from those near and dear, but even from our adversaries if we can let down our defenses. In fact, it seems that the more unlikely the source, the more likely it may be from God. There’s no limit to how the Divine may speak the word to us, especially aiming it toward open hearts and minds that are prepared to receive and accept the insight, the revelation.