Lectio Divina is an ancient and time-tested method of listening to the Holy Scripture. It was developed long ago in monasteries, but has been received and gratefully practiced by Christians for many centuries. It is a way of listening to Scripture so as to hear the divine Author; of listening to the words so as to hear the saving Word.

Lectio Divina has been recommended to the Church today by Popes St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Francis for all in the Church - clergy and laity alike. Although found more commonly among Catholics, all Christians could find in this simple discipline a completely Biblical path of discipleship. As the title indicates, it is simply a way of meeting Jesus in the holy word. This edition is a small book, but it presents the practice of Lectio Divina in its practical application as well as in its spiritual heart and substance. We the Church need what we can learn from Lectio Divina! And the world needs us to learn it, to know it and to live it. R. Thomas Richard, Ph.D., has earned degrees in ministry and theology, as well as in physics. He has taught at the college and high school levels, has served as a Protestant pastor, and in missionary work among migrant farmworkers. After returning to the Catholic Church and earning a graduate degree in Catholic theology and ministry, he began work in religious education and especially the formation of adults. He is author of The Ordinary Path to Holiness and The Interior Liturgy of the Our Father, and serves the Church today with his wife Deborah in adult faith formation.