Book Notes: Sacred Reading, the 2016 Guide to Daily Prayer

Have you ever tried praying the Gospels by using the devotion called lectio divina? It's a prayer practice inspired by Ignatian spirituality. I found the idea rather intimidating; I didn't think I had the time needed to really delve into the Gospel readings in that kind of depth.

The Apostleship of Prayer takes the intimidation factor out of lectio divina with its new daily devotional, Sacred Reading. In this book, readers are guided through six simple steps:

Know that God is present with you and ready to converse.
Read the daily Gospel.
Notice what you think and feel as you read the Gospel.
Pray as you are led for yourself and others.
Listen to Jesus.
Ask God to show you how to live today.

Sacred Reading makes lectio divina simple and accessible. The daily Gospel is included right in the page for the day, so everything you need is in one place. The prayer format would work as a group prayer reflection as well as for individual prayer.

The introduction, by Douglas Leonard, Executive Director of the Apostleship of Prayer, provides useful insight into how to approach each of these six steps.

Sacred Reading begins with the First Sunday of Advent (November 29). There are Advent/Christmas and Lent booklets available too.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.
If you’re interested in purchasing this book, consider stopping in at your local Catholic bookstore first. It’s also available online, and if you use our Amazon link, CatholicMom.com gets a small percentage of the sales.