Church Talk by Trinidad Hue

February 11, 2021
 

Today I am here to tell you about my experience of lectio divina, to share with you a piece of my testimony of faith, to motivate you to seek Life.  My name is Trinidad Hue; I am twenty years old; I am Chilean; and right now, I am studying philosophy at university.  

I can bear witness that I have seen the Lord. My life has been marked, or rather, guided by God. I can't look at my story without seeing God's obvious step in it. I don't always realize that, but if I stop and think, God has definitely guided my steps. My "normal life" is not separated from my life of faith, because God is one. Lectio divina has made me wake up to the reality of God, to wake up that he is alive, acted, aware of me and everyone, eager that I let him enter my life more and more. This "waking up" I am talking about has been quite a process, and every day is a new awakening. What has helped me to wake up to the reality of God has been mainly lectio, friendship, and community life. 

My deep encounter started a couple of years ago. There was something inside me that was not satiated: my soul wanted something else, and I had an intuition that what made me immensely happy was prayer and service to others. Two years ago, I left a school in the Manquehue Apostolic Movement, the Catholic movement that I belong to and am here for today. In Manquehue schools, as here in Portsmouth, there are lectio groups. In the first group of lectio, eight years ago, I found answers to what I was looking for at that time in my life, answers found in the gospel, in the Word of God. It is so clear to me exactly what God lit that year in my heart, or how He did it, but it is clear to me that that flame has not disappeared, but that it has become bigger and warmer, and I cannot ignore it.

Through lectio I have been able to know God. With lectio, faithful companion in my life, Jesus, speaks to me, converts my heart, throws away the barriers of fear, of mistrust... because he speaks to me personally, like when a friend talks to another friend. Many times I feel that after making lectio I am the same as before, the same woman who forgets that God loves her tenderly, but deep in my heart I know that is not true. Every time I meet God, as in lectio, I realize that I am loved by God, that my fears are already overcome, that Jesus died for me on the cross, that God is in charge of my life.

Last year, I lived for four months in Patagonia, in a place far from where I normally live and where the lifestyle is simple and focused on seeking God. There are houses to welcome young people who want to go to live an experience of four months and have a space to seek God through lectio and community life. There, something very shocking happened to me: nothing supernatural, but I realized that I simply cannot live without God, that I need the daily food of the Word, that I want to follow Christ always, that I want to be radical in my life. I do not want to adapt to what the world tells me to do, because I want to follow Christ. That decision, which I still feel now, came with a lot of insecurity, because I really do not know what will happen to me in the future, or how I'm going to follow Christ's path. But I know I want to do it, and I trust that God will take care of it. I just have to say "Yes."

That word I want to emphasize now, the word "Yes". We know the Gospel of the Annunciation, but I want to read to you again some parts, especially for Mary's response: The angel said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”  But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”  Mary was perplexed by this announcement. Mary, who was going to be the mother of the savior of the world, scared to death, asks how that will be possible because, let's be honest, it's a phrase that doesn't make sense, humanly speaking. But the angel replies:  “For nothing will be impossible with God.”  And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bondservant; may it be done to me according to your word.”  Mary said YES. She knew nothing, she didn't understand anything, but she gave herself to God, she believed. And by her answer, by her YES, the history of humanity changed forever, the savior of the world became man, and because of her willingness to do God's will we were saved, history split in two, started again. 

I invite you to say the same thing to God, to say yes. To let him into your life, to let Love into your heart, because God is Love. I can bear witness that since I let God into my life, everything has been better. It has been pure joy, spiritual joy, because, although the road often becomes very hard and I feel fear, and I am sad or problems overwhelm me, deep down I know that there is someone greater and more powerful than me taking care of me and who has for me answers for Life.  Jesus Christ is Life, LIFE with capital letters. He is the one who has the answers of eternal life and calls you by name. He is in front of you, waiting for you to let him in. Pope Francis has a phrase that I like very much, because it makes a lot of sense to me. He says, "Don’t just observe life ‘from the balcony’. Today, I invite you to the same thing, not to sit around waiting to find God magically, GET UP! Go out to meet him!!!!! Wake up! At school there are lectio groups, there are lectio leaders, come to them and try what the lectio experience is like. I knew God through lectio divina, but that doesn't mean it's the only way. Find, pray, let yourself be found.