As we may recall from Tim Gray's summary of the steps of "Guigo's Ladder," Dr. Gray added a fifth step. This was "Operatio,
In which we make operative some practical resolution to bring the wine
of God's word to fruitfulness in our life and the world." (Tim Gray Ph.D, Praying Scripture for a Change, Ascension Press, 2009, p.36) Now that we've considered and begun to practice lectio divina, I'd like to take a look at the step of operatio. It's a tough world, and we know it. There is much in this world that's in conflict with the will of God, and all we need to do is compare what Scripture tells us with what the world "says" to begin to see this.
In order to face such conflicts day after day, we need to become saturated in God's Word - perhaps as an astronaut is saturated in oxygen. Like an earthly visitor to the moon, we must carry the atmosphere of our Homeland with us. We need to have the voice of God breathed constantly upon us, for there are other voices continually exhorting us to live anywhere at all except in the holiness of God's will.
"Sacred Scripture is the speech of God, and it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit." (Cathecism of the Catholic Church #81)
