Catechesis Notes for the Week— Christian Meditation— “When the language of the catechism is learned by heart, it becomes an indispensable aid in meditation and is continually used by the Holy Spirit for our comfort and to awaken in us new understandings. Christian meditation is to give one’s mind and heart to the contemplation of God’s Word. It is to reflect upon and ponder the Word of God. To put it crassly, Christian meditation is the ‘regurgitation’ of the Word of God. Like a cow that chews her cud, it involves recalling the Word of God that has been previously “implanted” in the heart, for the purpose of receiving from it even greater blessings for our faith and life. This can only happen when the Word of God and the text of the catechism are committed to memory, or ‘learned by heart.’  Unlike other forms of meditation which teach the individual to find renewed strength and peace from that which is within the self, Christian meditation directs us away from our sinful self to find our comfort, strength, and life in the ‘implanted word, which is able to save [our] souls’”— (Excerpted from the Introduction to Lutheran Catechesis, p. 3). The Congregation at Prayer affords us the opportunity to discipline our flesh with the Word of God and prayer. It sets before us regular portions of the Catechism, Bible Verses, Bible Stories, Psalms, and Hymns for meditation and prayer. The table of psalms enables us to pray through the entire Psalter (150 psalms) over a 60-day period. The psalms are God’s Word given us to pray, confess, and sing. They are understood through faith in Christ who learned and prayed them by heart throughout His life. We can pray them through faith in Him since He “carried all our sorrows and infirmities” and was still, for us and for our salvation, the righteous man of faith.

CP260712