Lectio Divina and mental prayer can help us raise virtues in the garden of God.

Dan Burke

Who is Dan Burke?

Dan Burke is the founder and President of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation. It offers graduate and personal enrichment studies in spiritual theology to priests, deacons, religious, and laity in 72 countries and prepares men for seminary in 14 dioceses.

Additionally, Dan is the author and editor of over 15 books on authentic Catholic spirituality. He hosts the Divine Intimacy Radio show with his wife, Stephanie, broadcast weekly on EWTN Radio. Past episodes can be found, along with thousands of articles on the interior life, at SpiritualDirection.com.

In his deep commitment to the advancement of faithful Catholic spirituality, he is also the founder of Apostoli Viae. It’s a world-wide, private association of the faithful dedicated to living and advancing the authentic spiritual patrimony of the Church.

Most importantly, Dan is a blessed husband, father of four, grandfather of one—and grateful to be Catholic.

Deeper in Scripture Through Lectio Divina

In this episode, I talk to Dan Burke about mental prayer and Lectio Divina. He explains:
-What is the need for us to pray with Scripture?
-What is Lectio Divina?
-How do we start this practice or the steps?
-What is the advantage of doing this? How does it help spiritually?

I was looking to strengthen my Lenten season with Lectio. I’ve mentioned my struggles with it during the podcast. And Dan had written a wonderful post introducing people to it. I didn’t read much about him except that he had moved and founded his own institute. Even as I spoke to him I didn’t realize who he was until I listened to the podcast today again. In his intro he mentions he used to be the head of EWTN news. And I remember telling my mother and she said wow!

Anyways, I was blessed to talk and listen to him. He addresses my own struggles with mental prayer by saying,

“For every year of our lives, we’re allocated a thousand monkeys and these monkeys drive us crazy.”

Dan Burke

And it’s so true, since I find all my worries piling over when I take up my rosary or even sit down to pray. Dan suggests we do it first thing in the morning when the monkeys are groggy. It’s funny but also true. When I attend mass in the mornings, I’m more alert with prayer. By evening I can’t wait for it to be over: AMEN!!!! Who’s felt like this? I encourage you to take up Lectio Divina and mental prayer. Especially, since the sacraments are difficult to attend during this chaotic time.

RESOURCES

In order to read more about Lectio Divina here are a few resources that can be helpful.

1. Into the Deep by Dan Burke
2. The Better Part by Fr John Bartunek

This is our 60th podcast and I should be celebrating this milestone. However, since it’s Lent we’re keeping in mind the spirit of the season.

ENJOYED THIS PODCAST?

We hope you enjoyed this podcast. Check out our podcasts on St Teresa of Avila and Lenten Questions for Self Reflection.If you liked this podcast, like us, leave us a comment and share our episodes on social media with those who may benefit from it. If there is a particular saint that you would like to hear about us, tell us and we’ll add him or her to our future episodes.

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