St. Ignatius proposed a way of reading scripture that puts us in the text by imagining the scene and entering into it. This month is a technique somewhat opposite to that. Rather than imagining a world not our own, we instead re-imagine the text in our own world. For example, if we are reading a passage from one of Paul’s letters, we might imagine a similar situation in our current world and then imagine what Paul might write about it. Or we might reimagine a gospel story taking place today and imagine what Jesus might say or do. Much like transposing music from one key to another, we are left with the same core but a much different sound.
There is no right or wrong way to transpose a passage because we all bring a unique background and perspective to it. Your transpositions will be different than anyone else’s and that is perfectly okay.
Monday
- Read all the Sunday scripture passages in your preferred translation. As always, note words, phrases, and questions that come up in your initial reading.
Tuesday
- Re-read the Old Testament passage and begin to transpose it. What modern stories or situations does it bring to mind? What might the characters do differently or the same? Is there a current situation that reminds you of the story?
- What lessons can you draw from your transposition of the story? How can the transposition enable you to understand God better?
Wednesday
- Repeat with the New Testament passage.
Thursday
- Repeat with the Gospel passage.
Friday
- Look over this week’s work. Does anything stand out? Are there any themes that might be important to pay attention to?
- Consider sharing some of your work with someone else.
Sunday
- Think about the homily and how it enlightens and expands on your work from this week.
- How will what you have learned affect your coming week?
- Is there some action you need to take or a concrete change you want to make?
I am indebted to the work of Michael and Norrisey’s book Prayer and Temperament for this approach.