Here is a personal summary of the "Message of the Synod on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church", approved Friday, October 24, 2008, at the end of the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The fathers we propose a spiritual journey in four stages.
I. THE VOICE OF THE WORD: THE REVELATION
a) Establishment: The first revelation of God is the book of creation where we can read the message of God the Creator.
b) History: The Word of God is at work and saving in the history of humans. There is a divine presence in human events, are recorded in a loving plan, a plan of salvation.
c) The Holy Scriptures: The Word of God is also manifested in the Scriptures that are proving a memorial event for the creative and saving revelation. The Word of God precedes and goes beyond the written Bible, but which is inspired by God and having God's word effectively.
d) The Person of Jesus Christ: Our faith is not only centered on a book but a history of salvation and a person, Jesus Christ reveals the Father, the Word of God made flesh.
e) Tradition: Because the horizon of the divine word embraces and extends beyond of Scripture, the constant presence of the Spirit is necessary. The great tradition is the effective presence of the Spirit in the Church, the guardian and communicator of Scripture.
II. THE FACE OF THE WORD: JESUS CHRIST
In Jesus Christ, therefore, the eternal and divine Word enters into space and time, makes a face and assumes a human identity ("the Word became flesh") .
The Christian tradition has often paralleled the Divine Word made flesh with the same word made book. "The words of God expressed in human language, have been made like the language of men, as the word of the Eternal Father, having assumed the weaknesses of human nature, became like men. "(Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 13)
This" bodily "dimension that Scripture requires analysis historical and literary (biblical exegesis). Exegetical knowledge must fit into the spiritual and theological tradition, that is not broken the divine and human unity of Jesus Christ and Scripture.
All Scripture reveals one dialogue between God and humanity, extended in time, in one plan of salvation. Because at the heart of Revelation, there is the Word of God in Jesus Christ now face the ultimate aim of knowledge of the Bible is contact with an Event, the encounter with a Person.
III. THE HOUSE OF THE WORD: THE CHURCH
The Church continues to be the guardian, the herald and interpreter of the Word. "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, faithful to the fellowship, the breaking of bread and in prayers." (Acts 2:42) Four columns supporting the house of the Word is the Church.
a) The Church House the Word, comes the voice teacher who offers all the Kerygma, primary and fundamental announcement of salvation. Then resounds in the Church catechism, intended to deepen in the Christian understanding of the mystery of Christ in light of the Word. The highest point of preaching is the homily, where the minister should be transformed into a prophet.
b) In the Church, home of the Word, the breaking of the Eucharistic Bread succeeds the homily. "The Church has always shown its respect for the Scriptures, as against Body of the Lord himself, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly to make the bread of life and present it to the faithful at the table of the Word of God as the Body of Christ. "( Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 21)
c) The third pillar of the Church, home of the Word, consists of prayers. A privileged place is naturally taken by the Liturgy of the Hours and community celebrations of the Word and the practice of lectio divina (prayerful reading of sacred texts, meditation, prayer and contemplation).
d) The last pillar that supports the Church, home of the Word, is the fellowship. To become brothers and sisters of Jesus, we must be "those who hear the Word of God and put into practice." (Luke 8, 21) The other Churches and ecclesial communities share our love and veneration of the Word of God, the source and a first and real unity.
IV. THE ROADS OF THE WORD: THE MISSION
communication, nowadays, lies in a network that envelops the globe. The voice of the Divine Word must resonate over the radio, the Internet, CDs, DVDs, etc.. It should appear on television screens and film, print, au sein des événements culturels et sociaux. En un temps dominé par l’image, le modèle privilégié par le Christ est encore aujourd’hui significatif et suggestif: il avait recours au symbole, à la narration, à l’exemple, à l’expérience quotidienne, à la parabole.
La famille est un espace fondamental dans lequel doit entrer la Parole de Dieu. La transmission de la Parole de Dieu se fait à travers la lignée des générations, ce qui fait que les parents deviennent les premiers à faire connaître la foi.
Dans les Écritures, ce qui domine surtout est la figure du Christ, lui qui débute son ministère public par une annonce d’espérance: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." (Luke 4: 18-19) In his solidarity of love and sacrifice himself, Christ shall, within the limit and in the evil of humanity, a seed of divinity, a principle of freedom, giving us the dawn of resurrection. The Christian has the mission to proclaim God's word of hope by sharing with the poor, by the testimony of his faith in the Kingdom, through the loving closeness with the suffering.
On the paths of the world, the divine word generates an encounter and dialogue with the Jewish people first, and with Islam, the great religious traditions of the East, traditional religions, etc.. The Bible is necessary not only to believers but to all, to rediscover the authentic meanings of various cultural expressions and above all to find our own historical identity, civil, human and spiritual.
But the Word of God is not chained to a culture. The Church must enter the Word of God in the plurality of cultures and express it according to their languages, their concepts, their symbols and their religious traditions, while retaining the true essence its contents. The Church must shine the values that the Word of God offers to all cultures, so they may be purified and fruitful. CONCLUSION
Let us approach the table of the Word of God, so we eat and to live. Let the Word of God resound at the beginning of our day that God has the first word and let it echo in us in the evening so that the last word belongs to God.
