| Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M.Cap A God of his Word Pontificial Household Preacher Comments on Sunday's Reading |
ROME, JULY 11, 2008 The readings of this Sunday speak of the word of God with two
interlaced images: that of rain and of seed.
In the first reading, Isaiah compares the word of God with rain that falls from heaven and
does not return without watering and helping seeds to grow. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of
the word of God as a seed that falls on different terrains and produces fruit. The word of
God is seed because it generates life and rain that nourishes life, which allows the seed to
grow.
When speaking of the word of God we often take for granted the most moving event of all,
namely, that God speaks. The biblical God is a God who speaks!"
"Our God comes and will not be silent," says Psalm 50; God himself often repeats: "Listen,
my people, I will speak" (Psalm 50:7). In this the Bible sees the clearest difference from the
idols that "have mouths, but do not speak" (Psalm 115).
What meaning should we give such an anthropomorphic expression as "God said to Adam,"
"thus speaks the Lord," "the Lord says," "oracle of the Lord," and others like them?
Obviously it is a way of speaking that is different from the human, a speaking to the ears of
the heart.
God speaks the way he writes! "I will place my law within them," says the prophet Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 31:33). He writes on the heart and he also makes his words resonate in the heart.
He says so expressly himself through the prophet Hosea, speaking of Israel as an unfaithful
bride: "So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart" (Hosea 2:16).
God does not have a human mouth or breath; the prophet is his mouth, the Holy Spirit is his
breath. "You will be my mouth," he himself says to his prophets. He also says "I will put my
word on your lips." This is the meaning of the famous phrase "human beings moved by the
Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God" (2 Peter 1:21). The spiritual tradition of the
Church has coined the expression "interior locutions" for this way of speaking addressed
to the mind and heart.
And yet, it is a speaking in the true sense of the term. The creature receives a message that
can be translated into human words. So alive and real is God's speaking, that the prophet
recalls with precision the place, day and time that a certain word "came" to him. So concrete
is the word of God that it is said it "falls" upon Israel, as if it were a stone (Isaiah 9:7). Or, as
if it were bread that is eaten with pleasure: "When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart," (Jeremiah 15:16).
No human voice comes to man with the depth with which the word of God comes to him.
"Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern
reflections and thoughts of the heart" (Hebrews 4,12). At times God's speaking is a powerful
thunder that "splinters the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 29), at other times it seems like the
"tiny whispering sound" (1 Kings 19:12). It knows all the tones of human speech.
This interior and spiritual nature of God's speaking changes radically the moment that "the
word became flesh." With the coming of Christ, God also speaks with a human voice, which
can be heard not only with the ears of the soul but also of the body.
As we can see, the Bible attributes immense dignity to the word. Attempts have not been
lacking to change the solemn affirmation with which John begins his Gospel: "In the
beginning was the word."
Goethe has his Faust say: "In the beginning, there was action," and it is interesting to see
how the writer comes to this conclusion.
"I cannot give 'the word' such high value," says Faust. "Perhaps I should understand it as
'hearing,' but can hearing be what acts and creates everything? Hence one should say: 'In
the beginning force existed.' But no, a sudden illumination suggested the answer to me: 'In
the beginning, action existed.'"
However, these are unjustified attempts at correction. John's word or logos has all the
meanings that Goethe assigns to the rest of the terms. As we see in the prologue, it is light,
life and creative force.
God created man "in his image" precisely because he created him capable of speaking, of
communicating and of establishing relationships. He, who has in himself from eternity one
word, has created man and gifted him with the word, in order to be, not only "image" but
also "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26). It is not enough for man to speak, but he must imitate
God's speaking. The content and motor of God's speaking is love.
From beginning to end, the Bible is no more than a message of the love of God for his
creatures. The tones might change, from the angry to the tender, but the essence is always
and only love.
God has used the word to communicate life and truth, to instruct and console. This poses
the question: What use do we make of the word? In his play "Closed Doors," Sartre has
given us a striking image of what human communication can become when love is lacking.
Three persons are introduced, in brief intervals, in a room. There are no windows. The light
is at its brightest and there is no possibility to turn it off. There is suffocating heat, and
there is only one seat for each one. The door, of course, is closed. The bell is there but
does not ring. Who are these people?
They are three dead persons, a man and two women, and the place they are in is hell. There
are no mirrors, and they can only see themselves through the words of the others, which
gives them the most horrible image of themselves, without any mercy, on the contrary, with
irony and sarcasm.
When, after a while, their souls became naked to one another and the faults of which they
were ashamed have come into the light one by one and enjoyed by the others without
mercy, one of the individuals says to the other two: "Remember, the brimstone, the flames,
the tortures with fire. All are stupidities. There is no need of torments: Hell is the others."
Abuse of the word can transform life into a hell.
St. Paul gives Christians this golden rule in regard to words: "No foul language should come
out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace
to those who hear" (Ephesians 4, 29). The good word is the one that chooses the positive
side of an action and a person and that, even when it corrects, does not offend. A good
word is one that gives hope. A bad word is every word said without love, to wound and
humiliate one's neighbor. If a bad word comes out of the lips, it will be necessary to retract
it.
Not altogether correct are the verses of the Italian poet Metastasio: "Word that comes from
within, is no longer worth retracting; The arrow cannot be stopped, when it has left the
bow."
A word that issues from the mouth can be retracted, or at least its negative effect can be
limited, by asking for forgiveness. Hence, what a gift it can be for our fellow men and what
an improvement for the quality of life in the heart of the family and of society!
interlaced images: that of rain and of seed.
In the first reading, Isaiah compares the word of God with rain that falls from heaven and
does not return without watering and helping seeds to grow. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of
the word of God as a seed that falls on different terrains and produces fruit. The word of
God is seed because it generates life and rain that nourishes life, which allows the seed to
grow.
When speaking of the word of God we often take for granted the most moving event of all,
namely, that God speaks. The biblical God is a God who speaks!"
"Our God comes and will not be silent," says Psalm 50; God himself often repeats: "Listen,
my people, I will speak" (Psalm 50:7). In this the Bible sees the clearest difference from the
idols that "have mouths, but do not speak" (Psalm 115).
What meaning should we give such an anthropomorphic expression as "God said to Adam,"
"thus speaks the Lord," "the Lord says," "oracle of the Lord," and others like them?
Obviously it is a way of speaking that is different from the human, a speaking to the ears of
the heart.
God speaks the way he writes! "I will place my law within them," says the prophet Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 31:33). He writes on the heart and he also makes his words resonate in the heart.
He says so expressly himself through the prophet Hosea, speaking of Israel as an unfaithful
bride: "So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart" (Hosea 2:16).
God does not have a human mouth or breath; the prophet is his mouth, the Holy Spirit is his
breath. "You will be my mouth," he himself says to his prophets. He also says "I will put my
word on your lips." This is the meaning of the famous phrase "human beings moved by the
Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God" (2 Peter 1:21). The spiritual tradition of the
Church has coined the expression "interior locutions" for this way of speaking addressed
to the mind and heart.
And yet, it is a speaking in the true sense of the term. The creature receives a message that
can be translated into human words. So alive and real is God's speaking, that the prophet
recalls with precision the place, day and time that a certain word "came" to him. So concrete
is the word of God that it is said it "falls" upon Israel, as if it were a stone (Isaiah 9:7). Or, as
if it were bread that is eaten with pleasure: "When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart," (Jeremiah 15:16).
No human voice comes to man with the depth with which the word of God comes to him.
"Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern
reflections and thoughts of the heart" (Hebrews 4,12). At times God's speaking is a powerful
thunder that "splinters the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 29), at other times it seems like the
"tiny whispering sound" (1 Kings 19:12). It knows all the tones of human speech.
This interior and spiritual nature of God's speaking changes radically the moment that "the
word became flesh." With the coming of Christ, God also speaks with a human voice, which
can be heard not only with the ears of the soul but also of the body.
As we can see, the Bible attributes immense dignity to the word. Attempts have not been
lacking to change the solemn affirmation with which John begins his Gospel: "In the
beginning was the word."
Goethe has his Faust say: "In the beginning, there was action," and it is interesting to see
how the writer comes to this conclusion.
"I cannot give 'the word' such high value," says Faust. "Perhaps I should understand it as
'hearing,' but can hearing be what acts and creates everything? Hence one should say: 'In
the beginning force existed.' But no, a sudden illumination suggested the answer to me: 'In
the beginning, action existed.'"
However, these are unjustified attempts at correction. John's word or logos has all the
meanings that Goethe assigns to the rest of the terms. As we see in the prologue, it is light,
life and creative force.
God created man "in his image" precisely because he created him capable of speaking, of
communicating and of establishing relationships. He, who has in himself from eternity one
word, has created man and gifted him with the word, in order to be, not only "image" but
also "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26). It is not enough for man to speak, but he must imitate
God's speaking. The content and motor of God's speaking is love.
From beginning to end, the Bible is no more than a message of the love of God for his
creatures. The tones might change, from the angry to the tender, but the essence is always
and only love.
God has used the word to communicate life and truth, to instruct and console. This poses
the question: What use do we make of the word? In his play "Closed Doors," Sartre has
given us a striking image of what human communication can become when love is lacking.
Three persons are introduced, in brief intervals, in a room. There are no windows. The light
is at its brightest and there is no possibility to turn it off. There is suffocating heat, and
there is only one seat for each one. The door, of course, is closed. The bell is there but
does not ring. Who are these people?
They are three dead persons, a man and two women, and the place they are in is hell. There
are no mirrors, and they can only see themselves through the words of the others, which
gives them the most horrible image of themselves, without any mercy, on the contrary, with
irony and sarcasm.
When, after a while, their souls became naked to one another and the faults of which they
were ashamed have come into the light one by one and enjoyed by the others without
mercy, one of the individuals says to the other two: "Remember, the brimstone, the flames,
the tortures with fire. All are stupidities. There is no need of torments: Hell is the others."
Abuse of the word can transform life into a hell.
St. Paul gives Christians this golden rule in regard to words: "No foul language should come
out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace
to those who hear" (Ephesians 4, 29). The good word is the one that chooses the positive
side of an action and a person and that, even when it corrects, does not offend. A good
word is one that gives hope. A bad word is every word said without love, to wound and
humiliate one's neighbor. If a bad word comes out of the lips, it will be necessary to retract
it.
Not altogether correct are the verses of the Italian poet Metastasio: "Word that comes from
within, is no longer worth retracting; The arrow cannot be stopped, when it has left the
bow."
A word that issues from the mouth can be retracted, or at least its negative effect can be
limited, by asking for forgiveness. Hence, what a gift it can be for our fellow men and what
an improvement for the quality of life in the heart of the family and of society!