At the table of the Bread and the word
PART III LITURGY OF THE WORD
A. GOD IS TALKING TO US
Only God knew with how much impatience the disciples gathered in the Upper Room were waiting for the arrival of the Lord. They did not know why and what, but they were sure something very important was going to happen. The Master had told them to prepare everything for the celebration of the Passover.
When Jesus arrived, they received him as usual, perhaps with a mixture of that sweet and gentle fear that the presence of the supernatural produces in the human soul. Surely, they must have been grateful to God for having given them the chance of sitting at table once more with the person for whom mankind had been yearning for centuries. And he precisely addressed himself to them before anyone else. They could not explain why he had chosen them; there was no human explanation for it. But they constantly gave thanks to God for the election. Their countenances showed their intimate joy.
Had they known their unworthiness, they would have fled in shame. But they also knew that Jesus came to heal the sick and the weak. So, there they remained, perhaps feeling more in need than anybody else. After all it was the Master who sought them and chose them. He knew pretty well what he was doing. Their role was simply to allow themselves to be loved and to exert every effort to correspond to that love.
At the table of the Bread and the word
I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst (Jn 6:35).
* * *
As soon as Jesus arrived in the Upper Room, all sat down and focused on him all their power of concentration. Then, the Master began to speak at length, as he had spoken on other occasions: at the foot of the mountain, in the synagogue, from a boat in the middle of the lake, perhaps in someone’s house.... But this time, there was such an atmosphere of intimacy....
In the Mass, after having welcomed him with joy and purified our love through our contrition, we are ready to listen to Jesus. Like the apostles before the Last Supper, we too are going to sit down. The Master is going to talk to us—by means of the sacred readings of the Mass. By faith we know that when the Scriptures are read in the Church, God himself is speaking to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, is proclaiming the Gospel.[1]
Besides his Eucharistic presence, “in another very genuine way, Christ is also present in the Church as she preaches. For the Gospel which she proclaims is the word of God, and it is only in the name of Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, and only by his authority and with his help that it is preached, so that there might be ‘one flock resting secure in one shepherd.’”[2]
In the teachings of Christ, and particularly in his crucifixion, divine revelation reaches its peak.[3] The liturgy of the word serves, then, as a preparation for the Eucharistic liturgy: “When therefore the faithful hear the word of God, they should realize that the wonders it proclaims culminate in the paschal mystery, whose memorial is celebrated sacramentally in the Mass.”[4]
The mystery of salvation is announced in the Mass with the proclamation of the word. Afterwards, during the Eucharistic liturgy, what has been announced becomes reality. This way the bond between the word and the Eucharistic action (which culminates with the Consecration) becomes evident. Word and action, therefore, are united. The word announces and explains the action, and the latter brings to fulfillment what has been announced with the word. For, in “the celebration of the Mass... it is the purpose of the liturgy of the word to develop the close connection between the preaching and hearing of the word of God and the Eucharistic mystery.”[5] The sacraments are sacraments of faith and faith has its origin and sustenance in the word.
This link between the liturgy of the word and the sacrifice can help us understand how we should participate in this preliminary part of the Eucharistic celebration as a manifestation of the common priesthood we possess as faithful. Only if we receive the message with fitting dispositions during the readings shall we be present at the Eucharistic Prayer with the necessary faith and love to offer ourselves with Christ and to be intimately united to him during Communion.
In ancient times, the catechumens were allowed to attend only the first part of the Mass. They were not permitted to participate in the true core of Christian worship, because they had not yet been baptized and therefore did not possess the royal priesthood. As catechumens, they were allowed to be present only during the catechetical part—that is, during the readings and explanations of the word of God.
What a pity if during the first part of the Mass we were just waiting for the offering of the gifts—as if the Offertory were the real beginning of the Mass. We cannot keep the attitude of being satisfied as long as we arrive not later than “after the Creed,” as often happened in old times.
The importance we give to the word of God should not obscure the value of the Eucharistic liturgy. Neither should we fall into the opposite error, because the Church has always venerated the Sacred Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord. Especially in her liturgy, the Church unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the Bread of life from the table of God’s word and the table of Christ’s body.[6]
The reading of the Sacred Books is especially necessary in this age of the internet, when the concept of “book” already begins to escape us. The liturgy of the word must again shape the reading and understanding of the Bible. The readings and texts of the Mass, which vary according to the feasts or periods of the year, effectively require a sort of community “lectio divina,” a docility in the interpretation of the event or feast celebrated, which we must call contemplative. Thus, everything is continually brought back to the mystical center of the Christian faith, the sacrifice that Christ accomplished by dying on the cross, and to the new life of his resurrection.
The first Christians understood this reality very well. Apart from the celebration of the Eucharist, they gathered together to listen with veneration to the Sacred Scriptures. Nowadays the Church continues to recommend the liturgical celebrations of the word. For “the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life.” Through this word, “the voice of the Holy Spirit sounds again and again in the words of the prophets and apostles.”[7]
Sacred Scriptures, the way to know God
As the Constitution on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council teaches us, God wanted to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will (see Eph 1:9). His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature. By this revelation, then, the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and stays among them to invite and receive them into his own company.[8] This is how, without looking for it or deserving it, we got to know the intimate truth, both about God and our own salvation.
This truth is made known to us through the Sacred Scriptures which, together with the sacred Tradition, “are like a mirror, in which the Church, during its pilgrim journey here on earth, contemplates God, from whom she receives everything, until such time as she is brought to see him face to face as he really is.”[9]
What we hear during the liturgy of the word is truth about God and the narrative of the marvels God performed among men. Its culmination is the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ, which is perpetuated in the Eucharist.
Therefore, the central theme of the readings is always Christ. As an innocent lamb, he merited life for us by his blood, which he freely shed. In him, God reconciled us with himself and with one another, freeing us from the bondage of the devil and sin. By suffering for us, he not only gave us an example that we could follow, but also opened up a way. If we follow this path, life and death are made holy and take on a new meaning.[10]
All the readings, both of the Old and the New Testaments, are oriented toward Christ. In his wisdom, God has so brought it about that the New Testament should be hidden in the Old Testament, and that the Old Testament should be made manifest in the New. Hence, the New Testament sheds light on and explains what was earlier announced and signified with different figures in the Old Testament.[11]
We will get to know Christ better by listening to the reading of the Holy Scriptures with pious attention. Our lives are linked to his life because we must transform ourselves into him to be pleasing to God the Father. By carefully listening to the word of God and reflecting on it, we will realize who and how Christ was, what he said and did, what he expects of us, and how we are to go about accomplishing the task he entrusted to us. Gradually, we will enter into the intimacy of God and discover the meaning of our own existence. And, as a consequence, we will get to know how to do—always and in everything—the will of God.
Actual, life‑giving word
But that is not all. We cannot be satisfied with having at our disposal a divine means to know what God’s love did for men in the past.
Certainly, that is not a little gift at all. But reality goes beyond that. The word of God, proclaimed by the Church, does not only tell us of what happened in times past. No, it is not something lost in history. It is something that is being accomplished and fulfilled today, here and now, because God continues his work of salvation through the ministry of his Mystical Body. In the word of God the divine covenant is announced; in the Eucharist the new and everlasting covenant is renewed. We know very well that in any Mass being said right now, the sacrifice of Calvary, with all its sanctifying power, is being renewed. And this renewal of the paschal event brings with it the actualization of the history of salvation in a mysterious but living and efficacious manner. This is why the Mass sums up the entire history of salvation as its source and apex.
With the eyes of our faith, we may now contemplate Jesus of Nazareth in the synagogue proclaiming, “This scripture which I have read in your hearing is today fulfilled” (Lk 4:21).
Actually, it is as it sounds. Here and now, in this temple where we are gathered, the announcements of the prophets and the events narrated by the evangelists are accomplished. Here, too, God the Father comes to meet his children through Christ. In this Mass, God asks us: Do you love me? Do you want to be my disciple? Do you want to have part with me in eternal life? Are you ready to accompany me in the holocaust of the cross?
If we are to grow in the knowledge of the written word of God, we must prepare ourselves by prayer so that we may receive the light that the Holy Spirit is always ready to freely grant us. The way to a more effective understanding of holy Scripture—by reading, meditating, and studying—lies in a more intense life of prayer and a greater intimacy in dealing with God. A profound understanding of the word of God cannot be found in philology, archaeology, sociology, psychology, or any other human science; it can only be found with the light that God gives us when there is holiness of life. We need the humility that comes from dealing with God in our prayer to be able to walk in the brilliant light of faith without being blinded. Only piety can confer certain connaturality and put us at ease with divine things; no rational schemes can do that for us.[12]
This word, being actual, living, and efficacious, has the power to transform, modify, and change the face of heaven and earth. It does not only announce and communicate a message, but also produces always the effect wanted by God.
“It is not a matter of just thinking about Jesus, of recalling some scenes of his life. We must be completely involved and play a part in his life. We should follow him as closely as Mary his Mother did, as closely as the first twelve, the holy women, the crowds that pressed about him. If we do this without holding back, Christ’s words will enter deep into our soul and will really change us.”[13]
Today, as always, the word of God continues to exert its influence on the evolution of history. It can change the direction of the entire world. It can change our life. And it is precisely the force of this word that turns the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, thus making the paschal event present and renewing the work of our redemption.
The right interpretation
The word of God has to be accepted joyfully as it is proposed for belief by the teaching authority of the Church. The message of God contained in the Scriptures will be clear and unmistakable to each one of us, if we allow ourselves to be guided and illumined by the Magisterium of the Church. Pope Paul VI emphasized to the theologians:
It is logical, then, for us to follow the Magisterium of the Church as a guiding star in carrying on our investigations into these mysteries, for the divine Redeemer has entrusted the safeguarding and the explanation of the written or transmitted word of God to her. And we are convinced that “whatever has been preached and believed throughout the whole Church with true catholic faith since the days of antiquity is true, even if it not be subject to rational investigation, and even if it not be explained in words.”[14]
We cannot ignore or push aside the guidance of the Church if we want to know what God is telling us. The theologian, the exegete, the ordinary Christian must render “obedience to faith” (Rom 16:26), within the one true Church established by Jesus Christ, if they are to rightly understand the word of God. They must accept on faith the canonical and historical character of Scriptures, as well as its immunity from error, its authenticity, and its inspired character, precisely as the Church so teaches. They must approach the Bible with faith in God, who is its principal author and who guarantees its freedom from error. This faith is only possible within the Church, and furthermore it is incompatible with error.
We need a great faith to realize that we possess the truth. God cannot allow that the things his Church has been teaching for twenty centuries with the assistance of the Holy Spirit should be permeated with error. So many martyrs have given their lives for these truths. So many of our ancestors have found the reason of their existence in upholding the true faith and transmitting it to us.
The word of God is also judgment
We should not forget that when we have heard the word of God, we can no longer be the same persons we were before. Either we allow ourselves to be captivated and transformed by it, or we resist its action, thus despising the hand of God. This is what we mean by saying that the word of God is also judgment. It serves as a condemnation if we do not accept the salvation it offers; for the Lord said,
“Had I not performed such works among them as no one has ever done before, and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they do not have excuse for their sin.” (Jn 15:24).
In considering these facts, it is fitting that we dispose ourselves to listen to the word of God with the simplicity with which our Blessed Mother listened to Jesus in Nazareth; with the admiration of the doctors of the Law in the Temple; with the joyful hope of the paralytics who were cured upon listening to the words of Jesus; with the generous disposition of Zacchaeus, firmly resolved to put into practice the teaching he had just received, even though it may change the course of his life and be exposed to shame.
It is now time to be attentive to the proclamation of the word, with full piety, telling our Lord with a sincere heart: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (2 Sam 3:10).
Footnotes:
[1]GIRM, no. 9; GIRM3, no. 29.
[2]MF, no. 37.
[3]See Heb 1:1‑2.
[4]Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on Eucharistic Worship Eucharisticum Mysterium, 25 May 1967, no. 10.
[5]Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 10; see also PO, no. 4.
[6]See Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum [=DV], no. 21.
[7]DV, no. 21.
[8]DV, no. 2.
[9]DV, no. 7.
[10]Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Gaudium et Spes [=GS], no. 22.
[11]DV, nos. 15‑16.
[12]See Leo XIII, Enc. Providentissimus Deus, 18 November 1893; Pius XII, Enc. Divino Afflante Spiritu, 30 September 1943.
[13]St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, no. 107.
[14]MF, no. 22. Quotation from St Augustine, Against Julian, VI, 5.11; PL 44:829.
A. GOD IS TALKING TO US
Only God knew with how much impatience the disciples gathered in the Upper Room were waiting for the arrival of the Lord. They did not know why and what, but they were sure something very important was going to happen. The Master had told them to prepare everything for the celebration of the Passover.
When Jesus arrived, they received him as usual, perhaps with a mixture of that sweet and gentle fear that the presence of the supernatural produces in the human soul. Surely, they must have been grateful to God for having given them the chance of sitting at table once more with the person for whom mankind had been yearning for centuries. And he precisely addressed himself to them before anyone else. They could not explain why he had chosen them; there was no human explanation for it. But they constantly gave thanks to God for the election. Their countenances showed their intimate joy.
Had they known their unworthiness, they would have fled in shame. But they also knew that Jesus came to heal the sick and the weak. So, there they remained, perhaps feeling more in need than anybody else. After all it was the Master who sought them and chose them. He knew pretty well what he was doing. Their role was simply to allow themselves to be loved and to exert every effort to correspond to that love.
At the table of the Bread and the word
I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst (Jn 6:35).
* * *
As soon as Jesus arrived in the Upper Room, all sat down and focused on him all their power of concentration. Then, the Master began to speak at length, as he had spoken on other occasions: at the foot of the mountain, in the synagogue, from a boat in the middle of the lake, perhaps in someone’s house.... But this time, there was such an atmosphere of intimacy....
In the Mass, after having welcomed him with joy and purified our love through our contrition, we are ready to listen to Jesus. Like the apostles before the Last Supper, we too are going to sit down. The Master is going to talk to us—by means of the sacred readings of the Mass. By faith we know that when the Scriptures are read in the Church, God himself is speaking to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, is proclaiming the Gospel.[1]
Besides his Eucharistic presence, “in another very genuine way, Christ is also present in the Church as she preaches. For the Gospel which she proclaims is the word of God, and it is only in the name of Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, and only by his authority and with his help that it is preached, so that there might be ‘one flock resting secure in one shepherd.’”[2]
In the teachings of Christ, and particularly in his crucifixion, divine revelation reaches its peak.[3] The liturgy of the word serves, then, as a preparation for the Eucharistic liturgy: “When therefore the faithful hear the word of God, they should realize that the wonders it proclaims culminate in the paschal mystery, whose memorial is celebrated sacramentally in the Mass.”[4]
The mystery of salvation is announced in the Mass with the proclamation of the word. Afterwards, during the Eucharistic liturgy, what has been announced becomes reality. This way the bond between the word and the Eucharistic action (which culminates with the Consecration) becomes evident. Word and action, therefore, are united. The word announces and explains the action, and the latter brings to fulfillment what has been announced with the word. For, in “the celebration of the Mass... it is the purpose of the liturgy of the word to develop the close connection between the preaching and hearing of the word of God and the Eucharistic mystery.”[5] The sacraments are sacraments of faith and faith has its origin and sustenance in the word.
This link between the liturgy of the word and the sacrifice can help us understand how we should participate in this preliminary part of the Eucharistic celebration as a manifestation of the common priesthood we possess as faithful. Only if we receive the message with fitting dispositions during the readings shall we be present at the Eucharistic Prayer with the necessary faith and love to offer ourselves with Christ and to be intimately united to him during Communion.
In ancient times, the catechumens were allowed to attend only the first part of the Mass. They were not permitted to participate in the true core of Christian worship, because they had not yet been baptized and therefore did not possess the royal priesthood. As catechumens, they were allowed to be present only during the catechetical part—that is, during the readings and explanations of the word of God.
What a pity if during the first part of the Mass we were just waiting for the offering of the gifts—as if the Offertory were the real beginning of the Mass. We cannot keep the attitude of being satisfied as long as we arrive not later than “after the Creed,” as often happened in old times.
The importance we give to the word of God should not obscure the value of the Eucharistic liturgy. Neither should we fall into the opposite error, because the Church has always venerated the Sacred Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord. Especially in her liturgy, the Church unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the Bread of life from the table of God’s word and the table of Christ’s body.[6]
The reading of the Sacred Books is especially necessary in this age of the internet, when the concept of “book” already begins to escape us. The liturgy of the word must again shape the reading and understanding of the Bible. The readings and texts of the Mass, which vary according to the feasts or periods of the year, effectively require a sort of community “lectio divina,” a docility in the interpretation of the event or feast celebrated, which we must call contemplative. Thus, everything is continually brought back to the mystical center of the Christian faith, the sacrifice that Christ accomplished by dying on the cross, and to the new life of his resurrection.
The first Christians understood this reality very well. Apart from the celebration of the Eucharist, they gathered together to listen with veneration to the Sacred Scriptures. Nowadays the Church continues to recommend the liturgical celebrations of the word. For “the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life.” Through this word, “the voice of the Holy Spirit sounds again and again in the words of the prophets and apostles.”[7]
Sacred Scriptures, the way to know God
As the Constitution on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council teaches us, God wanted to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will (see Eph 1:9). His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature. By this revelation, then, the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and stays among them to invite and receive them into his own company.[8] This is how, without looking for it or deserving it, we got to know the intimate truth, both about God and our own salvation.
This truth is made known to us through the Sacred Scriptures which, together with the sacred Tradition, “are like a mirror, in which the Church, during its pilgrim journey here on earth, contemplates God, from whom she receives everything, until such time as she is brought to see him face to face as he really is.”[9]
What we hear during the liturgy of the word is truth about God and the narrative of the marvels God performed among men. Its culmination is the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ, which is perpetuated in the Eucharist.
Therefore, the central theme of the readings is always Christ. As an innocent lamb, he merited life for us by his blood, which he freely shed. In him, God reconciled us with himself and with one another, freeing us from the bondage of the devil and sin. By suffering for us, he not only gave us an example that we could follow, but also opened up a way. If we follow this path, life and death are made holy and take on a new meaning.[10]
All the readings, both of the Old and the New Testaments, are oriented toward Christ. In his wisdom, God has so brought it about that the New Testament should be hidden in the Old Testament, and that the Old Testament should be made manifest in the New. Hence, the New Testament sheds light on and explains what was earlier announced and signified with different figures in the Old Testament.[11]
We will get to know Christ better by listening to the reading of the Holy Scriptures with pious attention. Our lives are linked to his life because we must transform ourselves into him to be pleasing to God the Father. By carefully listening to the word of God and reflecting on it, we will realize who and how Christ was, what he said and did, what he expects of us, and how we are to go about accomplishing the task he entrusted to us. Gradually, we will enter into the intimacy of God and discover the meaning of our own existence. And, as a consequence, we will get to know how to do—always and in everything—the will of God.
Actual, life‑giving word
But that is not all. We cannot be satisfied with having at our disposal a divine means to know what God’s love did for men in the past.
Certainly, that is not a little gift at all. But reality goes beyond that. The word of God, proclaimed by the Church, does not only tell us of what happened in times past. No, it is not something lost in history. It is something that is being accomplished and fulfilled today, here and now, because God continues his work of salvation through the ministry of his Mystical Body. In the word of God the divine covenant is announced; in the Eucharist the new and everlasting covenant is renewed. We know very well that in any Mass being said right now, the sacrifice of Calvary, with all its sanctifying power, is being renewed. And this renewal of the paschal event brings with it the actualization of the history of salvation in a mysterious but living and efficacious manner. This is why the Mass sums up the entire history of salvation as its source and apex.
With the eyes of our faith, we may now contemplate Jesus of Nazareth in the synagogue proclaiming, “This scripture which I have read in your hearing is today fulfilled” (Lk 4:21).
Actually, it is as it sounds. Here and now, in this temple where we are gathered, the announcements of the prophets and the events narrated by the evangelists are accomplished. Here, too, God the Father comes to meet his children through Christ. In this Mass, God asks us: Do you love me? Do you want to be my disciple? Do you want to have part with me in eternal life? Are you ready to accompany me in the holocaust of the cross?
If we are to grow in the knowledge of the written word of God, we must prepare ourselves by prayer so that we may receive the light that the Holy Spirit is always ready to freely grant us. The way to a more effective understanding of holy Scripture—by reading, meditating, and studying—lies in a more intense life of prayer and a greater intimacy in dealing with God. A profound understanding of the word of God cannot be found in philology, archaeology, sociology, psychology, or any other human science; it can only be found with the light that God gives us when there is holiness of life. We need the humility that comes from dealing with God in our prayer to be able to walk in the brilliant light of faith without being blinded. Only piety can confer certain connaturality and put us at ease with divine things; no rational schemes can do that for us.[12]
This word, being actual, living, and efficacious, has the power to transform, modify, and change the face of heaven and earth. It does not only announce and communicate a message, but also produces always the effect wanted by God.
“It is not a matter of just thinking about Jesus, of recalling some scenes of his life. We must be completely involved and play a part in his life. We should follow him as closely as Mary his Mother did, as closely as the first twelve, the holy women, the crowds that pressed about him. If we do this without holding back, Christ’s words will enter deep into our soul and will really change us.”[13]
Today, as always, the word of God continues to exert its influence on the evolution of history. It can change the direction of the entire world. It can change our life. And it is precisely the force of this word that turns the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, thus making the paschal event present and renewing the work of our redemption.
The right interpretation
The word of God has to be accepted joyfully as it is proposed for belief by the teaching authority of the Church. The message of God contained in the Scriptures will be clear and unmistakable to each one of us, if we allow ourselves to be guided and illumined by the Magisterium of the Church. Pope Paul VI emphasized to the theologians:
It is logical, then, for us to follow the Magisterium of the Church as a guiding star in carrying on our investigations into these mysteries, for the divine Redeemer has entrusted the safeguarding and the explanation of the written or transmitted word of God to her. And we are convinced that “whatever has been preached and believed throughout the whole Church with true catholic faith since the days of antiquity is true, even if it not be subject to rational investigation, and even if it not be explained in words.”[14]
We cannot ignore or push aside the guidance of the Church if we want to know what God is telling us. The theologian, the exegete, the ordinary Christian must render “obedience to faith” (Rom 16:26), within the one true Church established by Jesus Christ, if they are to rightly understand the word of God. They must accept on faith the canonical and historical character of Scriptures, as well as its immunity from error, its authenticity, and its inspired character, precisely as the Church so teaches. They must approach the Bible with faith in God, who is its principal author and who guarantees its freedom from error. This faith is only possible within the Church, and furthermore it is incompatible with error.
We need a great faith to realize that we possess the truth. God cannot allow that the things his Church has been teaching for twenty centuries with the assistance of the Holy Spirit should be permeated with error. So many martyrs have given their lives for these truths. So many of our ancestors have found the reason of their existence in upholding the true faith and transmitting it to us.
The word of God is also judgment
We should not forget that when we have heard the word of God, we can no longer be the same persons we were before. Either we allow ourselves to be captivated and transformed by it, or we resist its action, thus despising the hand of God. This is what we mean by saying that the word of God is also judgment. It serves as a condemnation if we do not accept the salvation it offers; for the Lord said,
“Had I not performed such works among them as no one has ever done before, and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they do not have excuse for their sin.” (Jn 15:24).
In considering these facts, it is fitting that we dispose ourselves to listen to the word of God with the simplicity with which our Blessed Mother listened to Jesus in Nazareth; with the admiration of the doctors of the Law in the Temple; with the joyful hope of the paralytics who were cured upon listening to the words of Jesus; with the generous disposition of Zacchaeus, firmly resolved to put into practice the teaching he had just received, even though it may change the course of his life and be exposed to shame.
It is now time to be attentive to the proclamation of the word, with full piety, telling our Lord with a sincere heart: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (2 Sam 3:10).
Footnotes:
[1]GIRM, no. 9; GIRM3, no. 29.
[2]MF, no. 37.
[3]See Heb 1:1‑2.
[4]Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on Eucharistic Worship Eucharisticum Mysterium, 25 May 1967, no. 10.
[5]Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 10; see also PO, no. 4.
[6]See Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum [=DV], no. 21.
[7]DV, no. 21.
[8]DV, no. 2.
[9]DV, no. 7.
[10]Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Gaudium et Spes [=GS], no. 22.
[11]DV, nos. 15‑16.
[12]See Leo XIII, Enc. Providentissimus Deus, 18 November 1893; Pius XII, Enc. Divino Afflante Spiritu, 30 September 1943.
[13]St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, no. 107.
[14]MF, no. 22. Quotation from St Augustine, Against Julian, VI, 5.11; PL 44:829.