God’s Word is a source of life
The Word of God is the primary source of all Christian spiritual life . It sustains a personal relationship with the living God and with his saving and sanctifying will. That is why the Study of the Word is held in the highest regard in all religious communities. Through Study, the Word of God is transferred to life, projecting upon it the light of wisdom, which is the gift of the Spirit.
Illustrative Photo: Wesley Almeida / cancaonova.com
Sacred Scripture is useful for teaching (2 Tim. 3:16) and a pure and everlasting source of spiritual life. For this reason, it will be of great benefit for consecrated persons to make the object of constant meditation the evangelical texts that illustrate the words and examples of Christ and the Virgin Mary . They were constantly referred to by the founders and founders of religious communities, in welcoming their vocation and in discerning the charism and mission of the Institute itself.
Inexhaustible treasure
Of great value is the community meditation of the Bible. Accomplished according to the possibilities and circumstances of community life, it leads to the happy sharing of the riches found in the Bible , thanks to which brothers and sisters grow together and help each other to progress in the spiritual life. As the spiritual tradition teaches, the meditation on the Word of God and, in particular, the mysteries of Christ, the intensity of contemplation and the ardor of apostolic action are born.
Both in contemplative and apostolic religious life , it has always been men and women of prayer who have performed great works as interpreters and executors of God’s will. From their coexistence with the Word of God, they obtained the necessary light for that individual and community discernment that helped them to seek, in the signs of the times, the ways of the Lord. They thus acquired a kind of supernatural instinct, which allowed them not to conform to the mentality of this world, but to renew their own minds in order to be able to discern the will of God, what is good, what is pleasant and perfect (cf. Rom 12) ,2).
Read more:
.: The Bible should be read and interpreted according to the Spirit who inspired it
.: Learn Monsignor Jonas Abib’s method of reading the Bible
.: Where to start a Bible study?
.: Seven attitudes of women in the Bible that every Christian should imitate
God speaks to us
We need to enter the mystery of God through His Word, because it serves to help the consecrated person to understand when God speaks, when He communicates. It is entering into the logic of God, meeting Him and listening to Him for your life and for your community. To be ignorant of the Word of God is to be ignorant of Him. Consecrated persons must be teachers of the Word.
The Lord is telling us that we are His and that we need to do otherwise. As He himself speaks to us through the Gospel : “It is not enough to tell me: ‘Lord, Lord!’ to enter the Kingdom of Heaven; it is necessary to do the will of my Father who is in heaven (Mt 7,21 s). In another excerpt, when a woman said to Jesus: “Blessed are the breasts that breastfed you”. He said: “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice” (cf. Lk 11,27-28).
Living the Word
Jesus recognizes the one who does the Word, and who therefore does the will of God. He says to others, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who commit iniquity. There is nothing worse than knowing the Word of God and not putting it into practice ”. There was the ruin of the scribes, Pharisees, doctors of the law and priests. At that time, every priest received the anointing. Therefore, they were consecrated and knew everything, but they did not do it.
As Jesus himself says: do not be like the Pharisees, the doctors of the law. Therefore, do and observe whatever they say to you, but do not be regulated by their actions, for they say and do not do. Today, the Lord is calling us to be doers of the Word.
