Browsing The Seed

Fed by the Word

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus Christ is the Word of God, he gives logic and meaning to our lives and reveals to us the fullness of divinity while at the same time revealing what it means to be fully human. This is why Catholics must live very close to the Word, they must live and breathe the Word, seeking to know Him better, so they can love Him and serve Him, which is the only thing that leads to salvation; only God has “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). If the Word of God is truly “living and active” (Heb 4:12) in our lives, if we are truly being fed by the Word of God and striving to live according to His commands, our hearts will change; they will become soft, they will become hearts of flesh, and He will grow within us. There is a story of a Scripture scholas from our seminary, a priest who was historically known to be somewhat intimidating and stern. After many years of teaching, one of his students said they had been warned that this priest was strict and difficult, but the student discovered the opposite. He asked: “what happened?” Father said: “One can’t read the Scriptures for forty years and their heart not be changed.” God’s Word is really a Word of Life, a transfiguring Word, and the more we are fed by His Word, the more our lives are transfigured. 

Nowhere is this “Word of Life” more present than in the Mass, where we prayerfully meditate on the Word of God in Sacred Scripture, which prepares us to then physically receive the Word of God sacramentally in the Eucharist. At the Second Vatican Council, we were reminded that “The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God's word and of Christ's body” (Dei Verbum, 21). At Mass, we are nourished by God’s Word both in the recitation of and meditation upon the Holy Scriptures, and in the reception of and meditation upon the Holy Eucharist; the Scriptures point towards the Eucharist as to their fulfillment: we first hear God’s Word, so that we can then consume God’s Word. Meditation upon God’s Word prepares our hearts, minds, and souls for deeper communion with God’s Word. Through this communion, our hearts – our whole lives – are transfigured. Isn’t deeper transfiguration in Christ what our whole lives are all about?

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”, says St. Jerome. It stands to reason then that knowledge of Scripture is knowledge of Christ, and love of Scripture is the love of Christ because Scripture points always to Christ, whom we meet sacramentally in the Eucharist. The more we feast upon God’s Word in Sacred Scripture, the more abundantly will we feast upon God’s Word in the Eucharist, which is Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Through our prayerful recitation of the antiphons at the beginning of Mass and at communion, through our prayerful listening during the Liturgy of the Word, our hearts and souls will be augmented – expanded – by God’s own Word in preparation for the moment when we consume God’s Word in the Blessed Sacrament. If this is how we approach the Mass, where we encounter the living Word of God, our hearts cannot remain unchanged. May God bless you in the week ahead and may Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,

Affectionately yours in Christ,

Fr. Hess

 

Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike SchmitzGrow in Faith Resources

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