Vatican City, 12 September 2014 (VIS) –
This morning the Holy Father met with the participants in the 43rd
National Biblical Week, organised by the Italian Biblical
Association, a meeting that inaugurated the celebrations for the
fiftieth anniversary of the Dogmatic Constitution of Vatican Council
II on the Divine Revelation “Dei Verbum”, promulgated on 18
November 1965.
“Faith, to respond, and so as not to
be suffocated, must be constantly nurtured by the Word of God”,
said the Pope, expressing his esteem and acknowledgement of the
“valuable work” that the Association has carried out through the
teachings of its lecturers and Bible scholars. He continued, “God
has made the most of all the possibilities of human language, but at
the same time He has had to submit His Word to the limitations of
this language. True respect for the inspired Scriptures requires us
to make all the efforts necessary to fully grasp their meaning”. As
it is not possible for every Christian personally to carry out the
research of every type necessary to arrive at a good understanding of
Biblical texts, he added, “this task is entrusted to exegetes,
those who are responsible in this sector for the good of all. ...
Therefore, alongside academic competence, the Catholic exegete needs
above all, faith: received from and shared with all believers who, in
their entirety, cannot be mistaken”.
Pope Francis recalled the words of St.
John Paul II: “to respect the coherence of the faith of the Church
and the inspiration of the Scripture, Catholic exegesis must be
careful not merely to comply with the human aspects of biblical
texts. First and foremost, exegesis must help Christian people to
perceive more clearly the Word of God in these texts, so as to accept
it better, to live fully in communion with God. … Naturally it is
necessary for the exegete to know how to perceive the Divine Word in
the texts, and this is possible only if his spiritual life is
fervent, rich in dialogue with the Lord; otherwise exegetic research
remains incomplete, and the main objective is lost from sight”.
Returning to the words of St. John Paul
II, Francis remarked, “To arrive at a fully valid interpretation of
the words inspired by the Holy Spirit, we ourselves must be guided by
the Holy Spirit; and for this we must pray, and ask in prayer for the
inner light of the Spirit and accept this light with docility; we
must ask for love, as love alone makes us able to understand the
language of God, which is love”. He added, “Our Lady teaches us
to fully welcome the Word of God, not only through intellectual
research, but in all our life”, and concluded by giving his
blessing to those present.
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