THE CHURCH MUST CONSTANTLY RENEW HERSELF

VATICAN CITY, SEP 16, 2005 (VIS) - This morning at Castelgandolfo, the Pope received participants in an international congress on the theme: "Holy Scripture in the Life of the Church." The congress, which is being held in Rome from September 14 - 18, has been jointly organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and by the Catholic Biblical Federation (FBC), for the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of Vatican Council II's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation "Dei Verbum."

  The Pope expressed particular thanks to the FBC for "its activities, the biblical pastoral activity it promotes, its faithful adherence to the indications of the Magisterium, and its openness to ecumenical collaboration in the biblical field." He also expressed his "profound joy" at the presence in the congress of fraternal delegates from Churches and ecclesial communities of the East and the West, and of representatives from the other great religions of the world.

  After recalling his own participation, as a young theologian, in the preparation of "Dei Verbum," Benedict XVI affirmed that "the Church does not live off herself but off the Gospel, and its from the Gospel that, always and anew, she draws guidance for her journey. This is a fact that all Christians must take up and apply to themselves: only those who first dispose themselves to listen to the Word can then begin to announce it."

  "Church and Word of God," the Pope went on, "are inseparably linked. The Church lives off the Word of God, and the Word of God rings out in the Church, in her teaching and in all her life."

  The Pope gave thanks to God because "in recent times, thanks also to the effect of the Dogmatic Constitution 'Dei Verbum,' the fundamental importance of the Word of God has been more profoundly re-evaluated. This has led to renewal in the life of the Church, especially in preaching, catechesis, theology, spirituality, and in the very ecumenical journey itself. The Church must forever renew and rejuvenate herself, and the Word of God, which never ages or expires, is the privileged means to this end."

  Benedict XVI concluded his address by recalling, in this context, "the ancient tradition of 'Lectio divina.' The assiduous study of Holy Scripture, accompanied by prayer, initiates that intimate exchange in which, reading, we listen to God Who speaks and, praying, we reply to him with faithful openness of heart. If effectively promoted, this practice will, I am convinced, bring a new spiritual springtime. As a fixed point in biblical pastoral activity, 'Lectio divina' should, then, be further encouraged, also by the use of new methods, carefully studied and in keeping with the times."
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