A Word on the Word

A synoptic piece on the new document on Sacred Scripture:

Pope Benedict XVI has issued a lofty and impassioned plea for everyone in the Church to rediscover the Bible and to grow in “an ever greater love of the Word of God.”

“We must never forget that all authentic and living Christian spirituality is based on the Word of God proclaimed, accepted, celebrated and meditated upon in the Church...

Pope Benedict includes a decidedly personal section in which he proposes to teach people the practice of praying with the Bible, known as “lectio divina,” or sacred reading.

The Pope called for a renewal of prayerful, personal reading of Scripture and for Scripture to be “every more fully at the heart of every ecclesial activity.” 

“The Church is built upon the Word of God; she is born from and lives by that Word,” Pope Benedict said.

“Throughout its history, the People of God has always found strength in the word of God, and today too the ecclesial community grows by hearing, celebrating and studying that Word.”