Over the centuries, the Church has read the word of God more and more deeply
You are pleased with a successful exam. Everyone feels happy, when he can work and create. He admires the development of science, advances in technology. People feel the need, to change everything for the better, improve, develop. There is constant progress in the world.
And how is it with the word of God ?
God's Word is changeless, and everything on earth changes over time, develops. Should we only store and pass on the word of God? ? Should we just repeat them passively?, without going deeper into its meaning ?
God's people communicates the word of God in living Tradition and in Sacred Scripture.
The word of God is communicated in the Church. St.. Paul the Apostle in the letter to his faithful disciple Timothy :
A to, what you heard from me through many witnesses, hand over to people who deserve faith, who will also be able to teach and to others…” (2 Tm 2, 1-2). “But you stay in it, what have you learned and what has been entrusted to you, You know, who did you learn from. For from your infancy you have known the Scriptures, that can teach you wisdom leading to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus " (2 Tm 3, 14-15). To, what St.. Paweł to Timothy, has been the Church for all ages. He transmits the word of God. We call this oral transmission by the Church of the word of God from the Latin word Tradition. God's Word was also written by divinely inspired authors. This is how the Scriptures were created. St.. and Tradition are one source of faith.
God's people penetrate ever more deeply into God's word and put it into practice
Now you will find out, what is this transmission of the word of God. God entrusted His word to mankind in the old days. Inspired authors wrote down the word of God in such languages, used by their contemporaries. They introduced into the Scriptures. various literary forms, that is, the ways of writing. And so in the Scriptures. we find various forms of descriptions of historical events : chronicles, epic, legends, stories. There are books in them that contain parables, songs, prayers, sermons, przysłowia, sets of laws, upbuilding stories, letters and many other literary forms, which we do not even use and do not know anymore. Counted under the guidance of the Pope and bishops, they discover and study literary genres in the Scriptures. They read it, what God has revealed. Church, to whom God has entrusted his word, he cannot lose anything of it, add or change anything. However, he still has to get to know them deeper. This is what the Church has been doing for two thousand years. He expresses the truths he has learned in the liturgy, in the life and customs of the faithful, in the documents of the Pope's teaching office and councils, in the writings of theologians, in church art. They are an expression of the Church's living tradition.
The word of God, written in the holy books, is an invitation addressed to all people. And people in each age live in different conditions. The Church must therefore read the word of God anew and rediscover in it God's call always relevant.
This ever deeper penetration into the content and meaning of the word of God is the work of the entire People of God, all the faithful under the guidance of their shepherds. At Baptism and Confirmation, they are empowered to do so. They are endowed by God with "the sense of faith and the grace of the word" (KK 35). As a result, Christians can better understand God's word and fulfill it in their lives. So the People of God does not only transmit the word of God, but he explores them, he gets to know and follow his thoughts better and better, and he acts.
How will I answer God ?
God wants, that we, too, in our time, they learned more and more about his word. We hear them explained during Holy Mass., during catechesis, retreat, mission. We can read them and ponder them. St.. accompanies the Christian throughout his life. How do I use it ? Maybe it seems to me, that I already know the word of God enough. So I will be there not only now, but also later he continued to deepen his understanding of the word of God. I will translate them to others, when the opportunity arises.
But I will remember, that the mere knowledge and understanding of the word of God, even the deepest, not enough. I should know this yet, what God is calling me to do in his word. I'll tell God :
"Your word, Lord, it lasts forever, unchanging like the heavens.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path "
(Ps 118, 89. 105).
■ Think:
1. What does St.. Paul in the letter to Timothy on the transmission of the word of God ?
2. Jak nazywamy przekazywanie słowa Bożego w Kościele ?
3. Jakich „form literackich” używali natchnieni autorzy Pisma św. ?
4. Jakie znasz wydarzenia z życia Kościoła świadczące o tym, that the Church reads the word of God anew ?
5. Dlaczego coraz głębsze zrozumienie i przekazywanie słowa Bożego jest również zadaniem wiernych ?
■ Remember:
61. W czym zawiera się słowo Boże, which God has entrusted to the Church ?
Word of god, which God has entrusted to the Church, is contained in the Scriptures. and in Tradition.
62. Jakie zadanie ma Kościół wobec słowa Bożego ?
The Church has to read the word of God anew, getting to know and communicate them better and better.
■ Task :
Explain, why a Christian should read God's word all his life ?