Transcript Word of Life - Santuario San Calogero

Word of Life
March 2012
«Lord to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.»
(Jn 6:68)
To the crowds that followed him, Jesus spoke about
the kingdom of God. He used simple words, parables
taken from everyday life, and yet his words had a
special fascination. People were struck by his teaching
because he taught with authority, unlike the scribes.
Even the temple
guards who went
to arrest him,
when asked by
the chief priests
and Pharisees why
they had not
carried out their
orders, replied:
‘Never has anyone
spoken like this!’
John’s gospel also
tells of
conversations full
of light that Jesus
had with
individuals, such as
Nicodemus and the
Samaritan woman.
Jesus explained things still more deeply to his Apostles
and he spoke openly of the Father and of heavenly
things, without using figures of speech. His words
convinced them and they did not draw back even when
they did not fully understand or when his words
seemed too demanding.
‘This teaching is difficult,’ some of his disciples
remarked, when they heard him say that he would
give them his body to eat and his blood to drink.
Seeing that many of
his disciples pulled
back and no longer
went with him, Jesus
said to the Twelve
Apostles: ‘Do you also
wish to go away?’
Peter, who by now was
tied to him forever
and who had been
fascinated by the
words he had heard
from Jesus since the
day they met, replied
on behalf of them all:
«Lord to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.»
Peter had understood
that the words of his
Teacher were
different from those
of other teachers.
Their words came
from the earth and
returned to the
earth; they belonged
to and had the
destiny of the earth.
Jesus’ words are spirit and life because they come from
heaven: a light that comes down from Above and has the
power of Above. His words have a quality and a depth that
other words do not have, whether they be philosophical,
political, or poetic. They are ‘words of eternal life’,
because they contain, express, communicate the fullness of
the life that never ends since it is the very life of God.
Jesus is risen and lives, and his words, although
spoken in the past, are not merely a memory,
but words he addresses today to all of us and to
each person in every time and culture: they are
universal, eternal words.
The words of Jesus! They must have been his
greatest art, as it were. The Word who speaks
in human words: what content, what intensity,
what expression, what a voice!
Basil the Great tells,
for example, how
‘once upon a time,
like a man roused
from deep sleep, I
turned my eyes to
the marvellous light
of the truth of the
Gospel, and I
perceived the
uselessness of “the
wisdom of the princes
of this world.”’
Thérèse of Lisieux in a
letter of 9 May 1897
wrote: ‘Sometimes, when I
read books in which
perfection is put before us
... my poor little head is
quickly fatigued. I close
the learned treatise, which
tires my brain and dries up
my heart, and I turn to
the Sacred Scriptures.
Then all becomes clear and
light – a single word opens
out infinite vistas,
perfection appears easy’.
Yes, divine words satisfy the spirit which is made for the
infinite; they give inner light not only to the mind, but to
the whole of our being, because they are light, love and
life. They give peace – the kind Jesus calls his own: ‘my
peace’ – also in moments of anxiety and anguish.
They give complete joy, even in the midst of the
pain that at times torments the soul. They give
strength, especially in the face of dismay and
discouragement. They set us free, because they
open the path to Truth.
«Lord to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.»
The Word of Life this
month reminds us that the
only Teacher we want to
follow is Jesus, even when
his words may seem hard
or too demanding. This
means to be honest at
work, to forgive, to be at
the service of others
rather than think selfishly
of ourselves, to remain
faithful in our family life,
to help a terminally ill
person without yielding to
the idea of euthanasia…
There are many ‘teachers’ who invite us to adopt easy
solutions, to make compromises. We want to listen to the
one Teacher and follow him, who alone speaks the truth
and who has ‘words of eternal life’. Like this we too can
repeat these words of Peter.
In this Lenten season, as we prepare for the
great celebration of the resurrection, we must
truly join the school of the one Teacher and
become his disciples.
A passionate love for the
word of God must come to
life in us too. Let’s be
ready to welcome it when it
is proclaimed in church,
let’s read it, study it,
meditate on it…
But above all we are
called to live it, as
scripture itself
teaches: ‘Be doers of
the word, and not
merely hearers who
deceive themselves’.
That is why each
month we focus on one
word in particular,
letting it penetrate
us, mould us, ‘live us’.
By living one word of
Jesus we live the entire
Gospel, because in each
word of his he gives the
whole of himself, he
himself comes to live in
us. It is like a drop of
the divine wisdom that
belongs to him, the
Risen One, which slowly
sinks into the depths of
us and replaces our way
of thinking, wanting and
acting in all the
circumstances of life.
«Lord to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.»
(Jn 6:68)
Text by Chiara Lubich