The Final Message of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God: Part 4

Herewith my last set of notes for the series on the Final Message of the Synod. As I indicate in the "Points to Note", I feel that it is important to read this last section in the light of the preceding sections of the Final Message. Without that context, it appears excessively optimistic, particularly in its approach of the Word of God to other religions.

The Final Message Section 4: Scripture and evangelisation

The last section of the Synod Message presents five different ways in which the Sacred Scriptures can be brought into encounter with the contemporary world. [1]

Modern means of communication:

. .. the voice of the divine word must echo even through the radio, the information highway of the internet, the channels of "on line" virtual circulation, CDs, DVDs, podcasts, etc. It must appear on all television and movie screens, in the press, and in cultural and social events.This new communication, in relationship to the traditional one, has created its own specific and expressive grammar and, therefore, makes it necessary not only to be technically prepared, but also culturally prepared for this task. In an age dominated by images put forward, in particular, by hegemonic means of communication such as television, the privileged model of Christ is still meaningful and evocative today. He would turn to the sign, the story, the example, the daily experience, the parable…[2]

The family:

The family, enclosed between the domestic walls with its joys and sufferings, is a fundamental space where the word of God is to be allowed to enter….

Therefore, every home should have its own Bible and safeguard it in a visible and dignified way, to read it and to pray with it …. In particular, the new generations, children and youth, should be the ones receiving an appropriate and specific pedagogy that leads them to experience the fascination of the figure of Christ, opening the door of their mind and their heart, as well as through the encounter with and authentic witness of adults, the positive influence of friends and the great company of the ecclesial community.[3]

The poor:

…the Christian has the mission to announce this divine word of hope, by sharing with the poor and the suffering, through the witness of his faith in the kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, of love and peace, through the loving closeness that neither judges nor condemns, but that sustains, illuminates, comforts and forgives, following the words of Christ: "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28).[4]

Dialogue with other religions and with those of no religious faith:

the divine word generates for us Christians an equally intense encounter with the Jewish people, who are intimately bound through the common recognition and love for the Scripture of the Old Testament and because from Israel "so far as physical descent is concerned, came Christ" (Rm 9:5)…. ). We, also as Christians are invited, along the roads of the world - without falling into a syncretism that confuses and humiliates our own spiritual identity, to enter into dialogue with respect towards men and women of the other religions, who faithfully hear and practice the directives of their sacred books, starting with Islam, which welcomes many biblical figures, symbols and themes in its tradition, and which offers the witness of sincere faith in the One, compassionate and merciful God, the Creator of all beings and Judge of humanity.
The Christian also finds common harmony with the great religious traditions of the Orient that teach us, in their Scriptures, respect for life, contemplation, silence, simplicity, renunciation, as occurs in Buddhism. Or, like in Hinduism, they exalt the sense of the sacred, sacrifice, pilgrimage, fasting, and sacred symbols. Or, as in Confucianism, they teach wisdom and family and social values. Even to the traditional religions with their spiritual values expressed in the rites and oral cultures, we would like to pay our cordial attention and engage in a respectful dialogue with them. Also to those who do not believe in God but who endeavour to "do what is right, to love goodness and to walk humbly" (Mi 6:8), we must work with them for a more just and peaceful world, and offer in dialogue our genuine witness to the Word of God that can reveal to them new and higher horizons of truth and love.[5]

The Arts:

The Bible, as it is commonly said, is "the great code" of universal culture: artists ideally dipped their paintbrush in that alphabet coloured by stories, symbols, and figures which are the biblical pages. Musicians composed their harmonies around the sacred texts, especially the Psalms. For centuries authors went back to those old stories that became existential parables;… The Bible should, therefore, be known and studied by all, under this extraordinary profile of beauty and human and cultural fruitfulness…. [The Church] should make the word of God penetrate into the many cultures and express it according to their languages, their concepts, their symbols and their religious traditions. But she should always be able to maintain the genuine substance of its contents, watching over and controlling the risks of degeneration.[6]

POINTS TO NOTE:

This last part of the message needs to be read in the light of the earlier parts, which drew to our attention the following points:

The Word of God (understood as Scripture) refers also to the Word of God (the person of Jesus Christ) - the Word communicates a Person, whom we encounter. The electronic means of communication risk a reduction in the sense of the communication of a Person by the texts of Scripture. It is also interesting to ask how the “sign, story, parable” of Jesus time can be authentically translated into an electronic medium.

The reverencing and praying of the Scriptures within the family seems to give opportunity for respecting the communication of the person of Jesus Christ through the Scriptures. It also respects the nature of the Word of God as being something that is lived in the ecclesial community and not apart from it.

What Catholics would bring to dialogue with other religions is the sense of interpreting Scripture as a whole, its communication of a particular story of creation and salvation history, its being lived and received in the context of the Church. The Synod message rightly warns of the danger of syncretism in this dialogue.

[1] Reading this last section apart from the earlier sections of the message might give an over optimistic view of what is intended. We can usefully remind ourselves of the points already mentioned above, namely, that the Catholic Church approaches Scriptures in a different way than evangelical Christians, that Scripture is an expression of the person of Christ still present in the life of the Church and so not restricted to “the book”, that it expresses a history of salvation, that the Scriptures are seen in their unity.
[2] Final Message of the Synod n.11.
[3] Final Message of the Synod n.12.
[4] Final Message of the Synod n.13.
[5] Final Message of the Synod n.14.
[6] Final Message of the Synod n.15.