Verbum Domini! The Word of the Lord!

Ave Maria! At the moment, I feel like a child on Christmas morning who has stumbled upon an enormous gorgeously decorated tree surrounded by a multitude of totteringly high piles of beautifully wrapped presents of every size and shape imaginable. Wow! For me? All for me? OH, WOW! Where do I start? Why, at the threshold, of course! And that would be:

“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God…
and the Word became flesh ”
( Jn 1:1, 14)

For it is the Word Himself that is the subject of Pope Benedict XVI's second and newest apostolic exhortation, "Verbum Domini (The Word of the Lord)," released yesterday and dated September 30, feast of St. Jerome, the patron of Biblical scholars. This document is his reflection upon the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held October 5-26, 2008. The theme of this assembly was "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church." The Holy Father explains that he wrote Verbum Domini because "I would like the work of the synod to have a real effect on the life of the church: on our personal relationship with the sacred Scriptures, on their interpretation in the liturgy and catechesis, and in scientific research so that the Bible may not be simply a word from the past, but a living and timely word." WOW!

More than a few Catholic Web sites provide commentaries on "Verbum Domini, such as what is written here, here, here, here and here. Zenit includes selected excerpts here. To whet your appetite, I close with Pope Benedict's concluding words from his exhortation. Dear Lord, thank you so very much for our Holy Father! Please bless him richly and abundantly and keep him ever joyful in Your life-giving Word. Amen!

I remind all Christians that our personal and communal relationship with God depends on our growing familiarity with the word of God.... May every day of our lives thus be shaped by a renewed encounter with Christ, the Word of the Father made flesh: he stands at the beginning and the end, and “in him all things hold together ” (Col 1:17). Let us be silent in order to hear the Lord’s word and to meditate upon it, so that by the working of the Holy Spirit it may remain in our hearts and speak to us all the days of our lives. In this way the Church will always be renewed and rejuvenated, thanks to the word of the Lord which remains for ever (cf. 1 Pet 1:25; Is 40:8). Thus we too will enter into the great nuptial dialogue which concludes sacred Scripture: “ The Spirit and the bride say: ‘Come’. And let everyone who hears say: ‘Come!’ ” The one who testifies to these things, says: ‘Surely I am coming soon!’. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! ”. (Rev 22:17, 20).