Word in the Church, The - The Word of God: Reflections on the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops / The Word in Word: From Biblicism to the Realism of Faith

"With the Synod Fathers I express my heartfelt
hope for the flowering of 'a new season of greater
love for sacred Scripture on the part of every
member of the People of God, so that their
prayerful and faith-filled reading of the Bible will,
with time, deepen their personal relationship with
Jesus.'"

—Verbum Domini, 72

Pope Benedict XVI says the word of God "draws
each of us into a conversation with the Lord: the
God who speaks teaches us how to speak to
him." In this apostolic exhortation—an extended
reflection on the work of the Bishops Synod on
the Word of God in 2008—the Holy Father affirms
that the word of God is at the heart of our faith
and at the heart of every activity in the Church.
He calls for an increased emphasis on the Bible
in catechesis and pastoral work, and
recommends lectio divina, or prayerful reading of
Scripture, so that all believers can encounter
Christ in his the living word. And because the
Church by its nature is missionary, what we have
received through the word we must proclaim to
the world.

"With this Apostolic Exhortation," Pope
Benedict writes, "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" (Verbum
Domini, 5).