Pope Francis says "Dear friends, go forth, go ahead in your mission to help God's people be nourished by the Word, so that the Bible may be increasingly the heritage..." FULL TEXT
.png)
SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE XLVII NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE XLVII NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK
Pope Francis encourages and warmly greets members of the Italian Biblical Association and professors of Sacred Scripture, gathered in Rome for Italy's 47th National Bible Week, whose theme this year is "Covenant and Alliances between Universalism and Particularism."
Clementine Hall on Thursday, September 7, 2023 -
_______________________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, welcome!
I am pleased to meet all of you, members of the Italian Biblical Association and teachers of Sacred Scripture, who have gathered in Rome for the XLVII National Biblical Week. The theme you have chosen for these meetings: "Alliance and alliances between universalism and particularism", is close to my heart and is one of the greatest current attentions of the Church. The three alliances you are reflecting on, in fact, closely involve his relations with the contemporary world.
The Covenant with Noah focuses on the relationship between humanity and creation.
The covenant with Abraham focuses on the three great monotheistic religions in their common matrix: faith in God as a condition of unity and fruitfulness. Finally, the covenant of Sinai concerns the gift of the Law and the election of Israel as an instrument of salvation for all peoples.
These are themes that entirely cross the Old and New Testaments, with tensions and reformulations continually oscillating between the universalism of God's love for humanity, without exception, and the particularism of election, united by a unifying character: the irrevocability of God's gifts and call (Rom 11:29), his constant and multiple offering of communion, as St. John Paul II said (see Meeting with the Jewish Community, Mainz, 17 November 1980, n. 3 ).
So let us reflect for a moment on the topicality of these three themes and, in the light of them, on the value of your work.
As we have said, Noah's covenant involves a clear reference to the relationship between man and creation. In the story of the flood (see Gen 6-9) God restores hope and salvation to humanity, devastated by hatred and violence, through the justice of the Patriarch. This justice has in itself an indispensable ecological dimension, in the rediscovery and respect for "the rhythms inscribed in nature by the hand of the Creator" (Encyclical letter Laudato si', 71). The Noahide covenant, then, never failed on God's part, continues to urge us to a fair and sober use of the planet's resources, which is a very serious concern at this moment.
The second theme has the Abrahamic covenant as its icon, common to the three great monotheistic religions. This is also a very timely image. Indeed, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, in a time shaken by echoes of death and war, the common faith in the one God invites and encourages us to live as brothers. It is in it that, "called to one and the same human and divine vocation, without violence and without deceit, we can and must work together to build the world in true peace" (Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 92).
Finally, the third theme is that of the gift of the law and the election of the people of Israel. It too is important. In fact in the Bible, against any temptation of exclusivist reading, the particularism of election is always in function of a universal good and never falls into forms of separation or exclusion. God never chooses someone to exclude others, but always to include everyone. God's election always has this social and missionary dimension. It is an important warning for our times, in which ever-increasing drifts of separation are digging ditches and erecting fences between individuals and between peoples, to the detriment of the unity of the human race, which suffers from it, and of the Body of Christ itself, according to God's plan.
This meeting of yours, however, still recalls a further value that I want to underline: that of working together in the service of the Word. In fact, it is part of a broader work of cooperation that the Biblical Association offers permanently to the Church in Italy. It was one of the first theological associations in this country and is still very present in the various dioceses, especially through the animation of the diocesan biblical weeks, which it supports in collaboration with the Biblical Apostolate of the Italian Episcopal Conference. I hope that this presence will grow throughout the territory, avoiding any form of elitism and exclusion. The Biblical Association also works in collaboration with the Pontifical Biblical Institute, in a decisive moment for the reform of the pontifical universities, where the alliance between academic institutions is not always easy. Instead, for many of the members of the Association, the Pontifical Biblical Institute always remains the "alma mater" that generated them in research and in the apostolate. And this offers an example of that synergy that it is urgent to promote, in Rome and elsewhere, between the various study institutes, also in order not to run the risk of irreparable extinction.
Dear friends, go forth, go ahead in your mission to help God's people be nourished by the Word, so that the Bible may be increasingly the heritage of all: "the book of the Lord's people who in listening to them pass from dispersion and division to unity" ( Apostolic Letter Aperuit illis, 4). This is somewhat "the dynamics of the Lord": he sends and thus seems to scatter, but then he gathers in unity. I bless you from the bottom of my heart. And please, don't forget to pray for me! Thank you.
Clementine Hall on Thursday, September 7, 2023 -
_______________________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, welcome!
I am pleased to meet all of you, members of the Italian Biblical Association and teachers of Sacred Scripture, who have gathered in Rome for the XLVII National Biblical Week. The theme you have chosen for these meetings: "Alliance and alliances between universalism and particularism", is close to my heart and is one of the greatest current attentions of the Church. The three alliances you are reflecting on, in fact, closely involve his relations with the contemporary world.
The Covenant with Noah focuses on the relationship between humanity and creation.
The covenant with Abraham focuses on the three great monotheistic religions in their common matrix: faith in God as a condition of unity and fruitfulness. Finally, the covenant of Sinai concerns the gift of the Law and the election of Israel as an instrument of salvation for all peoples.
These are themes that entirely cross the Old and New Testaments, with tensions and reformulations continually oscillating between the universalism of God's love for humanity, without exception, and the particularism of election, united by a unifying character: the irrevocability of God's gifts and call (Rom 11:29), his constant and multiple offering of communion, as St. John Paul II said (see Meeting with the Jewish Community, Mainz, 17 November 1980, n. 3 ).
So let us reflect for a moment on the topicality of these three themes and, in the light of them, on the value of your work.
As we have said, Noah's covenant involves a clear reference to the relationship between man and creation. In the story of the flood (see Gen 6-9) God restores hope and salvation to humanity, devastated by hatred and violence, through the justice of the Patriarch. This justice has in itself an indispensable ecological dimension, in the rediscovery and respect for "the rhythms inscribed in nature by the hand of the Creator" (Encyclical letter Laudato si', 71). The Noahide covenant, then, never failed on God's part, continues to urge us to a fair and sober use of the planet's resources, which is a very serious concern at this moment.
The second theme has the Abrahamic covenant as its icon, common to the three great monotheistic religions. This is also a very timely image. Indeed, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, in a time shaken by echoes of death and war, the common faith in the one God invites and encourages us to live as brothers. It is in it that, "called to one and the same human and divine vocation, without violence and without deceit, we can and must work together to build the world in true peace" (Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 92).
Finally, the third theme is that of the gift of the law and the election of the people of Israel. It too is important. In fact in the Bible, against any temptation of exclusivist reading, the particularism of election is always in function of a universal good and never falls into forms of separation or exclusion. God never chooses someone to exclude others, but always to include everyone. God's election always has this social and missionary dimension. It is an important warning for our times, in which ever-increasing drifts of separation are digging ditches and erecting fences between individuals and between peoples, to the detriment of the unity of the human race, which suffers from it, and of the Body of Christ itself, according to God's plan.
This meeting of yours, however, still recalls a further value that I want to underline: that of working together in the service of the Word. In fact, it is part of a broader work of cooperation that the Biblical Association offers permanently to the Church in Italy. It was one of the first theological associations in this country and is still very present in the various dioceses, especially through the animation of the diocesan biblical weeks, which it supports in collaboration with the Biblical Apostolate of the Italian Episcopal Conference. I hope that this presence will grow throughout the territory, avoiding any form of elitism and exclusion. The Biblical Association also works in collaboration with the Pontifical Biblical Institute, in a decisive moment for the reform of the pontifical universities, where the alliance between academic institutions is not always easy. Instead, for many of the members of the Association, the Pontifical Biblical Institute always remains the "alma mater" that generated them in research and in the apostolate. And this offers an example of that synergy that it is urgent to promote, in Rome and elsewhere, between the various study institutes, also in order not to run the risk of irreparable extinction.
Dear friends, go forth, go ahead in your mission to help God's people be nourished by the Word, so that the Bible may be increasingly the heritage of all: "the book of the Lord's people who in listening to them pass from dispersion and division to unity" ( Apostolic Letter Aperuit illis, 4). This is somewhat "the dynamics of the Lord": he sends and thus seems to scatter, but then he gathers in unity. I bless you from the bottom of my heart. And please, don't forget to pray for me! Thank you.
Comments