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SYNOD OF BISHOPS XII ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SYNOD OF BISHOPS XII ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND MISSION OF THE CHURCH INSTRUMENTUM LABORIS VATICAN CITY 2008 Part II CHAPTER V The Word of God in the many services of the Church "The Bread of Life from the Table of both God's Word and Christ's Body" (DV 21)

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SYNOD OF BISHOPS XII ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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  1. SYNOD OF BISHOPS XII ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY THE WORD OF GODIN THE LIFE AND MISSIONOF THE CHURCH INSTRUMENTUM LABORIS VATICAN CITY2008 Part II CHAPTER V The Word of God in the many services of the Church"The Bread of Life from the Table of both God's Word and Christ's Body" (DV 21) The Word of God and the Service of Charity

  2. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39. Diakonia or the service of charity is the vocation of the Church of Jesus Christ in response to the charity shown by the Word of God Incarnate in his words and deeds.

  3. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.The Word of God should lead to love of neighbor. Many communities demonstrate that the encounter with the Word is not limited to hearing alone or celebrations in themselves but seeks to become a real commitment, by individuals or a community, to the poor, who are a sign of the Lord present in our midst.

  4. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.This understanding underlies a liberationist approach to the Bible. "A decisive factor" in the further development of this approach and its benefits to the Church "will rest in clarifying its hermeneutical presuppositions, its methods and its coherence with the faith and the Tradition of the Church as a whole" (PONTIFICIA COMMISSIO BIBLICA, L’interprétation de la Bible dans l’Église (15.04.1993), I, E 1: Enchiridion Vaticanum 13, EDB, Bologna 1995, p. 1622.).

  5. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.The Word of God’s relation to charity urgently needs to be shown, since charity is particularly powerful in causing an encounter with the Word of God for both believers and non-believers alike. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI attests to this association in his Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est in pointing to the three elements which make up the essential nature of the Church: • proclamation of the Word of God (kerygma-martyria), • celebration of the sacraments (leitourgia) • and the exercise of the ministry of charity (diakonia).

  6. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.The Holy Father writes: "The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word" (BENEDICTUS XVI, Litt. Enc. Deus Caritas Est (25.12.2005), 22: AAS 98 (2006) 234-235.). The Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi states that "the Christian message was not only ‘informative’ but ‘performative’. That means: the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing.

  7. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life“ (BENEDICTUS XVI, Litt. Enc. Spe Salvi (30.11.2007), 2: AAS 99 (2007) 986.). The basis for the relationship between the Word and charity is clearly the example of the Word-made-flesh himself, Jesus of Nazareth who "went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him" (Acts 10:38).

  8. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.Many pages of Sacred Scripture not only recommend but command respect for justice towards one’s neighbor (cf. Deut 24:14-15; Am 2:6-7; Jer 22:13; Joel 5:4). Faithfulness to the Word of God exists when the first form of charity is realized in a respect for the rights of the human person and in defense of the oppressed and those who suffer.

  9. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.For this reason, specific importance is rendered by communities of faith, grounded in Bible reading, which also include the poor, who need to hear the message of consolation and hope.

  10. CHAPTER VI The Word of God and the Service of Charity 39.With his Word, the Lord, who loves life, desires to enlighten, guide and bring comfort to believers throughout their lives and in every aspect of those lives —in work, at celebrations, in times of suffering, at leisure, in duties to family and society and in life’s every moment— so that all might test everything and hold fast to what is good (cf. 1 Thess 5:21), thereby coming to know God’s will and put it into practice (cf. Mt 7:21).

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