The readings of this
Sunday speak of the word of God with two interlaced
images: that of rain and of seed.
In the first reading, Isaiah compares the word of
God with rain that falls from heaven and does not
return without watering and helping seeds to grow.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of the word of God as a
seed that falls on different terrains and produces
fruit. The word of God is seed because it generates
life and rain that nourishes life, which allows the
seed to grow.
When speaking of the word of God we often take for
granted the most moving event of all, namely, that
God speaks. The biblical God is a God who speaks!"
"Our God comes and will not be silent," says Psalm
50; God himself often repeats: "Listen, my people, I
will speak" (Psalm 50:7). In this the Bible sees the
clearest difference from the idols that "have
mouths, but do not speak" (Psalm 115).
What meaning should we give such an anthropomorphic
expression as "God said to Adam," "thus speaks the
Lord," "the Lord says," "oracle of the Lord," and
others like them? Obviously it is a way of speaking
that is different from the human, a speaking to the
ears of the heart.
God speaks the way he writes! "I will place my law
within them," says the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah
31:33). He writes on the heart and he also makes his
words resonate in the heart. He says so expressly
himself through the prophet Hosea, speaking of
Israel as an unfaithful bride: "So I will allure
her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to
her heart" (Hosea 2:16).
God does not have a human mouth or breath; the
prophet is his mouth, the Holy Spirit is his breath.
"You will be my mouth," he himself says to his
prophets. He also says "I will put my word on your
lips." This is the meaning of the famous phrase
"human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under
the influence of God" (2 Peter 1:21). The spiritual
tradition of the Church has coined the expression
"interior locutions" for this way of speaking
addressed to the mind and heart.
And yet, it is a speaking in the true sense of the
term. The creature receives a message that can be
translated into human words. So alive and real is
God's speaking, that the prophet recalls with
precision the place, day and time that a certain
word "came" to him. So concrete is the word of God
that it is said it "falls" upon Israel, as if it
were a stone (Isaiah 9:7). Or, as if it were bread
that is eaten with pleasure: "When I found your
words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the
happiness of my heart," (Jeremiah 15:16).
No human voice comes to man with the depth with
which the word of God comes to him. "Indeed, the
word of God is living and effective, sharper than
any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul
and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern
reflections and thoughts of the heart" (Hebrews
4,12). At times God's speaking is a powerful thunder
that "splinters the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 29),
at other times it seems like the "tiny whispering
sound" (1 Kings 19:12). It knows all the tones of
human speech.
This interior and spiritual nature of God's speaking
changes radically the moment that "the word became
flesh." With the coming of Christ, God also speaks
with a human voice, which can be heard not only with
the ears of the soul but also of the body.
As we can see, the Bible attributes immense dignity
to the word. Attempts have not been lacking to
change the solemn affirmation with which John begins
his Gospel: "In the beginning was the word."
Goethe has his Faust say: "In the beginning, there
was action," and it is interesting to see how the
writer comes to this conclusion.
"I cannot give 'the word' such high value," says
Faust. "Perhaps I should understand it as 'hearing,'
but can hearing be what acts and creates everything?
Hence one should say: 'In the beginning force
existed.' But no, a sudden illumination suggested
the answer to me: 'In the beginning, action
existed.'"
However, these are unjustified attempts at
correction. John's word or logos has all the
meanings that Goethe assigns to the rest of the
terms. As we see in the prologue, it is light, life
and creative force.
God created man "in his image" precisely because he
created him capable of speaking, of communicating
and of establishing relationships. He, who has in
himself from eternity one word, has created man and
gifted him with the word, in order to be, not only
"image" but also "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26).
It is not enough for man to speak, but he must
imitate God's speaking. The content and motor of
God's speaking is love.
From beginning to end, the Bible is no more than a
message of the love of God for his creatures. The
tones might change, from the angry to the tender,
but the essence is always and only love.
God has used the word to communicate life and truth,
to instruct and console. This poses the question:
What use do we make of the word? In his play "Closed
Doors," Sartre has given us a striking image of what
human communication can become when love is lacking.
Three persons are introduced, in brief intervals, in
a room. There are no windows. The light is at its
brightest and there is no possibility to turn it
off. There is suffocating heat, and there is only
one seat for each one. The door, of course, is
closed. The bell is there but does not ring. Who are
these people?
They are three dead persons, a man and two women,
and the place they are in is hell. There are no
mirrors, and they can only see themselves through
the words of the others, which gives them the most
horrible image of themselves, without any mercy, on
the contrary, with irony and sarcasm.
When, after a while, their souls became naked to one
another and the faults of which they were ashamed
have come into the light one by one and enjoyed by
the others without mercy, one of the individuals
says to the other two: "Remember, the brimstone, the
flames, the tortures with fire. All are stupidities.
There is no need of torments: Hell is the others."
Abuse of the word can transform life into a hell.
St. Paul gives Christians this golden rule in regard
to words: "No foul language should come out of your
mouths, but only such as is good for needed
edification, that it may impart grace to those who
hear" (Ephesians 4, 29). The good word is the one
that chooses the positive side of an action and a
person and that, even when it corrects, does not
offend. A good word is one that gives hope. A bad
word is every word said without love, to wound and
humiliate one's neighbor. If a bad word comes out of
the lips, it will be necessary to retract it.
Not altogether correct are the verses of the Italian
poet Metastasio: "Word that comes from within, is no
longer worth retracting; The arrow cannot be
stopped, when it has left the bow."
A word that issues from the mouth can be retracted,
or at least its negative effect can be limited, by
asking for forgiveness. Hence, what a gift it can be
for our fellow men and what an improvement for the
quality of life in the heart of the family and of
society!
