Christianity: Religion of the Word of God
In celebration of National Bible Month, the RCAM Ministry on Biblical Apostolate together with the Office for the Promotion of the New Evangelization held a half-day conference on January 19, 2023 at the San Carlos Seminary Auditorium with His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle as resource person.
The theme for this year’s National Bible month is The Word of God is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
The conference started with a Bible enthronement. This is to remind participants that Christ is present in their midst through His word. We are invited to listen first to Christ’s word and treasure it in our hearts before we can share it with others.
Cardinal Tagle, at the beginning of his talk, quoted from the apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini. The Christian faith is not a “religion of the book”: Christianity is the “religion of the word of God”, not of “a written and mute word, but of the incarnate and living Word”. Consequently, the Scripture is to be proclaimed, heard, read, received and experienced as the word of God, in the stream of the apostolic Tradition from which it is inseparable (VD7).
Cardinal Tagle, highlighted the phrase The Christian faith is not a “religion of the book”: Christianity is the “religion of the Word of God.” According to the cardinal, by saying that Christianity is not a religion of the book but the religion of the word of God, we can say that there is a connection and a distinction between the Word of God and the Book that we call the Bible.
The cardinal used the prologue of the Gospel of Saint John where Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). He explained that it comes from Jesus Himself, “I” am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Who is this Jesus? In the prologue of the Gospel of Saint John was a beautiful description that says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word of God talked about by Saint John in his Gospel is not a book but a Person who is Jesus.
According to the cardinal, there was not a time when the Word was not with God. From all eternity the Word was with God…and the Word was God. “Hindi lamang Siya kasama lagi ng Diyos, Siya ay Diyos.”
The Word of God is the Divine Person, the Son of God who became human in Jesus who lived, preached, ministered, died and was raised back to life. Thus, Jesus is not just an idea or a concept, not even a book but the Living Word of God who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
His eminence identified the multiple ways by which the expression “Word of God” has been used in the Bible and in our practice. According to him, the fundamental meaning is the eternal person of the only begotten son of the father who became flesh - Jesus. The second usage is Creation, which in itself is the voice of the One who has created. Salvation is also one usage of the expression “Word of God”. The Word of God can be heard in the history of salvation through the prophets, through the kings and later on through the Son. Fourth is the word preached by the apostles at the command of Jesus. Fifth is the very life of the Church or the Living Tradition and lastly is the Bible. The divinely inspired word of God put into writing, the Sacred Scriptures.
Having said this, the good cardinal reminded us that it is important that we develop a relationship with the person of Jesus. He also gave some suggestions on how to develop discernment of Jesus’ presence, action and word to us in daily life. The first suggestion is to get involved in the Creation to feel the presence of God talking to us. To enter history from the perspective of the Word of God because God continues to speak to us in history. Immersion with the poor is also one of the suggestions given by the cardinal to develop discernment of Jesus’ presence in our daily life. Discernment through the ordinariness of life. God does not only talk to the spectacles of life but also to the ordinariness of life. Finally, discernment through the life of the church. The cardinal encourages us to enter the sacramental life, prayer life and apostolate because the Bible and the life of the Church always come together.
The cardinal concluded by encouraging the participants to read and listen to the Scriptures, and by so doing we listen to Jesus Christ. “Continue listening to Jesus Christ, continue reading His action of creating the world, of redeeming us through our contact with ordinary life, creation, persons, the poor and the events of history.”
After the talk of the cardinal, the participants were given the chance to ask questions, followed by some trivia questions on the Bible and finally the celebration of the Holy Eucharist presided over by Fr. Rolando Garcia Jr.