SCRIPTURE
Christ is the Word
by Father Frédéric Manns OFM | Summer 2010
Christus Pantocrator, Holy Saviour in Chora, Istanbul (Turkey).
Proposal no. 7 of the Synod of Bishops on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church” (Rome, Oct. 5-26, 2008) highlighted the unity between the table of the Word of God and the table of the Eucharist:
“It is important to consider the profound unity between the Word of God and the Eucharist (“Dei Verbum” 21), as expressed by some texts, especially those of John 6, 35-58 and Luke 24, 13-35. This must be considered in such a way as to overcome the dichotomy between the two realities, often expressed in theological and pastoral reflections. In this way the ties with the preceding synod on the Eucharist will become evident. The Word of God becomes sacramental flesh in the Eucharistic act and takes Sacred Scripture to its fulfillment. The Eucharist is a hermeneutic principle of Sacred Scripture, just as Sacred Scripture illuminates and explains the Eucharistic mystery. The synodal fathers, in this sense, were happy that they could promote a theological reflection on the sacramentality of the Word of God. Without recognition of the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, the intellectual content of Scripture remains unfulfilled.”
The unity between the Word and the Eucharist is rooted in Scriptural testimony and is noted by the Fathers of the Church. Because of this, the testimony of St. Francis of Assisi, “vir Catholicus,” is worth developing. Scripture, which is much richer than the words of the text, had for the man from Assisi a sacramental dimension. It represents the message that the Father transmits through His Son to all those who open themselves to the Spirit of God.
Every time Francis speaks of the body and blood of Christ, he reflects his own words: “For in this world we have and see nothing corporally of the Most High except [His] Body and Blood, and the words through which we have been made and have been redeemed from death to life” (A Letter to the Clergy).
The adverb “corporally” refers not only to the body and blood of Christ, but also to his Word. Scripture is, therefore, the corporal sign of the Son of God. This is a sacrament of encounter between the Son of God and humanity. Voluntarily, Francis draws together the Eucharist and Scripture. In Admonition 26 and in the Second Version of the Letter of the Faithful, he uses the verb “to administer” for the Eucharist as well as for the preaching of the holy Word. He similarly cites the Gospel phrase – “I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" – to talk of the Eucharist (Admonition 1) and of Scripture (The Earlier Rule). Finally, he uses the verb “to trample” regarding the lack of respect for the Eucharist (A Letter to the Entire Order) and for Scripture (A Letter to the Clergy).
During the Middle Ages, some theologians considered preaching the Scriptures similar to the administration of the sacraments. Both required preparation on the part of the minister and a purity of intent. Francis takes the viewpoint of God. In preaching and in the sacraments, beyond the words and signs, Christ dialogues with humanity.
The identification of Scripture with the person of Christ shines through in the response which the saint gives Brother Bernard, whom he had advised to sell all his goods and give everything to the poor: “To put my words to the test of facts, let us enter the Church, let us take the book of the Gospels and let us ask advice from Christ” (2 Celano 15). To act in this way, for Francis, meant to affirm that Scripture is nothing other than the sacramental presence of Christ in the Church.
If Scripture is the presence of Christ, only a prayerful approach to Scripture is valid. In prayer, exegesis becomes authentic. Christ is the first exegete who explains Scripture. Furthermore, Christ is the Word of the Father. Francis affirms this in his Second Version of the Letter to the Faithful: “I decided to send you this letter to report to you the Word of Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Word of God. This Word of the holy and glorious Father comes from heaven.”
Francis develops this theme from the theology based on John. Christ is an exegete in His mission. In His obedience to the will of God He fulfills Scripture and brings to a completion the shadows and images in Scripture. Only those who do not obey see in Scripture the words that kill.
Christ is the abbreviated Word of the Father. The theme of the “Verbum abbreviatum” that Francis takes up again in the second rule in Chapter Five follows up on a patriarchal theme having its roots even in Rabbinical literature. The Old Testament, which is the long Word of God, becomes shortened in the New Testament. Furthermore, Christ becomes manifest in the form of a baby in a stable in Bethlehem (Let 1, 4-5). This Word of the Father becomes food in the Eucharist which produces the birth of Christ on the altar.
Not just “verbum abbreviatum,” Christ is even “Verbum abbrevians.” The essence of His message is summarized in the one commandment of love. All the laws consist in love (Second Letter to the Faithful, Admonitions 9 and 25). While human language becomes clearer by multiplying words, the Word of God becomes always clearer when it is simplified and reduced to the essentials.
For Francis, the Word of God has a salvific character. In the Second Version of the Letter to the Faithful, the saint writes: “And let all of us firmly realize that no one can be saved except through the holy words and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which the clergy pronounce, proclaim and minister.” Receiving Christ in the Eucharist and in Scripture signifies being saved by Him. The words of God are the cause of our creation and of our re-creation. They can save because they are Spirit and Life. Preachers pass on to us the Spirit and Life (Testament 13). Therefore, they should conform their lives to the words they preach.
Francis calls us to welcome the words of Christ with charity and humility. The Scriptural text cited during the celebration of the Eucharist must be put into practice in everyday life. The history of salvation counts for more than the history of the text. Francis, when he rethinks the stages of salvation, recalls these titles of Jesus: “Creator, Redeemer and Savior” (Earlier Rule 23). The first two stages belong to the past. Definitive salvation is still to come. In the Office of the Passion the saint writes: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel because He has redeemed the souls of His servants with His holy blood. Those who have hope in Him will not be disappointed. We know He will come. He will come to render justice.”
Francis cites Psalm 95 in this text: “Venit Dominus judicare terram.” Francis has changed the past tense of the verb (“venit”) into the future tense because for him the Savior still must come for the Last Judgment. The exegesis of Francis maintains an eschatological character because it awaits the arrival of the Judgment. Origen affirmed that believers eat the flesh of Jesus and drink His blood when they study His words. Francis also takes up this thought.
The growing understanding of this presence of Christ in the Word favors the preparing immediately for the celebration of the Eucharist as well as for the union with the Lord in the celebration of the Word. To the synod’s merit, it recalled this great tradition of the Church in which even Francis played a role.