Papa Benedetto: Unlike Banks "The Word of God Doesn't Fail!

Last month during his address to the Bishops for the opening of the Synod, Papa Benedetto spoke about the true foundation that our lives should be built on. That foundation the "Word of God". Drawing on the current financial crisis as a comparison, he shows the difference between depending on Earthly things & the promises found in Scripture.

"(T)he Word of God is the foundation of everything, it is the true reality. And to be realistic, we must rely upon this reality. We must change our idea that matter, solid things, things we can touch, are the more solid, the more certain reality."

Talking about Jesus' call to build on the rock (Jesus, the Word of God made visible): "The one who builds on sand builds only on visible and tangible things, on success, on career, on money. Apparently these are the true realities. But all this one day will pass away. We can see this now with the fall of large banks: this money disappears, it is nothing. And thus all things, which seem to be the true realities we can count on, are only realities of a secondary order. The one who builds his life on these realities, on matter, on success, on appearances, builds upon sand."

He goes on to challenge us to be realists: "Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, it is as stable as the heavens and more than the heavens, it is reality. Therefore, we must change our concept of realism. The realist is the one who recognizes the Word of God, in this apparently weak reality, as the foundation of all things. Realist is the one who builds his life on this foundation, which is permanent."

The Pope went onto challenge us to not merely see the Scripture as human words. "Just reading it does not mean necessarily that we have truly understood the Word of God. The danger is that we only see the human words and do not find the true actor within, the Holy Spirit. We do not find the Word in the words."

. . . ."This is a great danger as well in our reading of Scripture: we stop at the human words, words form the past, history of the past, and we do not discover the present in the past, the Holy Spirit who speaks to us today in the words from the past. In this way we do not enter the interior movement of the Word, which in human words conceals and which opens the divine words. Therefore, there is always a need for "exquisivi". We must always look for the Word within the words."

The challenge continues with the proper way to read Scripture: "(T)he true reading of Holy Scripture, is not only a literary phenomenon, not only reading a text. It is the movement of my existence. It is moving towards the Word of God in the human words. Only by conforming ourselves to the Mystery of God, to the Lord who is the Word, can we enter within the Word, can we truly find the Word of God in human words. Let us pray to the Lord that he may help us search the word, not only with our intellect but also with our entire existence."

He ends by challing us to pray for God's help. "Let us pray once again that the Lord may help us to truly enter the "breadth" of His Word and thus to open ourselves to the universal horizon that unites us with all our differences." . . . ."The Word of God is like a stairway that we can climb and, with Christ, even descend into the depths of his love. It is a stairway to reach the Word in the words. "I am yours". The word has a Face, it is a person, Christ. Before we can say "I am yours", he has already told us "I am yours"". . . ."With his Incarnation he said: I am yours. And in Baptism he said to me: I am yours. In the Holy Eucharist, he say ever anew: I am yours, so that we may respond: Lord, I am yours. In the way of the Word, entering the mystery of his Incarnation, of his being among us, we want to appropriate his being, we want expropriate our existence, giving ourselves to him who gave Himself to us."

""I am yours". Let us pray the Lord that we may learn to say this word with our whole being. Thus we will be in the heart of the Word. Thus we will be saved."

In the last month since Papa Benedetto spoke those words, much has happenned to show the truth in what he said. If we build on finances, politics or anything other than the word of God, we will fail. But, if we build on the"Word of Christ", we will not have to fear the worst storm, for we will have the 1 foundation that will withstand it all.

Read the entire address here: ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI AT THE OPENING OF THE 12th ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS