A prayerful reading ...

The word liberates, it is well known, it also awakens, it heals and rebuilds. That God therefore chose this means to come into contact with man should be amazed: if God speaks to man, if he hears him, listens to him, understands, responds, if he establishes himself between man and man. its creator a true relationship, nourished by true words, true friendship, or even, for many, a deep and true love, what could be more normal than this Word awakens, heals and rebuilds?
It is therefore no wonder that the Word profoundly changes the heart of man. “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”, this response of young Samuel to the insistence of the divine voice should be that of every Christian. However, it is certain that today, this Word is rendered inaudible: television crash, reading deficit, it would be tedious to list the reasons for the loss of the biblical culture of our modern societies.
However, reading the Bible is not easy! God sometimes has a discreet language, which some may find obscure! And the same questions come up: does the Bible tell the truth? Can we trust him? Should we take everything literally and if not, how far to push the interpretation? To these questions of always, are added those which arise today on the very way of reading the texts: should one endeavor to make a critical interpretation of it or should one privilege a more spiritualist, prayerful approach, of monastic prayer, an approach henceforth known as “lectio divina”?
It is through the word that God made himself known and it is through assiduous, regular and questioning frequentation of this Word that man, little by little, learns to respond to him. This dialogue between God and his people, a dialogue that is always fruitful if it is constantly renewed, is not unrelated to all the dialogues that link us together.

(Extract from the “Croire” magazine)