Question 2.19

2.19 Did this study of the Scriptures seem difficult for you?

Those years of biblical studies can seem long and demanding. Indeed, they require the knowledge of numerous languages and complex work to place the Sacred Scriptures back into the context of the major cultures that influenced the people of Israel, particularly the Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Canaanite, Greek, and Roman cultures, without neglecting the geopolitical setting of Israel’s history. But those years are necessary in order to let the Word of God penetrate us like a two-edged sword. It takes time for our stony hearts to receive the Word of God so that it might really become the Word of the Covenant. We can then experience, as Baudouin de Fort says in one of his homilies, that “the Word of God, which is also the wisdom of God, truly becomes more penetrating when it is received with faith and love. Indeed, what could be impossible for someone who believes? And what could be difficult for those who love? When the voice of the Word speaks up, it sinks into the heart like arrows in battle that tear, like nails driven deeply, and it penetrates so far that it reaches the most secret recesses. Yes, this Word goes much farther than a two-edged sword, because there is no power or force that can deal such considerable blows, and the human mind cannot conceive of a point so subtle and so penetrating. All human wisdom, all the subtlety of natural knowledge, falls short of its keenness.”

One must humbly acknowledge that a whole lifetime is necessary to study the Word of God and to acquire the wisdom that leads to love.