Moses is, undoubtedly, among the celebrated figures of the books of the Old Testament. It is no wonder that various forms of audiovisual narration have sought ways of “interpreting” his
The second day of reflection of the Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Biblical Federation (FeBiC) touched on the points of fragility of our world and of our service to the Word: the contributions of Prof. Simone MORANDINI (Italy) followed by Father George Ossom Batsa (Ghana) and Mgr. Jorge Edouarte Lozano (newly elected Secretary General of CELAM): the latter’s speech, in the framework of the two previous reports, was particularly valuable and provocative. The Church, as an institutional and community subject – said Mgr. Lozano -, is faced with elements of fragility that must be called by name and, possibly, addressed carefully. The Church is “fragile” precisely in those three elements in which it should be “salt of the earth” and “light of the world”: communion, participation and mission.
Communion is threatened by forms of authoritarianism and clericalism, as well as by intimate and closed religious tendencies, which make faith a set of devotional practices that hinder the encounter with the living Christ: rediscovering the centrality of the Word helps to enter into a “high” and “other” logic.
Participation is exposed to the pitfall of a vision of the Church “to its own measure” where it is believed that faith can be lived without Word, without community and without magisterium; Women continue to be on the margins of decision-making and missionary identity weakens. In our assemblies we talk about the young, the different, the distant… but we are not very loose in speaking with the young, with the different, with the distant.
Finally, the mission must keep in mind that today there is no longer a transmission of the faith in the family and between generations; the social kerygmatic bond that ensured a common feeling has failed; this leads young people to consider Jesus as a teacher of the past, to look for other points of reference in that digital world where we are too little (and bad) present. How then not to take into account the cry of the earth and the injustices that inhabit it?
All these aspects require a decisive review of catechetical processes, of religious and priestly formation, of the priority of service, breaking down the roots of every possible form of abuse (not only sexual, but also spiritual, economic, power…). Devoting oneself to the Word means approaching the fragility of this world, with the awareness of being “channels” of a living Word that shapes, forms and changes. Reflections that have touched and shaken the sense of responsibility of those present, encouraging and directing the work of these days!
