Enrico Finotti
For several decades the emphasis has been on the “Word” and in the parish, the group of the Word is the most prestigious. Even in the Mass, the liturgy of the Word seems to be the most important part, to the point that, often, the Eucharistic liturgy runs away like a question of the clock. It seems that the Sacraments are secondary and many have forgotten them even in practice. Is this the right path, or should we also go back to talking about the sacraments?
One from the group of the Word
First of all, it is necessary to clarify in the right way what is meant by the Word of God. It is contained not only in sacred Scripture but also in sacred Tradition and both must be interpreted according to the perennial Magisterium of the Church (cf. DV 10). Otherwise one would fall into the reductive Protestant vision (Sola Scriptura), which today is quite widespread even among Catholics. Furthermore, it is necessary to remember that the integrity of Sacred Scripture itself was saved by the Council of Trent, which by defining the Canon of inspired books, opposed the Protestant reduction, which excluded part of the biblical books, such as that of Wisdom and Sirach, according to the Jewish canon.
Certainly, the emphasis given to liturgical listening to the Word of God is an intelligent provision of the Second Vatican Council, the fruit of the biblical and liturgical movement of the last few centuries. However, it should not be believed that the Church previously was extraneous to the Word of God, which, on the other hand, has always inspired both the Magisterium and preaching in all the centuries, albeit in different ways. In this regard, one should read the monumental Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils and the great Encyclicals of the Supreme Pontiffs and also the homilies of the Fathers, the writings of the Doctors of the Church, the visions of the mystics and the best part of popular preaching itself.
The relationship of the Word with the Sacraments is very close, indeed we can say that the Word manifests its most intense efficacy precisely in the Sacraments and they realize the most incandescent moment of the Word of God. Never as in the seven Sacraments does the Word become infallibly effective and creative. Think of the supernatural effects of the sacramental formulas, which are the quintessence of the Word of God, our sanctification at work here and now. Contrasting Word and Sacrament is nonsense, because the Sacrament is the same Word in a creative act in the order of Grace. To affirm that the deficit of Catholics consists in a lesser consideration of the Word and an excessive evaluation of the Sacraments is totally erroneous, since the Sacraments are precisely the insuperable summit of the saving efficacy of the Word of God. Without them, the Word remains devoid of its own operational fullness.
When the priest declares: I baptize you … I absolve you … This is my body …, what else does it say if not the Word of the only begotten Son, who in the power of the Holy Spirit really proclaims and produces the wonders of the new creation? Isn’t it the same Word that God said in the beginning: Fiat lux… et lux fuit?
Certainly every time the Word of God is proclaimed, a secret flow of Grace pervades the hearts of the listeners, who are called to faith and conversion. But after having heard that first announcement, a second touch of the Word is necessary, which in the Sacrament gives you what it had previously promised you: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mk 16:15). It is in the Sacrament, therefore, that the Word makes us partakers of the divine nature (2 Pt 1, 4).
(From La spada e la Parola. Il liturgista risponde, 2018©Chorabooks. Translated by Aurelio Porfiri. Used with permission of the publisher. All rights reserved)
Follow
