Biblical meditation on the third mystery of the rosary of light (completion)
Fr. Vojtěch Brož
Proclamation as the Mission of the Church
The disciples received new understanding and comprehension of the entire life of Jesus and the whole work of salvation through the vision of the risen Lord. They understood the Scriptures. This understanding does not set them apart to become some kind of esoteric sect, a closed elite that will jealously guard their knowledge for themselves. Their understanding becomes their mission. What they have seen, they must testify about. In all the Gospels, the Easter accounts of the revelation of the Risen One culminate in the mission of the disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age!” (Mt 28:19–20). “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation!” (Mk 16:15). “Thus it is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all nations... You are witnesses of these things!” (Lk 24:45–48). “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you!” (John 20:21). Also in the Acts: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
This mission of the disciples is depicted in the Gospels, in which Jesus' journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, his public ministry, his proclamation, and his teaching are described, a journey that was fulfilled in the Easter mystery. Jesus did not walk this path alone. He led his disciples along it: he called to himself those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him and to send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons (Mk 3:13–15). From the beginning, they are destined for proclamation. Therefore, Jesus trains them by leading them everywhere with him so that they can see everything he does and hear everything he says, and by giving them precise instructions regarding their future mission (cf. Mt 10:5–11:1 and others). Even before Easter, he sent them out to preach, as a kind of test (cf. Mk 6:7–13).
The actual commencement of the mission of Jesus' disciples begins after his resurrection and ascension and after the sending of the Holy Spirit. The Church, already existing in secrecy in the intimacy of the upper room (Acts 1:12–14), is born at Pentecost, bursts forth into the light of the world, and manifests itself loudly like a newly born child. Peter proclaims his famous sermon, the result of which is conversion and acceptance of baptism among those who listened; there were about three thousand (cf. Acts 2:1–41). From that day, the new community of Jesus' disciples remains in the apostolic teaching (Acts 2:42). The apostles are not intimidated and even after the first interrogation before the council with boldness proclaimed God's word (4:31). The apostles, whose background is the community of believers that had one heart and one soul, in which no one said that anything belonging to him was his own, gave great witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (4:32–33). After another interrogation and flogging, which they accepted with joy that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for that name, taught every day in the temple and at home and proclaimed the good news that Jesus is the Messiah (5:41–42). When needs of a more charitable nature arose in the growing and stratified community, the apostles decided: “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” They then appointed seven deacons, whose care should be specifically for the service of tables. The result of such freed hands of the apostles is that the word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly... (6:2,7). Thus, we could go through the entire Acts of the Apostles. Apostles (whose number also increases as Barnabas, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and others join the original Twelve) come to all regions and proclaim the word. Jesus' gospel, in this spreading, breaks down all obstacles that stand in its way, tearing down the walls that people have built between themselves, breaking down hostilities between Jews and Samaritans, between Jews and Gentiles. As a refrain, Luke's summarizing remarks resonate: The word of God continued to spread and grow (12:24), or: The word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily (19:20). The entire narrative of the Acts of the Apostles can be understood as a journey, as a “race of the word” (cf. 2 Thess 3:1) from Jerusalem to Rome.
The primitive Church is primarily the proclaimer of the word, the gospel, the good news. Paul sees preaching the gospel as his priority mission (cf. 1 Cor 1:17). And he encourages his successor: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching!” (2 Tim 4:2) The Church as the proclaimer of the gospel continues in the mission of Jesus himself, for whom preaching was also the first point of his mission. Between the mission of Jesus and the mission of the Church, there exists identity and continuity. The Church's proclamation is an extension of Jesus’ proclamation. The difference is only that the content of Jesus’ proclamation was: “The kingdom of God is near!”, whereas the content of the Church's proclamation is: “Jesus has risen from the dead, Jesus is Lord!” This difference is based on the Easter mystery of Christ, which serves as a boundary between Jesus’ earthly mission and the mission of the Church. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, which – in him – drew near; the Church proclaims that Jesus crucified and risen is the King who has already taken His reign over the world, because by his death he has overcome the Ruler of this world. Therefore, the fundamental message of the Church is Jesus crucified and risen. Thus, Paul writes to the Corinthians: “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23). And to his spiritual son Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel” (2 Tim 2:8).
The Church continues in Jesus’ mission. It is to not only proclaim his teaching but to proclaim it in his spirit. Saint Paul, the model of the apostle, can testify to this in his own person: “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:1–5). Paul here shows how the content of the proclamation, which is the crucified Christ, corresponds to the style in which it is proclaimed: weakness, unpretentiousness. Simplicity and honesty of the proclaimer are, for Paul, connected with determination that does not give up because it is supported by God’s strength: “Since we have this ministry by God's mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake” (2 Cor 4:1–2,5). The servant of the word must vanish behind the word he has spoken, in humility before the Lord's forerunner and the Bridegroom's friend, who is only “the voice of one crying out” (John 1:23; 3:27–30), while the Bridegroom is the Word. Only the word has meaning and purpose, not the voice. Paul is concerned that, as a proclaimer, he does not overshadow the message. Therefore, he resists human wisdom, verbal dexterity, and cleverness, “lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Cor 1:17).
If it is true of Jesus, who is the Word of God, that he cannot say anything of himself, even more so it is true of his disciples. They can proclaim only what they have received from him, teaching what they were first taught (cf. Mt 28:20). Only disciples can become apostles and proclaimers. They do not have their word but the word of their Master. Saint Paul, the great proclaimer of the word, who sees his mission only in proclaiming, knows of his poverty with regard to the word that he must proclaim. He humbly acknowledges: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received…” (1 Cor 15:3) Furthermore – and this further shows the paradoxical situation of the proclaimer, who must give what is not his – he asks his believers to pray that he may be granted the word: “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph 6:18–24).
Like Jesus, so too must the proclaimers of his gospel reckon with persecutions that are connected with their mission. In the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of tribulation and persecution for the word (Mt 13:21). He explicitly foretold this to his disciples: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). The fulfillment of these words did not take long to come. After Peter’s first sermons in Jerusalem on Pentecost and thereafter, the apostles were arrested and interrogated by the council. Even though its members could not convict the apostles of guilt, they called the apostles in, had them flogged, and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus… (Acts 5:40). Apostle Paul was constantly persecuted in his preaching, imprisoned, beaten, stoned… (cf. 2 Cor 6:3–10; 11:23–26). The apostle John was exiled to the island called Patmos for proclaiming the word of God (Rev 1:9). Nonetheless, any persecution for the word of God should not surprise the disciples. Jesus blesses them (Mt 5:11–12). And not only that: persecution and interrogations even become opportunities for them to fulfill their mission: “They will deliver you up to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles” (Mt 10:17ff.). An apostle may ultimately remain silent like the Lord's Servant, like Jesus himself. An apostle can also be forcibly silenced. Not so with the word of God. “I suffer for the gospel, even to the point of chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not chained!” (2 Tim 2:8–9)
Jesus' Proclamation as the Mystery of Salvation
Jesus' proclamation is a salvific event. It inaugurates the time of salvation, announcing and simultaneously bringing about God's kingdom. Thus, we can consider Jesus' proclamation to be a “mystery” of salvation. By the term “mystery,” we understand the event of Jesus' life filled with salvific content, which is celebrated by the Church in its liturgy. Raniero Cantalamessa points out the presence of this mystery in our worship:1
It is true that there is no special liturgical feast for Jesus' proclamation (similar to those for his birth, transfiguration, death, etc.). It is also true that at every liturgy, the Church remembers Jesus' proclamation. The “liturgy of the word,” an integral part of every mass, is nothing more than a liturgical updating of Jesus proclaiming. The documents of the Second Vatican Council say: “Christ… is present in his word: he speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in the church” (SC 7). As in history, after proclaiming the kingdom of God, Jesus went to Jerusalem to offer himself to the Father as a sacrifice, so in the liturgy, after he has spoken his word again, Jesus renews the sacrifice of himself to the Father in the Eucharist. When at the end of the preface, we call out: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest,” we are spiritually transported to that moment when Jesus enters Jerusalem to celebrate his Pascha. When the time of proclamation ends, the time of suffering begins.
When we speak of Jesus' proclamation as a “mystery,” which is one of the terms used in the early Church for “sacrament,”2 we realize the “sacramental character” of Jesus' proclamation and of God's word in general, its closeness to the sacraments. Just as the sacraments make present the salvific event that occurred in Jesus Christ, so does the proclaimed word. God's word is also a salvific event. The Hebrew word DáBáR means not only “word” but also “deed.” Every word establishes a certain situation, it is active, it is a force that shapes history. If this is true of human words, at least some, it is all the more so true of the word of God, which is omnipotent. With God, there is no distance between word and deed. God has no empty words. When God speaks, what he says happens. God creates the world with his word (cf. Gen 1; Heb 1:3). The word of God, which goes forth from God's mouth, will not return to him empty, but – just like the rain and snow that water the earth – it will accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it (cf. Isa 55:10–11). The seed of the word itself grows and produces, day and night, whether the man is awake or asleep, he does not know how. The seed has the power to enrich the earth, which – if it truly has received the seed of the word – will bring forth fruit by itself (Mk 4:26–28). The word of God is living and active (Heb 4:12). This is true of every word of God, whether it is the word with which God created the world at the beginning or the word through which Christ raises Lazarus. It is also true of the word that the Church proclaims, which is not merely a human word but a true word of God (cf. 1 Thess 2:13). Hence the confidence of the proclaimers of the gospel: I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16). The word of God is powerful. Every word of God is derived from the one Word. John in Revelation sees this “Word of God” as the rider on a white horse, whose name is “Faithful and True”. The horse is a symbol of aggressive power, just as the sword coming from the mouth of the rider is. The white color signifies divinity and victory. The rider is accompanied by a heavenly army on white horses. Thus, he who bears the name “King of kings and Lord of lords” (cf. Rev 19:11–16) makes his victorious way through history. Let us emphasize once again that his only power is He Himself – as the Word of God.
The word of God is always an event. Therefore, the prophets testify to the intervention of God's word in their lives as an event: “The word of the Lord came to me…” This applies until the last prophet, John the Baptist: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the word of God came to John
(as literally in Greek), the son of Zechariah… (Lk 3:1–2). Then this formulation completely disappears from the Bible, and instead, another emerges: The Word became flesh (John 1:14). The Word is no longer merely an event, but becomes a person. Nowhere in the Bible do we find: “The Word of God became Jesus…” This is because the word of God is not something external to Jesus that would be added to him. Jesus is the Word, which is at the same time word and deed, meaning and reality, significance and its full realization. Because in Christ the fullness of God's life has been expressed and realized, this Word made flesh is the last and definitive word of God to the world. God has nothing more to say, for he has said it all. However, this does not mean that we can no longer hear anything from God. Precisely in this lies the similarity of the word of God to the sacraments. R. Cantalamessa again points out the analogy between God's word and the sacrament:3Likewise, Christ's sacrifice was completed and closed on the cross. In a certain sense, therefore, there are no longer Christ's sacrifices. And yet we know that there is still sacrifice and that it is the only sacrifice of the Cross, which becomes present and effective in the Eucharistic sacrifice. The event continues in the sacrament, history in the liturgy. Something analogous occurs with Christ's word: it has ceased to exist as an event but still exists as a sacrament… The historical event of the Word ceased with the ascension of Christ, but the Spirit who acted in that event “remains forever” (cf. John 14:16). Therefore, that event lasts forever. There are no longer words in the Church as events; the word of God will not descend upon anyone as it once did upon Samuel, upon Jeremiah, or upon John the Baptist. However, there are words as sacrament. Words as sacrament are God's words that have “occurred” once for all, are collected in the Bible, and become a continually “active reality” whenever the Church proclaims them with authority. The Spirit who inspired them rekindles them in the hearts of those who hear them… Just as in the Incarnation, Christ hides under the veil of the body and in the Eucharist under the veil of bread, so is he hidden in Scripture under the veil of the word. In the Incarnation, God hides in the humility of human nature; in Scripture, he hides in the humility of human word.
This sacramental nature of God's word within us should inspire an appropriate reverence for God's word. The analogy with the sacraments can again help us, especially with the Most Holy Sacrament. Origen already warned Christians:4
You, who are accustomed to participate in divine mysteries, when you receive the body of the Lord, keep it with all care and reverence, so that not even a crumb falls to the ground, that nothing is lost from the consecrated gift. It is your conviction – and a correct conviction – that it is a sin to let it fall to the ground out of negligence. If for the preservation of his body you are so careful – and it is correct that you are – do you think it a lesser sin to neglect God's word than to neglect his body?
This word is your life
Reverence and love from our side are due to God's word not only because it is God's word, the word of the Lord, thrice holy. God's word should be precious to us also because it is our daily bread, the word of life.
The chosen nation derives its existence from the word of God. Its history begins with the Lord speaking to Abram (Gen 12:1). When Moses led the people out of Egyptian slavery, he instilled in their hearts the words of God's law, on which the existence of Israel stands: “Now therefore, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you to do, that you may live…” (Dt 4:1). Israel is completely dependent on the word of God. “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by all that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Dt 8:3). Therefore, there are repeated calls to listen to the word and to obedience. Life depends on it. “Set your hearts to all the words which I command you today… For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess…” (Dt 32:46–47). Israel's reflection on the power of God's word, on the great deeds that have occurred through that word in history, brings the faithful people to realize that God's word is the foundation of all life and being. The world was created through the word (Gen 1). The word of God resonating in the heart of each of us is the source of our existence, as St. Ambrose insightfully expresses it: “The word of God is the living essence of our soul; it gives it life, feeds it, and directs it. There is nothing, apart from the word of God, that can revive the human soul.”5
The word of creation is a prerequisite for the further word of God, the word of revelation and redemption. By the word, we were created without our will. Redemption does not go without our will. Our Christian existence begins with the acceptance of the word of God; it gives us birth to a new life. You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. For “all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever” – that is, the word of the gospel that was preached to you (1 Pet 1:23–25). This word must be accepted by faith, taken in such a way that a person stands by it, which is manifested through confession. In the letter to the Romans, Paul conditions our justification and salvation on faith and confession, which, however, are possible only through proclamation: The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved… For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?… Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Rom 10:8–17). Faith means, first of all, acceptance of the word. This is effective, so its real acceptance is demonstrated through action. Saint James admonishes us: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak… receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves!” (James 1:19–22).
Israel is proud of its Law, of the word of the living God. It knows that this makes it special. “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us…? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?” (Dt 4:7–8) The chosen nation expressed its reverence for the word of God by preserving the words (DeBaRíM) of the Decalogue in the Ark of the Covenant; it was located in the innermost part of the tent, in the Holy of Holies, which in Hebrew is called DeBíR. Thus, God's word represented the deepest mystery of Israel's history.
The Church is the new Ark of the Covenant, which holds within it the word of God. Like Mary after the Incarnation, whom the reverence of the faithful also calls the “Ark of the Covenant,” the Church carries within its heart the Word of God to give birth to it in the world through its apostolate. The Church listens in secrecy and in darkness to her Bridegroom, and what she hears in this way, she proclaims from the rooftops, bringing it to the light of the world (Mt 10:27).
