To attend and to speak (to listen and to witness)

This post is a footnote to Fred's post, Whoever gives up his or her own point of view to follow Jesus...becomes a person capable of facing anything.

Proverbs 21:27-31 (from the Interlinear Bible: Hebrew, Greek, English), a literal translation of the Hebrew:

"The sacrifice of the wicked is hateful: how much more when he brings it with an evil intent! A false witness shall perish; BUT THE MAN WHO ATTENDS WILL SPEAK FOREVER. A wicked man hardens his face, but the upright sets up his way. There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel before the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but to the Lord belongs deliverance." (Proverbs 21:27-31)

The word that is translated as "attend" is, in Hebrew, "shema," the first word of the prayer, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one..." It is also the root of the name "Simon," or in Hebrew, "Shemon."

Here are excerpts from Strong's translation of "shema":

"To hear intelligently (...attention, obedience...) ... hearken, obey, publish, understand, obedient, diligently ... consent, consider, be content, give ear, indeed, listen, proclaim, regard, ... witness ... undivided attention... to gain or get knowledge ... suggests summoning the person ... Hearing can be both intellectual and spiritual... To hear means not only to hear what is said, but to agree with its intention or petition ... To have a hearing heart is to have discernment or understanding... An annunciation."

The Hebrew word for "speak" used in this proverb is "dabar." Here is the definition:

"...to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak... promise, tell, commune, pronounce, utter, command ... answer, appoint, bid, declare, destroy, give name, rehearse, be spokesman, subdue, teach, think, use... This verb focuses not only on the content of spoken verbal communication but also and especially on the time and circumstances of what is said. Unlike 'amar,' (to say),' 'dabar' often appears without any specification of what was communicated. Those who 'speak' are primarily persons (God or men) ... In 2 Samuel 23:2 David says that the Spirit of the Lord 'spoke' to him ... Among the special meanings of this verb are 'to say,' 'to command,' 'to promise,' 'to commission,' 'to announce,' to order or command,' and 'to utter a song.' [...]" When the word 'dabar' is used as a noun, it means "word" or "utterance." Here is a bit from that definition: "...The 'word' of God indicates God's thoughts and will..."

Synod Intervention by Archbishop Pezzi, Moscow

Most Rev. Paolo Pezzi, F.S.C.B., Archbishop of God Mother's in Moscow

In this historical moment, the Word of God cannot be separated from the event of Jesus Christ. He is the Logos (Word), the Father's communication, His face (cf. Col 1,15). At the same time, we cannot forget that the words and deeds of Jesus were handed down through the work and suggestion (inspiration) of the Holy Spirit Himself. His life was transmitted and such transmission continues until our days. In this sense the words of Benedict XVI, at the beginning of his encyclical letter on charity are decisive: "Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction".

In present relativism, which leans to level off any differences, so that all words are valid and none is more valid than the other, where all is reduced to a game of opinions, the Biblical word must incarnate itself in the beauty of its witnesses, if it wants to draw the world towards the truth. In Instrumentum Laboris (48), it is cleverly pointed out that "Making the Word of God and the Sacred Scriptures the soul of his pastoral activity, the bishop is capable of bringing the faithful to encounter Christ" [...] "so that, through their own experience, the faithful will see that the words of Jesus are spirit and life (cf. Jn 6:63) [...]".

The announcement of the Word of God, should therefore have as its scope making persons, so to speak, that they are in the presence of the living Person: be witnesses of the Person of Jesus Christ, the Logos became flesh. Or according to Saint Paul's splendid words: it should be "a clear picture of Jesus Christ crucified, right in front of your eyes". The Word of God is a source of an evermore deep and authentic knowledge of Christ, of "the knowledge of God's glory, the glory on the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). Such glory of Christ kindles a fire in us, becomes a desire to witness Him. It is said in Instrumentum Laboris (54) that "listening to the Word of God is a priority for our ecumenical commitment". It is necessary to renew among Christians the tension towards the person of Christ Himself, the desire to understand and know more deeply His mystery. Through the encounter with the Word made flesh, made possible by the Spirit, we rediscover communion with Him: it is the force of the Spirit of the Risen Christ that attracts the scattered people towards His only body.