“Every word that comes from my Son’s mouth is true life.” (Inner Word)
It was the Desert Fathers who drew our attention to the fact that we should “chew the Word of God”, that is, repeat it over and over again. In this they found the true nourishment for their spiritual life.
Or consider the Blessed Mother, of whom it is said that she treasured in her heart the words her Son Jesus had spoken (cf. Luke 2:19).
Or we hear the story of St. Anthony the Great, who heard the words in a sermon: “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, (…) and come, follow me.” (Mk 10:21).
Or let us think of Saint Augustine, who, in a particular situation, was prompted by a voice to open the Holy Scriptures. The Word of the Lord struck him so deeply that his conversion was complete.
We will find countless stories in testimonies of how the Word of the Lord reached a person who then began to align his or her life with it. So powerful is the Word of the Lord that even a single word can be enough to bring about the great miracle of a person’s conversion.
“Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul will be healed,” says the believer, three times in the Traditional Roman Rite, before receiving Holy Communion. One word!
“All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:3–4)
It is the Lord Himself who meets us in His Word, and He is true life.
The author of these lines does not forget the Lord’s words: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone” (John 8,:7) Thus, the stones already picked up must fall back to the ground, for who is without sin? The One who was truly without sin did not cast stones but gave His life for reconciliation.