The Second Reading at Mass this weekend is taken from Hebrews and tells us that the Word of God is something alive and active in our lives. But is it? Here is a piercing reflection by Pope Benedict on how the Word does or doesn't influence of our thoughts and actions
‘So then, how do things stand in our own lives? Are we truly pervaded by the word of God? Is that word truly the nourishment we live by, even more than bread and the things of this world? Do we really know that word? Do we love it? Are we deeply engaged with this word to the point that it really leaves a mark on our lives and shapes our thinking? Or is it rather the case that our thinking is constantly being shaped by all the things that others say and do? Aren’t prevailing opinions the criterion by which we all too often measure ourselves? Do we not perhaps remain, when all is said and done, mired in the superficiality in which people today are generally caught up? Do we allow ourselves truly to be deeply purified by the word of God?
Pope Benedict XVI, Chrism Mass, 2009.