You Win the People Over with the Grace of your Words
You have entered upon
the office of bishop. Sitting at the helm of the Church, you pilot the ship
against the waves. Take firm hold of the rudder of faith so that the severe
storms of this world cannot disturb you. The sea is mighty and vast, but do not
be afraid, for as Scripture says: he has founded it upon the seas, and
established it upon the waters.
The Church of the
Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world;
it therefore remains unmoved. The Church’s foundation is unshakeable and firm
against the assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not
shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church
with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbour of salvation for
all in distress. Although the Church is tossed about on the sea, it rides
easily on rivers, especially those rivers that Scripture speaks of: The
rivers have lifted up their voice. These
are the rivers flowing from the heart of the man who is given drink by Christ
and who receives from the Spirit of God. When these rivers overflow with the
grace of the Spirit, they lift up their voice.
Drink, then, from
Christ, so that your voice may also be heard. Store up in your mind the water
that is Christ, the water that praises the Lord. Store up water from many
sources, the water that rains down from the clouds of prophecy.
Whoever gathers water
from the mountains and leads it to himself or draws it from springs, is himself
a source of dew like the clouds. Fill your soul, then, with this water, so that
your land may not be dry, but watered by your own springs.
He who reads much and
understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others. So
Scripture says: If the clouds are full, they will pour rain
upon the earth.
Therefore, let your
words be rivers, clean and limpid, so that in your exhortations you may charm
the ears of your people. And by the grace of your words win them over to follow
your leadership. Let your sermons be full of understanding. Solomon says: The
weapons of the understanding are the lips of the wise; and in another place he says: Let
your lips be bound with wisdom. That
is, let the meaning of your words shine forth, let understanding blaze out. See
that your addresses and expositions do not need to invoke the authority of
others, but let your words be their own defence. Let no word escape your lips
in vain or be uttered without depth of meaning.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of
Readings
From a letter of St Ambrose
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your interest in our blog! Your comment will be viewed shortly to be added to our blog. :)