FOLLOWING THE WORD OF GOD

SAINT BONIFACE, BISHOP, MARTYR    

2 Tim 3:10-17; Ps 119:157,160-161,165-166,168; Mk 12:35-37

The Profitability of the Word of God

When Jesus Christ announced that no one can have access to the Father except through him, he meant that the only way to acquire knowledge of the Father is through the Word, who is the Son of God. The Father’s knowledge of Himself from all eternity is the Only Begotten Son of God. So, no one can know anything of God, which is not contained in God’s knowledge of Himself, which is the Son. On this basis, we understand that communion with the Trinity is made possible through our acquaintance with the word of God that became Incarnate in the Son of Man. Thus, the word of God introduces us to the life of the Trinity by bringing us to Jesus Christ. Regarding this, the Son of Man declared that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We walk on the way by reading and meditating on the word of God daily. The psalmist echoes this, saying: “Though my foes and oppressors are countless, I have not swerved from your will. Your word is founded on truth, your decrees are eternal.” Therefore, we progressively enter the Trinitarian communion by walking the path of God's word. The Sacraments are of no avail if they do not lead us to meditate often and live in the presence of Jesus Christ and the Father. The role of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to foster this meditation leading to communion of love.

Since reading, meditating, and contemplating the word of God and the fruitful celebration of the Sacraments are spiritual activities by which our communion with the Trinity is enriched, the attacks of adverse spiritual forces are to prevent or dissuade us from engaging fruitfully in these activities. Saint Paul cites his own life tribulations as an example for Timothy. “You know what I have taught, how I have lived, what I have aimed at; you know my faith, patience and my love, my constancy, and the persecutions and hardships that came to me in places like Antioch, Iconium and Lystra—all the persecutions I have endured; and the Lord has rescued me from every one of them.” The persecutions arise from within and without; from within due to old structures of sin which the word of God we feed on must destroy to set us free for communion with the Triune God. We suffer the death of our old man through these internal afflictions. There are external ones also coming from forces of evil we were subject to before our conversion to the word of God; they fight against us with the world, for they rule the fallen world. But because the world and everything in it belongs to the Lord, for they were all created through and for him. He has overcome the world and its forces through the blood he shed in obedience to the Father for our redemption. He underscores this when he posited his Lordship overall. “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, and I will put your enemies under your feet.”  

The Son of God, coming into our nature to set the Way clearly and immediately before us, encountered all these adversaries and overcame them for us. Because our profession of faith in Christ makes our spiritual lives instances of his, his victory is also ours. But Saint Paul affirms the certainty of encountering these persecutions on our way to the Trinitarian communion. “You are well aware, then, that anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be attacked; while these wicked impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.” In other words, the absence of troubles indicates a counterfeit or false spirituality. Saint Boniface's spirituality was genuine, for it was tested in the crucible of fire and suffering. He was born as Wynfrith in Devon and educated at the monastery at Exeter. He joined the Benedictine Abbey at Nursling, near Southampton. He taught and preached for some time before opting for a foreign mission. Pope Gregory II sent him as a missionary to the heathen tribes of Germany and renamed him Boniface. He converted many souls and was created Bishop of Mainz. He founded or restored dioceses in Bavaria, Thuringia, and Franconia. He reformed the Frankish church with King Pepin the Short. He was murdered on his way to evangelize Friesland on 5 June 754. He is honoured as the apostle of Germany.

Let us pray: May the Martyr Saint Boniface be our advocate, O Lord, that we may firmly hold the faith he taught with his lips and sealed in his blood and confidently profess it by our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.