Dialogue of the Heart: Reading the Bible as the Divine-Human Dialogue - Paperback

by David A. Jackson (Author)

Each Sunday in the liturgy of the Word of the Eucharist, Catholics listen to three readings from the Bible following a three-year cycle. The reflections for each year A to C of the cycle should be read after or alongside reading the Bible passages to which they refer. The reflections take the Bible as the record, in various forms, of a loving dialogue between God and humanity. The practice and experience of dialogue in the Catholic Church, since the time of the Second Vatican Council (1963-5), both internally amongst its members and externally in terms of relations with other Christians, members of other religions and of humankind in general, has led to a richer, broader definition of what 'dialogue' can mean. This broader meaning is in turn enriched as a result of applying it to a reading of the Bible. The light cast by reading it through the 'lens' of dialogue brings into sharper focus, what Christians understand by 'inspiration' and 'revelation' as the self-revelation of God which also 'reveals' our own identity. It may make an understanding of 'covenant' in both the Old and New Testaments, more accessible. It may help to provide a different slant on and definition of what is meant by speaking about 'God' and 'creation', about being human, the articles of the Christian Creed and the mission of the Church in today's world. Above all perhaps, 'dialogue' brings us to the notion of the Trinity as the everlasting dialogue-dance of mutual self-giving of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Humanity and the whole of creation shadows or mirrors this dance here and now, and we are invited to claim our place in it now and hereafter. Christians often bring to the reading of Scripture a pre-packed set of a priori determined definitions of God, the Trinity, Jesus Christ and the whole story of creation and the 're-creation' called redemption. Reading the Bible, a posteriori, with fewer prior ideas, but using the lens of dialogue, aligns us with the experiences of its authors which led them into the mysteries of the divine which are beyond all human powers to describe fully. This is 'experiential' as opposed to purely intellectual knowledge. We 'experience' the truth of something in the heart, the head then attempts to record and make sense of the conversation Christians read the Bible as partners already immersed in the loving dialogue, deep within them, of the presence of the Holy Spirit, of God the Father and of the Son. 'Heart speaks to heart' from the first instance of every human existence. They will find that their own personal love story of a dialogue with God, with all the ups and downs of life, finds deep echoes, reverberations and congruences in the story of the people of God recorded in the Bible. They also bring to the Bible, an experience, an inescapable, of belonging and being part of the whole human family and of being an integral part of the whole created universe. Dialogue with this exterior environment and with their 'invironment' is already an intertwined encounter with the Divine, which is drawing them on to a fuller friendship and the continuing dialogue of love. The Bible provides a mirror where they find a reflection of their own face and their own world. What follows here are reflections and not academic commentaries based on the results of biblical scholarship. It is hoped that the work of scholars informs and supports them and does not contradict them. Thanks are due to those teachers, preachers and scholars who, over the last 80 years, have broken the Word of God for this otherwise unqualified and still non-academic, author. These reflections are offered as a further contribution to the "Year of the Word" (2020) announced by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to stimulate reading of the Bible.