“Preaching the divine Word (…) should never be neglected, especially during festive periods but most importantly during Advent and Lent, the divine Word should be announced with greater force and energy”
TIRELESS PREACHING OF THE WORD
Claret commented in his Autobiography: “The Word of God brought all things out of nothingness. The divine Word of Jesus Christ restored all things. Christ told his Apostles, “Go out into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” St. Paul told his disciple Timothy, “Preach the Word.” Society is perishing for no other reason than that it has withdrawn from the Church’s Word, which is the Word of life and the Word of God. Societies have become weak and are starving because they have ceased to receive the daily bread of God’s Word. Every plan of salvation will be sterile unless there is a return to the fullness of the great, catholic Word.”(Aut 450).
The Son of God became man not only to take up a human body but to assume the human Word and communicate it to the ears of men. There were many ears waiting but the Word was lacking.
Today there are quantities of words but little communication. There are millions of people walking alone in the world. Claret proposed: “that God be made known, loved and served by all” (Aut 202). Without the knowledge of God there is no possibility of entering into dialogue with Him, not even to confide in Him like a son to his father. The first step is the word. Claret knew that his word could not be compared to the Word of the Lord who “spoke with authority” (Mt 7, 28), hence he tried to convince the people to come closer to the same words of the Lord through reading and the knowledge of the gospels, especially the gospel of Matthew. And he never stopped when selecting his listeners. “The Lord made me to understand that I would not only have to preach to sinners but that I would also have to preach to and catechize simple farmers and villagers” (Aut. 118).
