Pope Leo on Vatican II: Friendship with God, listening to Scripture are paramount in life

Pope Leo began his catechesis series examining the documents of the Second Vatican Council Jan. 14, looking at the opening of Dei Verbum, the Council’s dogmatic constitution on Sacred Scripture.

The Holy Father reflected on how God invites man to friendship and genuine listening.

“This is a fundamental point of Christian faith, which Dei Verbum reminds us of: Jesus Christ radically transforms man’s relationship with God, which is henceforth a relationship of friendship,” he said in the address. “Therefore, the only condition of the new covenant is love.”

The catechesis series, announced Jan 7, is the first series begun during Pope Leo’s pontificate.

The Pope quoted Saint Augustine, who said that “friendship is born between equals, or makes them so.” Pope Leo explained that man is not equal to God, but rather, in the Incarnation, God makes man similar to Himself.

“With the coming of the Son in human flesh, the Covenant opens up to its final purpose: in Jesus, God makes us sons and daughters, and calls us to become like Him, albeit in our fragile humanity,” he said.

He explained that man’s resemblance to God does not come about because of trying to be like gods in the way the serpent in Genesis suggests. Instead, it comes through man’s relationship with Christ.

The Pontiff quoted from the opening sections of Dei Verbum about God’s offer of friendship, the impacts of Adam and Eve’s first sin, and God’s work to restore man’s relationship with Him.

God’s Revelation, he said, is “dialogical,” as it calls the faithful to honest speech with God. Being dialogical, this is not a one-way street.

“The Constitution Dei Verbum also reminds us of this: God speaks to us,” the Pontiff said. “It is important to recognize the difference between words and chatter: this latter stops at the surface and does not achieve communion between people, whereas in authentic relationships, the word serves not only to exchange information and news, but to reveal who we are.”

Words, Pope Leo continued, reveal a person’s identity. God’s words to man, therefore, show God to be an Ally who invites man into friendship.

“From this perspective, the first attitude to cultivate is listening, so that the divine Word may penetrate our minds and our hearts; at the same time, we are required to speak with God, not to communicate to him what He already knows, but to reveal ourselves to ourselves,” he said.

Prayer is therefore necessary, as practicing prayer, he said, cultivates friendship with God.

The Holy Father emphasized that the prayer of friendship is achieved first and foremost within the context of liturgical and communal prayer, “in which we do not decide what to hear from the Word of God, but it is He Himself who speaks to us through the Church.”

On the topic of personal prayer, the Pontiff said that time for prayer, meditation, and reflection should be a part of every Christian’s daily and weekly life. 

“Only when we speak with God can we also speak about Him,” he said.

“Our experience tells us that friendships can come to an end through a dramatic gesture of rupture, or because of a series of daily acts of neglect that erode the relationship until it is lost,” he concluded. “If Jesus calls us to be friends, let us not leave this call unheeded. Let us welcome it, let us take care of this relationship, and we will discover that friendship with God is our salvation.”