Jesus told us to abide in His word (Jn 8:31), to be in His word so much that it becomes our residence. Jesus practiced what He preached. Even when He was twelve years old, He stayed in the Temple for three days to listen to the teachers and ask them questions (Lk 2:46-47). Jesus quoted God's word when He was tempted (Lk 4:4, 8, 12). He said: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act upon it" (Lk 8:21). When someone complimented Him and His mother, He surprisingly replied: "Blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk 11:28). Jesus maintained that God's word was more convincing even than someone raised from the dead (Lk 16:31). Jesus prayed God's word when He was hanging on the cross (Mt 27:46; Ps 22:2; Lk 23:46; Ps 31:6). Even after Jesus rose from the dead, He spent the afternoon interpreting for His disciples "every passage of Scripture which referred to Him" (Lk 24:27) and the evening of the day of His resurrection opening "their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures" (Lk 24:45). Jesus was immersed in God's word. He abided in God's word.

His disciples are called to do the same by devoting themselves to the apostles' instruction (Acts 2:42). The Lord charges us "to preach the word, to stay with this task whether convenient or inconvenient — correcting, reproving, appealing — constantly teaching" (2 Tm 4:2). We are to love God's word, live in it, live it, and die for it (see Rv 1:9). Be men and women of God's word.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert A. Stricker, May 8, 2001

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, May 18, 2001