Not only the homily has to be nourished by the word of God. All evangelization is based on that word, listened to, meditated upon, lived, celebrated and witnessed to. The sacred Scriptures are the very source of evangelization. Consequently, we need to be constantly trained in hearing the word. The Church does not evangelize unless she constantly lets herself be evangelized. It is indispensable that the word of God “be ever more fully at the heart of every ecclesial activity”.135Benedict XVI , Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (30 September 2010), 1: AAS 102 (2010), 682. God’s word, listened to and celebrated, above all in the Eucharist, nourishes and inwardly strengthens Christians, enabling them to offer an authentic witness to the Gospel in daily life. We have long since moved beyond that old contraposition between word and sacrament. The preaching of the word, living and effective, prepares for the reception of the sacrament, and in the sacrament that word attains its maximum efficacy.
The study of the sacred Scriptures must be a door opened to every believer.136Cf. Propositio 11. It is essential that the revealed word radically enrich our catechesis and all our efforts to pass on the faith.137Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 21-22. Evangelization demands familiarity with God’s word, which calls for dioceses, parishes and Catholic associations to provide for a serious, ongoing study of the Bible, while encouraging its prayerful individual and communal reading.138Cf. Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (30 September 2010), 86-87: AAS 102 (2010), 757-760. We do not blindly seek God, or wait for him to speak to us first, for “God has already spoken, and there is nothing further that we need to know, which has not been revealed to us”.139Benedict XVI, Address during the First General Congregation of the Synod of Bishops (8 October 2012): AAS 104 (2012), 896. Let us receive the sublime treasure of the revealed word.