“Speak, Lord: I am listening to you”: that is the title of the pastoral letter of the Swiss Episcopal Conference, issued on the occasion of the federal Festival of prayer (or Federal Fast), an ecumenical rite introduced in Switzerland in 1832; it’s celebrated on the third Sunday of September each year (21/9). “This year says the pastoral letter “we wish to accompany you on the road that leads to a real treasure: … the word of God”. In the year of the Bible, the Swiss bishops ask themselves: “what does the word of God mean for us, at the personal level, and as Christian community? And in concrete?”. “It’s good to listen to the word of God during the liturgy”, the bishops say. “But this in itself is not enough: often we are distracted, we forget something”; in addition “at the present time our culture is characterised by scepticism and relativism. That’s why it is all the more important that we Christians have a heart inflamed by the words of Holy Scripture”. Bible readings during divine service, says the pastoral letter, need to be listened to “so that the treasure may bear fruit”; these fruits are “faith”, “a new hope”, “love”, and “the joy that fills those that find this hidden treasure. This treasure teaches us we were created for the truth, a truth that makes us share the certainty of the faith. It’s not a certainty that generates death and fanaticism, but a certainty that leads us to the goal of our vocation: that of being holy”. Concluding their letter by citing verses 55:10-11 of Isaiah, the bishops hope that the faithful may have the same “unshakable faith” as the prophet.
