Questions from the Bible. The next Jubilee dedicated to hope. The sense of dialogue through which brotherhood is expressed.
These are the themes addressed on Monday in the evening “The questions that bring hope” organized by Cultural Center of Milan by two theologians and biblical scholars, friends of each other, Timothy Radcliffe and Łukasz Popko, to highlight that relationship of questions and answers between man and the Mystery of God as found in the Bible.
Both Dominicans, Radcliffe, former general of the Order, is the author of internationally renowned spiritualities, who will be created cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of next December 7, while Łukasz Popko, Polish, he is a teacher at the Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem.
Moderated by the journalist Marco Bardazzi, the two guests discussed the challenges and new questions that have arisen in our time of uncertainty and new hopes starting from the book, co-written, Questions from God, questions to God – In dialogue with the Bible (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) in which the two authors and scholars of the Holy Scriptures explored and investigated the meaning and existential significance of 18 questions from God to man and from man to God, both in the Old and New Testaments.
«This book», said Father Radcliffe, «is a conversation between two friends and was born from the pleasure of conversing between us. We are both Dominican but I am very old, he is young. I’m English, he’s Polish. He is a Bible scholar and I am more of an itinerant preacher. Conversation is the best way to explore the Bible which is full of dialogue and in which God speaks to everyone: sinners, foreigners, sick, distant. The Bible is full of questions. God’s first question is addressed to Adam: “Where are you?”. The last is that of Jesus to Peter: “Simon, do you love me more than these?”. True friends share the same questions even if they disagree with each other about the answers. It is like this also in our relationship with God. When Jesus asks Peter if he loves him it is not to receive an answer but an invitation to immerse himself more deeply in the mystery of love. All these questions from God contained in the Bible are invitations to live».
Łukasz Popko, connecting from Jerusalem, explained how this conversation was born: «The book is the result of a common journey. My first reader was Timothy and vice versa. We were able to inspire each other and the writing process also bonded us a lot. In our passion for the Word of God we have found the common ground to dialogue with each other. I am optimistic because today the “fashion”, let me put it this way, for the Word has returned very strongly in the Church. In the past there was a passion for psychology, then for sociology. Today I see a great interest, even in young people who are undertaking a journey of formation, in Scripture and Lectio divina is seen as a fruitful opportunity for growth. We chose the word conversation rather than dialogue because dialogue is quite formal, the conversation, on the other hand, is an exchange between two friends. Conversing is being with someone, face to face, it is something personal and almost physical, much stronger than a simple exchange of ideas or a dialogue.”
