"Even the order of the words in a mystery"

The Holy Father then underlined the
importance of the criteria observed by Saint Jerome for his work of
translation: respect even for the order of the words in Sacred
Scripture, �since in Scripture, he says, �even the order of the words
in a mystery, that is, a revelation�, and the necessity to have
recourse to the original texts. A commentator on numerous Biblical
texts, Jerome � energetically and vivaciously confuted heretics�, he
demonstrated the importance and the validity of Christian literature,
he wrote biographies of monks illustrating the monastic ideal, he
translated various works of Greek authors.

At the end of his catechesis, Pope Benedict XVI asked a question: �What
do we learn from St Jerome? I would say this: to love the Word of God
in Sacred Scripture. – Saint Jerome says: �To ignore the Scriptures is
to ignore Christ�. Therefore it is important for every Christian to
live in personal contact and dialogue with the Word of God, given to us
in Sacred Scripture�. The Pope then underlined that this dialogue must
have two dimensions: a personal dimension, �because God speaks to each
of us through Sacred Scripture and He has a message for each of us�
which we must strive to understand, and a community dimension, since
the Word of God builds up the community, it builds up the Church. �This
is why we must read it in communion with the living Church. The
privileged placed for reading and listening to the Word of God is the
liturgy, in which, celebrating and rendering present in the Sacrament
the Body of Christ, we actualise the Word in our life and make it
present in our midst �. The Pope concluded by recalling that the Word
of God transcends time: �human opinions come and go. What is ultra
modern today, tomorrow will be ultra old. Instead, the Word of God is
Word of eternal life, it holds eternity within it, that is, it is valid
for ever. So carrying within us the Word of God, we carry within us
eternity, eternal life.�