THE BIBLICAL
APOSTOLATE FOREMOST IN HIS THOUGHTS
Sr Elena Bosetti, sjbp
There is no doubt
that Fr. James Alberione has been a great fan of the Bible. The
biblical apostolate was foremost in his thoughts and projects,
convinced as he was that he received a special calling with regard
to that Word, the first “editor” of which is God himself.
This passion for
the Bible already expresses itself in the very first years of his
priestly life. It was August 1907
when he conducted in the dome of Alba “three Sundays for the Bible
explained in catechetical form” (Abundantes Divitiae,
138). It’s an initiative of historical importance if we take into
account the social-religious picture recorded by Alberione himself
in the charismatic history of the Pauline Family: “At that time, the
Gospel was rarely read and only by some persons, like Communion not
being frequently received. There was also a special belief that the
Gospel cannot be given to the people, much less the Bible...” (AD
139).
The
Opera della Bibbia
(Bible
Apostolate)
is decidedly
first among the intentions of the Founder and even the most taken
care of. He had a grandiose dream: the Gospel in every family.
And Fr. Alberione never let go of his dreams. He was stubborn
and went to end the matter, troubling heaven and its inhabitants, –
the holy Trinity, Mary Queen of Apostles, saint Paul and all the
saints – until the dreams became reality: 40.000 copies of the
Gospel in the third edition of 1923. The Unione Cooperatori
and Vita pastorale tried hard to publicize the initiative and
to look for offerings “to donate the Gospel or at least to lessen
its cost”.
In 1924, the tenth
year of the foundation is crowned by the birth of the Bible
Society. Its statute, approved by Mons. Francesco Re and
published in Unione Cooperatori of 15 February 1924, already
clearly shows the three cornerstones of the biblical work of the
Pauline Family: associates, editions and promotional campaigns. I
limit myself to recall what concerns the associates: they commit
themselves first of all to pray, offering for the biblical
apostolate at least one communion a week… This sort of
spiritual communion makes us think: the Founder did not
certainly despise the offerings of time and money and he invested
much in organization, but he based everything on prayer.
In 1933 he
establishes the Lega (League) for the daily reading of the
Gospel: a remarkable pastoral event in times when the proclamation
of the Gospel in the liturgical area was done in Latin and the
people knew more about devotions than listening to the Word. The
Bible appeared far and suspect: “it was almost the exclusive right
of the non-Catholics”, observes Fr. James Alberione (Abundantes
Divitiae, 139). And as a true man of God, in humility and
silence, he opens new pathways, widens the horizons and invites
daily reading of sacred Scripture.
On 14 October 1960
John XXIII approves the Società Biblica Cattolica
Internazionale (Sobicain) that aims to promote biblical
formation by means of courses, weeks of study, conventions. Placed
in the same perspective is the center Ut unum sint
(That they may be one) handled by the Daughters of St. Paul,
functioning since 1960 with about 15.000 enrolled each year. It’s
therefore a great commitment of the Pauline Family for the knowledge
and diffusion of the Bible.
But how did Fr. Alberione read the
Bible? How did he, who was so busy editing, spreading and making it
known, approach the sacred text? It would be necessary to intercept
his intimate conversation in the school of the Master: four hours a
day. His teaching is all blended with the Bible because his prayer
fed on the Bible. His sermons and instructions often echo explicit
citations, mainly in Latin, according to the text of the Vulgate
that was familiar to him. But infinitely more are the allusions and
implicit references to the sacred text because this man of God has
so well chewed and assimilated the Bible as to make it the life of
his life, the food of his thoughts and the fuel of his affections.
He let himself be penetrated by the Word of God as by a double-edged
sword (cf. Heb 4,12), has taken hold of the great salvific
historical horizon of the Bible and the Christological perspective
that entirely runs through it. In the school of Saint Paul, he has
discovered that hermeneutical key that opens the ultimate meaning of
the Scriptures: Christ. About him, in fact, Moses and the Prophets
talk. (cf. Lk 24,27). He is God’s Amen
to all his promises.
Consequently, Fr.
Alberione finds in the Bible all the Truth, finds therein the Way
and the pedagogy, as well as the fullness of Life. Christ, in other
words. From this comes his increasing passion to communicate:
Gospel, Gospel... Not as a book to endow value to a library,
but as a book to pick up, read, pray on and meditate; lamp and
compass in the journey of life.
On the walls of
the premises where his sons and daughters worked to print the Bible
ran phrases drawn in particular from the Gospels and from the
letters of Paul. The sacred text that can also be read in the
workplace had to contribute to a constant familiarity with the word
of the divine Master and to liven up the apostolic spirit.
As a true lover of
the Bible, James Alberione was concerned to nourish with this divine
bread the spiritual and apostolic life of his brothers. The
invitation of Jesus: "Come ye all to me", read on the little
door of the Tabernacle of the dome of Alba in the luminous
charismatic night of 1900, accompanied him like an irresistible
call: "Come ye all to my school", feed on the Gospel.
He proposed a
liturgical cult of the Bible, similar to that of the Eucharist. “It
is necessary to hold the Gospel in veneration”, he repeated. And
“above all to live it in your mind, heart and works” (Abundantes
Divitiae, 143). He encouraged the faithful to express their
adhesion by means of a formula following the baptismal promises: “We
promise to read a part of your Gospel every day in our families, and
to live according to your teachings”.
Blessed James
Alberione’s approach to the Bible is Way, Truth and Life.
It is wisdom reading that involves the whole person: mind, will and
heart. It is a Bible that must permeate culture, art, ethics, cult,
social and political life. In short, a Bible that can still lift up
the dreams, the hopes and the history of the people of God.
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