Patriarch Urges Touching the Word of God: Bartholomew I Explains Use of "Spiritual Senses"

(October 20,2008) Most Christians have heard the Word of God, but have they seen it in art or nature, or realized they were touching it in the Eucharist? asked Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. He spoke Saturday afternoon at the celebration of vespers in the Sistine Chapel of using one's "spiritual senses" to perceive the Word of God. The event, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI and attended by some 400 cardinals, bishops, religious and laypeople, took place within the context of the world Synod of Bishops being held at the Vatican. The first patriarch in history to be invited to address a world Synod of Bishops, Bartholomew I noted that his presence was "an important step toward the restoration of our full communion." "We regard this as a manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit leading our Churches to a closer and deeper relationship with each other," he said. Speaking on the importance of the synod's theme he said the Church needs to rediscover the Word of God in every generation and make it heard with a renewed vigour and persuasion also in our contemporary world, which deep in its heart thirsts for God’s message of peace, hope and charity." He continued: "This duty of evangelization would have been, of course, greatly enhanced and strengthened if all Christians were in a position to perform it with one voice and as a fully united Church.” It is, therefore, most appropriate, that this synod has opened its doors to ecumenical fraternal delegates so that we may all become aware of our common duty of evangelization as well as of the difficulties and problems of its realization in today’s world." The patriarch, drawing on the Patristic doctrine of the "spiritual senses," then spoke of three "spiritual ways of perceiving" the Word of God: "listening to God’s Word, beholding God’s Word, and touching God’s Word." He added that in this sense that Christians must "provide a unique perspective -- beyond the social, political, or economic -- on the need to eradicate poverty, to provide balance in a global world, to combat fundamentalism or racism, and to develop religious tolerance in a world of conflict." Bartholomew I affirmed that the Word of God can be seen "in nature and above all in the beauty of the icons” Regarding nature, the patriarch affirmed: "All genuine 'deep ecology' is, therefore, inextricably linked with deep theology." “Even a stone,” Bartholomew I stated, quoting Basil the Great, “bears the mark of God’s Word.