“It s very important to listen”, Pope Francis said off the cuff as he focused on the need to pay attention to the Mass readings in his General Audience today. “Sometimes, we may not understand well because the readings are somewhat difficult – Pope Francis admitted off the cuff – but God always speaks to us, in another way”. “In silence, listen to the Word of God: do not forget this!”, the Pope suggested, always speaking off the cuff. “At Mass we listen to God’s Word”, he repeated: “We need to listen to Him! It is a matter of life, as we are reminded of in the trenchant expression ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God’”. “The Word of God gives us life”, he continued off the cuff, drawing a comparison between the Liturgy of the Word and the “table that the Lord prepares for us to nourish our spiritual life”. “It is a rich table that of the Liturgy, which draws abundantly from the treasures of the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, because it is in them that the one and the same mystery of Christ is proclaimed by the Church”, Pope Francis pointed out, stressing the “richness of the Biblical readings offered in the three Sunday cycles that, in light of the Synoptic Gospels, accompany us throughout the liturgical year”. “It is a great treasure”, he exclaimed always off the cuff, before stressing “the importance of the Responsorial Psalm, which should help us reflect on what we hear in the reading preceding it”. “It is good to emphasise the Psalm by singing it, at least the chorus” – the Pope’s liturgical suggestion.