The Liturgy of the Word “is an experience that takes place in real time and not by hearsay, because when the Holy Scriptures are read in the Church, it is God Himself who speaks to His people, and Christ, present in His word, proclaims the Gospel”. The Pope explained this in his General Audience catechesis today. “How many times, while reading the Word of God – Pope Francis continued off the cuff – we say: ‘Look at him, look at her’, and we start making comments”. “Is it right to make comments while we read the Word of God?”, the Pope asked twice, talking to the faithful: “No, because if we chit-chat with people, we do not hear the Word of God”. “When we read the Word of God in the Bible – Pope Francis continued off the cuff – we must listen, open our hearts, because it is God Himself who speaks to us, we should not think of other things or talk about other things”. “I do not think this is well understood”, he went on to say off the cuff. In the Liturgy of the Word, Pope Francis explained, the “Bible pages cease to be a written text and become a living word uttered by God Himself who, here and now, challenges us to listen with faith. The Spirit who spoke through the prophets and inspired the sacred authors makes sure that the Word of God will truly work in our hearts what we hear with our ears”. “But to hear the Word of God, we should also have an open heart, to receive the words in our heart”, the Pope explained off the cuff: “God speaks and we listen to Him, to then put what we have heard into practice”.