I feel most at home in the Bible. That's not an odd thing for a Christian to say, I hope. And this is not to say that I have some great training or special insight into it, though I do have some training. Nor is it to say that I am this great prayer warrior, who always applies the Scripture to my life in the proper way, at the proper time.
It is to say that I'm continually thankful for the Magisterium. We Catholics don't have to sit around arguing about what the Bible says. We can start getting into its spiritual meaning, and really letting God speak to us personally, without doubting anything about its literal sense.
I tell people all the time how lucky we are, because we are freed up to be doers of the word, and not only hearers. Then again, that freedom is in the context of widespread ignorance concerning the Scriptures among American Catholics.
Certain clergy have probably been responsible for this ignorance of Scripture, and perhaps some lapses in morality and piety have contributed. Yet we have the option to read the Sacred Scriptures anytime. I'm reading lots of things, but why not the Scriptures? You can't memorize it or cite it unless you read it in the first place.
It is altogether true to say that we get to hear more of the Scriptures that almost all other Christians, in the liturgy. It is also true that if we don't individually and personally invest time in reading the Scriptures, we will forget them. And we cannot love what we do not know.
I also take this as a personal challenge to myself, as much as I'm giving it to you. Let's read the Scriptures. Let's get to know Jesus, whether we read about him directly in the New Testament, or indirectly in the Old Testament. All of it is our story, and it is for us, and to us.
It is to say that I'm continually thankful for the Magisterium. We Catholics don't have to sit around arguing about what the Bible says. We can start getting into its spiritual meaning, and really letting God speak to us personally, without doubting anything about its literal sense.
I tell people all the time how lucky we are, because we are freed up to be doers of the word, and not only hearers. Then again, that freedom is in the context of widespread ignorance concerning the Scriptures among American Catholics.
Certain clergy have probably been responsible for this ignorance of Scripture, and perhaps some lapses in morality and piety have contributed. Yet we have the option to read the Sacred Scriptures anytime. I'm reading lots of things, but why not the Scriptures? You can't memorize it or cite it unless you read it in the first place.
It is altogether true to say that we get to hear more of the Scriptures that almost all other Christians, in the liturgy. It is also true that if we don't individually and personally invest time in reading the Scriptures, we will forget them. And we cannot love what we do not know.
I also take this as a personal challenge to myself, as much as I'm giving it to you. Let's read the Scriptures. Let's get to know Jesus, whether we read about him directly in the New Testament, or indirectly in the Old Testament. All of it is our story, and it is for us, and to us.
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