I have here in my hands a copy of the Bible. Contrary to what most people think, this is not one book but a miniature library of 73 smaller books written over a period of 900 years. It is a record of how our spiritual ancestors experienced God and a record of those experiences that they handed down from one generation to the next, first orally and then later in written words. Some are history books, some are books of religious poetry, some are books of prayer, some are books of sermons, some are law books. It took over 300 years after Jesus died for the Church to collect all of these smaller books into one big book that we know as "the Bible." The word "bible" means "book." In other words, the Bible did not fall out of the sky. Jesus did not pass out copies of the Bible before his Ascension into heaven. It was at Church Councils of the Catholic Church that the Bible was gradually agreed on as we know it. Four hundred years ago, during the Reformation, Protestants altered the number of books a bit by dropping a few minor Old Testament books from the Catholic list of official books. However, Protestants and Catholics still agree on all 27 New Testament Books.
At Mass, we have been reading from the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy. In the two letters we have, Paul is awaiting execution and wants to remind his young trainee of some important points before he dies. Today he wants to remind Timothy to be faithful to what he has learned and believed and just who it was who taught him. Paul reminds Timothy that, as a Jew, he had been steeped in the study of Scripture since childhood, starting with his pious Jewish mother and ending with his mentor, Paul himself. This is what he says to Timothy about this collection of sacred books.
1.
These writings are inspired by God.
God may not have dictated these books word for word, but the messages that God
wanted us know are woven into the words of these books. In other words, they contain God's teachings
in human words. The message behind the words are more important than the words
themselves. That is why we must not only read the words, but also trust the
teaching authority of the church to help us understand their true meaning. Private interpretation of scripture has led
to the multiplication of denominations, the splintering of the unity in the Body of Christ and to bizarre and sometimes dangerous cults of all sorts. As Paul tells Timothy "Remain faithful
to what you have learned and believed because you know from whom you learned
it." Personally, I would rather trust the authentic teachers of our Church
to tell me what the scriptures mean than trust my own understanding alone or some self-appointed prophet like Rev. Jim Jones or David Koresh. Remember them? With no one outside themselves for guidance, one led hundreds of his followers
to commit suicide in his compound in
2. These writings are useful for training in righteousness. Righteousness means moral goodness. Moral goodness is something that does not just happen, it has to be something we hunger and thirst for if we want to have it. The world is full of bogus advice, outright lies and self-serving manipulation. Our culture cannot be trusted, yet many people fall for its fakery, hook, line and sinker, until it is too late - until their lives are shattered and lie in ruins. Scripture offers a true map to live by, a solid pattern to go by, a perfect blueprint to build from, a trustworthy design to integrate into your life if you seek to be morally good. As Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away."
3. These writings will guide those who belong to God in performing good works of all kinds.
The
Bible is not just a nice story about God in history. It contains the instructions we need to live
a good life and what we need to do to help others do the
same. The question then is how can we
immerse ourselves in it, come to absorb its teaching and become familiar with
its wisdom! It is a spiritual crime
today not to read the Bible and try to understand it. It's like trying to find
your way to
The simplest way to learn the scriptures is to come to Mass every weekend and train yourself to listen to the readings. It helps, even more, if you have read them before you come. Here is a simple way to test yourself to see if you have really been paying attention. Tell me how many readings we had today and what books of the Bible they were taken from! (We had four readings: Exodus, Psalms, II Timothy and Luke). (Hold up a Lector's Workbook) The simplest way to train yourself to listen is to buy one of these Lector Workbooks and read it before you leave home or while you are waiting for Mass to start. They have the readings for every Sunday and Holy Day of the year with a few insights at the bottom of the page about each reading to help you to understand. Then when you hear the readings read, you are already familiar with what is being read aloud to you!
4. We are called to be persistent in proclaiming the word, whether convenient or inconvenient. I have been preaching the Word for fifty-two years. The church told me at my ordination that preaching would be my primary duty. I have taken that mandate seriously. I have in my garage, in my house and in my computer copies of almost all of the homilies I have given since I was ordained a deacon in 1969. I have thousands of them. I gave over 600 homilies at Bellarmine University alone. I may have an official mandate from the church to preach because of my ordination, but we all have a duty to study the Word because of our baptisms. Whether we are priests, parents, spouses or teachers - we are called to convince those who need convincing, correct those who need correcting, encourage those who need encouraging and to do it always with love and patience.
Fellow Catholics!
Don't try to navigate life without a map! Don't trust the latest fad or the many untrustworthy guides! Heed the words of
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