The principal text that binds all Christians together – and even allows for interconnection with both Jews and Muslims – is the collection of books we call simply The Bible. While the Bible is the source text, disagreements and misunderstanding emerges in the very next breath. How many books are there? What is their origin? How are they to be read? What is their role in the life of the Church? How were these books transmitted, written, and preserved? What is their role in the economy of salvation?
As Catholics we have the reputation – not without some foundation – of having less familiarity with reading the Bible than do some other branches of Christianity. Nonetheless, when one looks at the totality of our liturgy – the parts of the Mass, the Readings, Responsorial Psalm and the various antiphons used at Mass, we are steeped deeply in the Scriptures. Everything we do is grounded in Scripture and explained and augmented in the Apostolic Tradition.
The First Reading recounts the reading of the Law to the Jewish community who has resettled in Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity. Ezra, the priest charged with the reorganization of the people, compiled the Law and presented the work to the assembly. We see him distinctly doing three things that would be familiar to anyone who attends Mass. First he shows the Scroll – as the deacon or the priest raises the Book of the Gospels before the assembly at the chanting of the Acclamation before the Gospel. Ezra then reads from the Scroll, as we read from the Lectionary and the Book of the Gospels. Third, he interpreted the text for them, just as the priest, deacon or even the bishop delivers the homily.
In the Gospel account Jesus engages in the synagogue ritual in which this same pattern is repeated. Jesus, as with Ezra, unrolled, read from, and then interpreted the Scroll for the assembly.
The central priority of the reading of Scripture – for the Jews the Torah and for us the Gospels – highlights our understanding of how God is revealed to the community. The Word of God – inspired by the Holy Spirit and delivered to us through human agents – offers the first insight of God’s presence among us, leading us to encounter the Lord more fully in the Blessed Sacrament.
It is, however, through the Bible that we first come to experience the powerful presence of the Lord in our midst. The Word, though, is not fully complete when it stands on its own, it needs a fulfillment. That need for fulfillment is clearly expressed in his preaching in the Nazareth Synagogue. After he proclaims the Isaiah text Jesus says: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Those who heard him heard all that they needed to hear. Because they were deeply schooled in the traditions and the scrolls they knew of what he spoke.
The challenge for us is to develop a deeper love for and understanding of the Sacred Scriptures. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Lord speaks to us in so many ways through the Scriptures. The Scriptures point us directly to the Liturgy of the Eucharist where they find their fulfillment. The Word makes Jesus present to us, and it is through Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus becomes physically present in the Eucharist.
We cannot allow our fear of misinterpretation or misunderstanding of the Scriptures deter us from familiarity with the text.
We are a people who, like our Jewish ancestors and brethren, find our roots, our promise and our hope, in the Word of God. May this form the very rhythm of our lives.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.