The Gift of the Scriptures

Jesus Christ speaks to us through the scriptures, so I began our mission at Shelter Island by suggesting we have a good bible and use it. My suggestion is the New American Bible, Revised Edition–  a good translation, good notes and it’s the version we read in church. More and more, the bible will become our ordinary catechism, prayer book and spiritual reading.

At the Second Vatican Council our church embraced the tools that modern scriptural studies offer for understanding the bible. Benedict XVI’s books on Jesus of Nazareth show how these tools can help us to know Jesus Christ.

In reading the scriptures, it’s good to let each book of scripture tells its own story.

For this reason, the church’s lectionary has a place for most of the books of the bible to be read on Sundays and on days through the year. Because they’re so important, we read one gospel consecutively through a year. This year on most Sundays, we’re reading the Gospel of Luke.

The church’s lectionary also offers an opportunity to hear and reflect on the scriptures together. This is one of the challenges before a parish community and any Christian group: how do we read and reflect on the scriptures together?

I recommended some online resources. The US Bishops’ site http://www.usccb.org/nab/y offers the New American Bible and the lectionary of readings for the year, as well as commentary. The Passionists have daily reflections on the scripture readings at www.thepassionists.org

We need to learn about the bible from good sources. We need caution when watching some of the biblical programs on television from The History Channel and National Geographic and others. Sometimes these programs are fundamentalist; sometimes they are inaccurate and depend on sensationalism to attract viewers.

Don’t be afraid to meditate on the gospels. Some of the most beautiful insights into the gospels have come from ordinary people praying from the scriptures. I think of Brigid of Sweden, whose reflections on the Passion of Jesus gave us the Pieta, the image of the dead body of Jesus cradled in his mother’s arms beneath the cross. The gospels say nothing of that, but Brigid said it had to be.

Meditation on the scriptures can also take place in a traditional prayer like the rosary. Pope John Paul II recommended this form of meditation in which we join Mary, who “treasured all these things and kept them in her heart.”

The Gospel of Luke

We’re reading from the Gospel of Luke on Sundays this new liturgical year. (C) If you’re just beginning to read the scriptures you may find Luke’s Gospel a good place to start. It’s the longest of the gospels and is followed by the Acts of the Apostles, also written by Luke. Together they present a magnificent picture of the life of Jesus followed by the life of the early church.

His gospel provides many of the readings for the various liturgical feasts we celebrate in the church through the year.

Luke takes over into his gospel about 65% of Mark’s Gospel, which he modifies for his own purposes. He shares with Matthew’s Gospel material from another source, and he also offers material not found in the other gospels–the infancy narratives, for example. (Luke 1-2). Like other evangelists, Luke shapes his gospel according to his own plan and interpretation.

In his commentary on the gospel, Luke Timothy Johnson speaks of Luke’s positive outlook on the world.

“Luke-Acts is positive toward the world, not only as God’s creation but also as the arena of history and human activity. It is perhaps the least apocalyptic of the NT writings, and the least sectarian. Not only is Luke relatively unconcerned about the end time, his historical narrative bestows value on time itself. Luke is also generally approving of those outside the Christian movement. Outsiders-not counting the Jewish opponents who are not outsiders at all– are generally regarded as reasonable and open-minded, which is a high compliment paid by apologetic literature.” (The Gospel of Luke, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Md. 1991)

Our readings from Luke for the 1^st Sunday of Advent offer a good example of Luke shaping apocalyptic material to his own purposes. He presents the last days as others do: “signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on earth; nations will be in dismay.” But Jesus says in Luke’s Gospel that we can stand strong and fearless on that day, if we live each day well in the meantime. Carry the cross with me each day, Jesus says, lest anxiety and worry lead you to spiritual drowsiness or “carousing and drunkenness.” Be vigilant and prayerful each day. Jesus will return on the clouds of heaven, but we don’t know the day or the hour, so living each day is the way to prepare for our redemption.

That’s good advice for times like ours when enormous problems confront our world and clear solutions and grand designs are nowhere to be found. We can’t even pass a national budget. We can fall into pessimism (a form of spiritual sleep) and lose hope.

Sounds like the right time to listen to  the optimism of Luke’s Gospel.

How to Read the Bible

One of our blessings in recent times is a better understanding of the bible, thanks to scholarly studies of the last century or so.  Historians, archeologists, linguists are giving us a clearer picture of these ancient books, their meaning, when they were written, their historical context. New discoveries, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, have increased our knowledge of this book, which is really a library of Christian spirituality.

We know more about the scriptures today than we’ve known for centuries. Our new knowledge helps us to know Jesus Christ better, of course, so shouldn’t we be more acquainted with these readings? Unfortunately, Catholics are still slow to go to the bible for their spiritual nourishment, even though our liturgies have been enriched by readings from scripture since the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

What bible should you read? Visit a book store like Barnes and Noble, go to the section where they’re selling bibles and you’ll find a bewildering collection of editions available today, going back to the old King James version.

The King James Bible is still the most popular bible read in the English-speaking world. For some fundamentalists it’s the only “Word of God.” But the King James version, for all its historical and literary qualities, has serious drawbacks. Since the time it was published in 1611, scores of ancient versions of the bible have been found, earlier than those on which this translation was based, and significant progress in biblical studies has also been made.

Because of this, many new translations of the bible have been published which take advantage of the new biblical resources. There are at least 30 new translations on the market today. In 1989, the New Revised Standard Version, a revision of the highly regarded Revised Standard Version, was published enlisting scholars from the major Christian denominations and authorized by these denominations. A fine translation.

In March 2011, a revised edition of The New American Bible (NABRE) was published. It’s a bible approved by the Catholic Church and closely related to the readings in its liturgies.  The last edition published 20 years ago was revised to take account of the new resources.

I like this bible myself for a number of reasons. For one, it’s available online free, so it’s always available if you have a computer, iPad, or iPhone. I appreciate especially the notes and introductory material, which may not be found in other versions of the bible. They are concise, clear and based on the latest scholarly research.

Another bible to take a look at is The Jerusalem Bible.

Catholics and other mainstream Christians hear the scriptures regularly from the lectionary during worship. The lectionary breaks down the books of the bible into parts, but there’s one drawback to reading the bible this way, I believe. We can read these parts in isolation, without enriching our reading with a fuller, more complete view that comes from reading the entire gospel or epistle, or prophet.

This month’s Sunday gospels from the 6^th chapter of John, which begins with the miracle of the loaves and the fish, is an example. On the following Sundays we read sections of Jesus’ dialogue with the crowd, which is triggered by this powerful sign. Separated as they are from this key event, the readings can become disconnected from miracle and the overall themes that surround it.

There’s something to reading  from the bible itself, rather than settling for selections in the lectionary.

Daily Reading, Daily Bread

This week we are finishing our daily readings from Matthew’s Gospel at Mass and turning to Luke’s Gospel. Reading the scriptures daily and on Sundays in the lectionary is  one of the great reforms begun in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. It’s part of the church’s effort to seek renewal through the Word of God in sacred scripture.

Reading scripture through the lectionary is a very concrete way to achieve that goal but  achieving it is going to take a long time, I think. A long time and effort.

For one thing, reflection on the daily and Sunday readings is a new way for so many to reflect on our faith. The scriptures are old and we live in a new world.  Pope Benedict used an interesting expression to describe his own search for “the face of God” in scripture. He said you have to “trust” you will find it there. He also takes seriously what resources we have now to understand them.

We have to trust we will find God and enter God’s presence as we take up this daily discipline. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” God promises to speak today. The daily scriptures are daily bread, and they offer a varied diet. From Matthew, preoccupied with the tensions of his church with Pharisaic Judaism, we turn to Luke preoccupied with an outreach to the gentiles.

Then there are the varied readings from the Old Testament, which sometimes seem too short and quickly disposed of in the lectionary, I think. But the church wisely keeps them side by side with the New Testament. They hold a treasure all their own.

We need help to appreciate this daily bread, this varied diet served up. We need people like those hosts on the cooking shows on television who not only  tell you what to eat but make those strange dishes appetizing and appealing. We need good homilists and good catechists.

We need a “lamp, shining in a dark place.” It’s there.