Category Archives: Holy Scripture
Holy Scripture
It was said of at least two of the saints that they knew the Old and New Testaments by heart. One of these was Saint Lawrence of Brindisi and the other was Saint Mark the Ascetic. It is recorded the biography of the former that a fellow friar once asked him what would happen if the Protestants took over Christendom and burned every Catholic Bible. To which he replied that he could write the whole Bible from his memory. Saint Mark, who had the same gift, was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom.
Well, our own Brother Francis knew the four Gospels by heart — three of them in Latin and one in Greek. He achieved this by reading the scriptures every day, even as he performed manual chores. After his duties were over, he would take a walk in the woods and repeat what he had memorized earlier. It was surely the Providence of God that Brother’s principal duty in the religious community was to do the laundry.
It is a praiseworthy thing to read the scriptures, but there is no canonical indulgence for just reading, the indulgence is given to those who meditate on the scriptures, even for fifteen minutes at a time.
In order to understand the scriptures, one needs a good Catholic teacher, who was himself taught by another Catholic teacher. Teacher to student, generation after generation, cultivating the word of God in the soil of the intellect. Pope Benedict XVI is such a teacher. His insights into the scriptures, which he shares with the Church on a regular basis, are doctrinally profound and, at the same time, clear and digestible. Brother Francis was certainly such a teacher. His expositions of so many books of the Bible are as fecund as they are erudite.
Another way to understand the sacred text is to read the commentaries of the saints, especially the doctors of the Church. Saint Jerome’s admonition still reverberates sixteen centuries after he uttered it: “Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
Give Us This Day Our Supersubstantial Bread
In his weekly column for the Washington DC Archdiocesan website, Monsignor Charles Pope raises the question of the meaning of the word used by Saints Matthew and Luke in the petition for “our daily bread” in the Our Father prayer.
Posted in Columns, Holy Scripture, Sacraments 1 Comment
Biblical Inerrancy
Yesterday, Thursday, April 12, 2012, a notice was posted on the Vatican Information Service (VIS) blog, announcing that the Pontifical Biblical Commission is soon to take up the subject “Inspiration and Truth in the Bible.” Here is the full text of the notice: ANNUAL PLENARY OF THE PONTIFICAL BIBLICAL COMMISSION Vatican City, 12 April 2012 (VIS) – The annual plenary session of the Pontifical Biblical … More →
Posted in Articles, Current Issues in the Church, Holy Scripture, Theology 4 Comments
Archealogists Think They’ve Unearthed Site of Sodom and Gomorrah: Inhabitants Wiped Out in ‘Heat Event’
John Bergsma, The Sacred Page: By far the most interesting session at the recent Society of Biblical Literature Congress in San Francisco was one I wandered into by chance. Read the rest here.
Who Are the Parents of Our Lord’s ‘Brethren’? If You Read the Bible You Should Know
John Heschmeyer, of Shameless Popery website, has written an excellent summation of the scriptural proofs that clearly demonstrate that our Savior was the only-Begotten Son of Mary and that the disciples who are referred to as “his brethren” are His cousins.
Posted in Columns, Holy Scripture, Our Lady Leave a comment
“They Shall Speak With New Tongues” Mark 16:17
Reading in the Book of Acts about the events of Pentecost, three physical things accentuate the spiritual. In fact, without them, the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles would be impossible to imagine, being, as we are, creatures of sense: mighty wind, tongues of fire, and speaking miraculously in foreign languages.
‘Behold, a VIRGIN Shall Conceive’
No matter who says otherwise, the prophesy of Isaias predicted that a virgin, not merely “a young girl,” would conceive and bear a son! Read the following, from Brother Francis, for insights on the matter (emphasis mine): At the direction of our great teacher and spiritual guide, Father Leonard Feeney, I made it a practice over considerable period of time to copy, as part of … More →
The Priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church
The Bible teaches that Christ had ambassadors or agents (His bishops and priests) who represent Him in this world. 2 Cor. 5:20: For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting you, be reconciled to God. 1 Cor. 4:1: Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God.
St. Paul, Apostle and Interreligious Dialoguer
Without dwelling overmuch on introductory niceties, let us consider one of the burning questions of our day. The very urgency of the issue for contemporary humanity compels me to an uncustomary haste and precipitousness. Naturally, you’ve all figured out the subject of this well known controversy: “If Saint Paul were around today, how would he go about interreligious dialogue?” After much research and reflection, I’ve … More →
The Ideology of Homosexuality
What follows is excerpted from Sandro Magister’s The Inconvenient Memoirs of Cardinal Biffi, which, in turn, excerpted from the recently updated version of the Cardinal’s book. If I might add a word to those of His Eminence, I will limit myself to this one: Amen. Regarding the problem of homosexuality that is emerging today, the Christian conception tells us that one must always distinguish the … More →
Posted in Columns, Current Issues in the Church, Holy Scripture, Morals, Polemics 2 Comments
Soloviev’s Meditation on the Papacy
Vladimir Soloviev gives this wonderful meditation on the Petrine office in Russia and the Universal Church (reprinted as The Russian Church and the Papacy). He is writing about St. Peter’s being made the Rock of the Church by our Lord and then, almost immediately, being called “Satan” (Mt. 16:18, 23).
Woman, Behold Thy Son!
[Taken from The History of the Passion, Fr. James Groenings, SJ. Imprimatur: Archbishop Glennon, Jan. , 1908.] The first word of Christ on the cross concerned His enemies, who, however, instead of being converted, continued to offend Him. They, indeed, more than others, needed His pity, His help and His prayers. The second word was addressed to a repentant sinner to whom Christ bequeathed paradise. … More →
