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The Importance of Scripture

Jan 23

3 min read

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For the new year, many people think about their goals and hopes.  This New Year, I invite you to consider the place of the Gospels in your life.  Back in the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom lamented that many parishioners knew more about the chariot races than they knew about the Scriptures. I doubt if many of us know much about chariot races, but St. John might still have a similar complaint today. 


Abba Matthew the poor, asks us to consider the value of Scripture in our lives by sharing this prayer, “O Lord, this morning Your Bible is before me.  My Lord, if this Book had not been written and we wished to have authentic words come down from You, what a price we would pay!  How much would we toil just to hear a sentence proceed from Your mouth!  And this whole Bible is sent from You by the Holy Spirit” (Words for Our Time).  I had never thought about it that way before.  How much would people pay to receive a message from God?  But the Scriptures are more than just a message from God, they are God’s love letter to you and me.  


Saint Ignatius Brianchoninov says to us, “Never cease studying the Gospel till the end of your life.  Do not think you know it enough, even if you know it by heart” (The Arena, p. 15).  He also says, “The person who fulfils the commandments of the Gospel will not only be saved but will also enter into the most intimate union with God and become a divinely built temple of God” (p. 3).  We could go on and on looking at quotes from the saints about the importance of reading the Scriptures, especially the Gospels.  


This year, if you don’t already do it, please consider reading a small portion, or perhaps one chapter, from the Gospels each day.  The four Gospels contain eighty-nine chapters, so one chapter a day will take you about three months.  Also, the Church has readings for each day, which will take you through the four Gospels in one year.  


The four Evangelists, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
The four Evangelists, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

We should always begin with prayer when we read God’s love letters to us, and a helpful way to read is to use the three A’s: Ask, Answer, Apply.  First, we ask for God’s help in prayer, then we ask questions while we are reading.  Writing the questions down in a notebook is often helpful.  Second, we try to answer the questions that we can.  Sometimes we need to ask others or consult other books to find answers, but there will also be questions we do not answer, which is fine.  Lastly, we apply what we read in the Scriptures to ourselves, not to other people.  Many find this simple way of reading to be helpful and perhaps you will too.  


This new year as we thank God for the Bible, may we learn it, live it, and love it more each day.  Let’s conclude with the words of Jesus from Matthew 7:24, “Every one who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”


 

Originally published in the January 14, 2025 Holy Apostles E-bulletin. Subscribe here.

Jan 23

3 min read

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