Hello! My name is Eric, and I am a Catholic. I have never read the Bible before and I would like to start, but I don’t know where or how to start. I worry that I will not be able to understand/correctly interpret the scriptures and therefore be lead astray. Any tips anyone can give me? Thanks!
1 Like
Hi Eric! Thank you for posting this great question! I gave a talk on this very subject a few years back. I will see if I can find my file when I get home this evening : )
I’ve heard that the Gospel of Mark is a good place to start. It’s pretty straightforward and easy to understand, I think.
A good study Bible can be helpful. I just got a copy of the Ignatius Study Bible and it is so well done. Each book has an introduction written by very reliable Catholic theologians to explain the setting of when the book was written, what is known about the writer, and key concepts. There are numerous essays and explanations to assist. I think it is difficult to always understand the culture and idioms of a culture thousands of years ago in a different land. A study Bible can help a lot. Just like when Philip asked the Ethiopian, “Do you understand what you are reading?” and he responded “How can I unless some guides me?” (Acts 8: 30-31)
You are right about that, JJ. Excellent suggestion.
Catholic scholars like Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch; the “Trinity” aspect refers to the Christian theological concept of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which is deeply explored within the study guide’s interpretations of biblical texts.
Peace to all,
We see many speaking on The Trinity and…
True, a great guide, but I just has a quick question on the Trinity?
Has anyone read on pre tenth century theologials on their concpts of The Trinity? Truly great theologians, and great minds, but Tertullian, Hippolytus, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea and others I read about and I witnessed no logical or rational thought from within the documents I have reviewed.
Gregory wrote that each of the three persons possess unity by reason of the identity of essence and power.
To me, the powers exist as creation, Flesh transformation and incorruption glorified Holy Spirit and flesh transfiguration. Logic dictates, each power is God in the powers of God, and each separetly God from the father through the Mother for the Son, becoming again in One God in being One Holy Spirit Family and One God in being back to the One Trinity and One God in being.
Caesarea Wrote that the term ousia is common to all, while hypostasis is contemplated in the special property of Fatherhood, Sonship, or the power to sanctify.
And we see in the next examples, general vaguness and unclarity in wording from:
Theophilus of Antioch’s 2nd-century To Autolycus .[17] There it is used to refer to God, his word and his wisdom.[b] The view that the Son was “of the essence of the Father, God of God […] very God of very God” was formally ratified at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The Holy Spirit was included at the First Council of Constantinople (381 AD), where the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one substance (ousia) and three co-equal persons (hypostaseis) was formally ratified.[1]
And all these details I cannot logically evaluate due to general obscurity.
Gregory of Nazianzus Wrote that the Godhead is one in three, and the three are one. But logically and rationally missed The Mother and ferers to the Holy Spirit a person.
And finally, Some Trinitarians agree with OMNIlogic, seeing a development over time towards a true understanding of the Trinity. I agree, OMNIlogically.
To me, the Trinity is three persons in being preexistion before creation was ever ceated was even created and exist from the pwers of Creation, Transformation and glorification and transfiguration and each person is God separately and equal as Gods in the power of One God in being and together in One God in being, becoming again, One Holy Spirit Family. Somtimes I often wonder perhaps how Our Church sees the Holy Spirit as a person.
Romans 11:36 mis-translated the gender of through who?, Mary.
For from him and through Mary and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Logically to me the Abrahamic God is two natures requiring Two Co-redemptive Gods, Mary God of Mercy and God of Transformation into sanctified immortality through the New Eve, and Jesus, God of Justice Holy Spirit conceived through the New Eve in the Christ, re-Sanctified Confirmed and glorified and transfigured for all becoming again, One Godin being One Holy Spirit Family.
To me logically, From the Father, through The Mother and for The Son, we become, One Holy Spirit Family, One God in being.
To me the Co-Redemptive, God of Immaculate Flesh from spirit Transformation role of Mary, preexisting before creation in fulfilled intelligence logic as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven and is through the New Eve, from the Immaculate Conception in the Virgin Birth of Jesus in the Christ. The Old Eve becomes into New Eve immortality now ready to become again from the New Eve through the Christ in the New Adam, the re-Sanctified Confirmed Holy Spirit in all mankind in becoming again One God in being One Holy Spirit Family, OMNIlogically, to me. Can we see God? OMNIlogically, Yes. As a Holy Spirit Two Nature Fulfilled, Spirit and Life Family, One God in being. No other discipline on the planet earth can explain infallible logic and rationale any clearer than through the New Eyes for all OMNIlogically so even a child can understand the Mind of God, to know from The Father through Mary for Jesus to the Holy Spirit Family be the glory.
To me, OMNIlogically we can see logically and rationally, Mary, logically and rationally, belongs in The Trinity.
To me, Logically, We are sanctified flesh immortality and spirit sanctification through the New Eve, Mary becoming into the church and Baptism.
Caesarea does not confirm resanstification, becoming again, glorified and transfigured from penance through sacrifice through the Christ becoming again, one Holy Spirit Family,
Clearly, logically and rationally, and through the Faith of Abraham, we become and become again and in todays reading we see resurrection, spirit and life, both natures, becoming again, one God in One Holy Spirit Family.
Reading II 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
“But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.”
And From the Christ, Logically I can see Jesus preexisting before creation as a person in being and God in the Powers of Eternal Priestly Authority of spirit and life and The Father preexisting before creation as Creator God. And Together with the Father and The Son is the Holy Spirit Family, with all. Jesus is redeemer Holy Spirit in the Christ in the New Eve from the Immaculate Conception, flesh immortality, through the Holy Spirit and Co-redemption through Holy Spirit Redemption through the Immaculate flesh from Jesus in the New Eve becoming again glorified and transfigured for all One God in being One Holy Spirit Family of God.
Peace always,
Stephen
OMNIlocical Catholic Scholar
Ascension Press offers the Bible in a Year by Father Mike Schmitz. Highly recommended. Read a few passages a day and context and insights provided by Father Mike.
The Bible Intro
Are Catholics Bible believing Christians?
Did you know that as Catholic Christians attending Sunday Mass, we hear over 7,000 verses of the Bible per year—and that’s just counting the first, second, and Gospel readings! And if you attend daily Mass, you will hear 71.5% of the New Testament and 13.5% of the Old Testament within a three-year cycle.
In addition to hearing the Word of God proclaimed, we are encouraged to read our Bibles. Both Christ and Scripture are given “for the sake of [our] salvation” (Dei Verbum, 11). In reading Sacred Scripture, you will grow deeper in your relationship with our Lord and come to understand your place in the community God has called you.
Saint Jerome said that “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” And it’s true: You can’t understand one without the other.
The Canon of the Bible was affirmed by the Council of Rome (382 AD), the Synod of Hippo (393 AD), the Councils of Carthage (397 AD & 419 AD), the Council of Florence (1431-1449 AD) and finally, as an article of faith, by the Council of Trent (1545-1563 AD).
Basic Parts of the Bible
There are 2 Main Parts of the Bible:
- Old Testament
- New Testament
The 46 Old Testament Books include:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees.
The 27 New Testament Books include:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts of the Apostles, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation (Apocalypse).
How do we, as Catholics, interpret the Bible?
When we read the Bible, we need to read it on two levels:
- Literal Sense
- Spiritual Sense
We should not separate the two. The Literal sense without the Spiritual sense is dead. Similar to a body which has no soul.
The Literal Sense: is what was the author of the text trying to convey?
The literal sense can have multiple meanings. Sometimes the author intends to refer to more than one level of reality at the same time. This is especially common in writings of poetry or when symbolism or irony is being used. An example of this would be in John 3:3-7 when he speaks of the “living water.” We learned of these different symbols when we learned about the Holy Spirit at one of our previous Generations of Faith nights. Do you remember what some of these symbolisms were?
Also, sometimes Divine Inspiration can cause a human author of Scripture who is writing only with one meaning to convey another meaning at the same time.
Any symbolism or deeper meaning of the biblical text must still have some solid connection with the literal sense.
As Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us, “All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal.”
The Spiritual Sense: is the meaning of the biblical text under the influence of the Holy Spirit in the context of the paschal mystery and the new life which flows from it. The New Testament explicitly proclaims Jesus, but the books of the Old Testament also speak of Jesus in ways that are hidden.
“The Old Testament prepares for the New while the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other” (CCC 140).
As Saint Augustine beautifully put it, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.”
The spiritual reading of Scripture is nothing new. The first Christians, including Saint Paul, Saint Peter, the Early Church Fathers, and others, read the Bible this way. Jesus, Himself, read the the Old Testament this way.
There are three sub-types of the Spiritual sense:
- Allegorical
- Moral
- Anagogical
The Allegorical interpretation of Scripture is when persons, objects and actions depicted in Scripture are taken as representing other things not present in the text.
One example of this is when Saint Paul describes Adam as a “type” of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:14).
We often refer to this as typology. Typology is the study of Christ’s foreshadowing in the Old Testament.
Another example is when Saint Peter notes that Noah and his family “were saved through water,” and that “this prefigured baptism, which saves you now” (1 Peter 3:20-21).
The Greek word for “prefigured” actually means “typify” or “to make a type of.”
And probably one of my favorite types is in Genesis, chapter 22, where God puts Abraham to the test. He calls out to Abraham, “Abraham!” Yes Lord? “Take your son, your only son Isacc, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a burnt offering on a height that I will point out to you.” So the next morning, Abraham saddles up his donkey and he and his son Isaac, along with two of their servants (probably to carry the wood that Abraham had cut for the offering) start heading up this mountain. On the third day of climbing Mount Moriah, Abraham gets sight of the place where God wants the sacrifice to take place. Then he says to the servants, “Both of you stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over yonder to worship. We’ll be back for you in a while.” Then Abraham takes the wood for the sacrifice and puts it on his son Isaac’s shoulders, while Abraham carries the fire and the knife. As they are walking to the spot, Isaac speaks up and says something like, “Ummm, Dad?” Yes Son? “Ummm, Where’s the lamb that we’re going to sacrifice?” “God will provide Himself the lamb for the offering.” So they keep walking. When they finally come to the the place that God had chosen for them, Abraham builds an alter and arranges the wood in order. Then he ties up his son Isaac, and puts him upon the alter. Then he takes the knife to slaughter his son, but an angel calls to him from Above, “Abraham, Abraham!” Yes Lord! “Do not lay your hand on the boy! I now know how devoted you are to me, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.” When Abraham looks up, he spots a ram caught in the thickets. So he takes the ram and offers it up in place of his son. Then Abraham names the spot where all this had taken place, The Lord will Provide.
An interesting fact, is that Mount Moriah later became the place where Solomon built the Temple that contained the Holy of Holies. And the Hebrew word for “provide” is jira, Put the two together and you get “Jerusalem.”
And what is even more cool is that the Lord later “provides Himself” a lamb, His only beloved son, Jesus, on Calvary, which happens to be one of the hills of Moriah. So we see Isaac as a type of Christ. Just as we see Isaac carrying the wood; it was Jesus who carried the wood of the cross through Jerusalem on the way up to Calvary.
The second sub-type, the Moral sense, leads us to act justly.
In the story of Abraham and Isaac, the moral interpretations are trusting in the Lord and obedience. The amount of trust Isaac must have had to allow his dad to tie him up and place him upon the alter. And the fact that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his very own son, showed great obedience to the Lord.
There are tons and tons of other examples of the moral sense to explore. And when we ponder the moral sense of Scripture the Holy Spirit leads us towards conversion in our lives.
The third spiritual sense is the Anagogical sense, and it relates to events in Scripture that point to things-to-come (Heaven, Hell, and the Glory to come at the End of Time).
An example of the anagogical sense is when Saint John uses the city of Jerusalem as an image of the Kingdom of Heaven, which he refers to as the “New Jerusalem, coming down from Heaven” (Revelation 21:1—22:5). Another example can be found in the Letter to the Hebrews (12:22), where the author speaks of the eternal destiny of “Mount Zion,” “The City of the Living God,” and the “Heavenly Jerusalem.”
There is also a fourth spiritual sense sometimes spoken of — the Fuller sense. An example of this would be the definition of original sin defined by the Council of Trent, which is based on Paul’s teaching in Romans 5:12-21 about the consequences of Adam’s sin on humanity.
So how do we know that we are interpreting the Bible correctly?
Along with the Bible, we have “Sacred Tradition,” the Tradition handed down to us from Jesus through the successors of the Apostles. St. Paul told the early church to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Both the Bible and Sacred Tradition come together to form one “deposit of faith” and both are to be “accepted and honored with sentiments of devotion and reverence” (DV, 9).
Where do we begin reading the Bible?
Jeff Cavins says that “one of the greatest stumbling blocks to reading the Bible is the Bible itself.” It is a big book.
We are used to reading books from the beginning to the end, but with the Bible, there are many different ways that we can begin.
These different ways include:
- Bible Roulette (where you just flip open your Bible and begin reading : )
- Reading the 4 Gospels is a great place to start (especially during the time of Lent)
- Reading with the liturgical calendar can help us to get more out of Mass.
- Praying with the Psalms
- Reading the 14 narrative books of the Bible is a great way to become more familiar with Salvation History. (come join us on Thursday nights at 6:30 pm fore Bible Study)
- Reading with the Early Church Fathers
- Reading with the Catechism of the Catholic Church (there is an index in the back that tells where each Scripture passage is mentioned in the Catechism)
- The Pope has declared this the Year of St. Paul (June 28, 2008 - June 29, 2009). We could read Paul’s epistles (Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon)
- Going back and reading the adult version of some of the children Bible stories that we know and love. (this could be kind of fun)
- _________________________.
Using the Prima method is helpful when reading the Bible. Prima is Latin for “first.”
- Pray. Begin with a prayer that your time with the Bible will draw you closer to God.
- Read attentively, trusting that God will give you what you need to learn to grow.
- Imagine what was going on when the passage was first written. What is its cultural and historical contesxt? Try to put yourself into the story. What was the author trying to get across?
- Meditate on what you have read. How does this fit in the context of the rest of the bible’s teaching, with the Church’s teaching, and what you think God is teaching you?
- Apply what you have read to your life. God may be calling you to address a particular issue or relationship. Or you may find words of comfort and support you need at this particular time. Carry God’s Word into the rest of your day, the rest of your life!
If there is one thing that you get out of this talk, it is that the Bible is a Catholic book! Nothing in Sacred Scripture will contradict what we believe as Catholic Christians (if read in proper context).
Hopefully, in this Generations of Faith we have made the Bible seem a little less daunting for you.
If you like violence, the Bible has plenty of that. If you like betrayal, it has some of that too. If you like love stories, the Bible is the greatest love story ever told.
Saint Jerome said, “in the Sacred Books, the Father who is in Heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them.”
Let us close in prayer.
Response: Guide us through your Holy Word, O Lord.
St. Bernard said that the Christian faith is not a “religion of the book.” Christianity is the religion of the incarnate and living “Word” of God (CCC 108).
Jesus did not come to earth to hand out Bibles. He is the Word (John 1:1; CCC 134).
Peace to all,
Welcome, and I have always understood theology from the Church on the Trinity.
True revelation is becoming logical.
To me, The forefathers of Trinity Doctrine never considered logically understanding the Mind of God. Always what is misunderstood by all is what is used for all illogically as the Holy Spirit being a person, and irrational, to me. And always the forefathers of the Trinity miss the mark looking at the Holy Spirit as a person. To me rationally and logically, The Holy Spirit is the Family of God Jesus delivered in the Flesh through the Christ, becoming again, One Holy Spirit Family from the Cross.
Page 2 of 9 Original Research
Tertullian’s doctrine on the Trinity ‘became the foundation
for the church’s definition of the Trinity’.1 However, it
could be that he did not invent that terminology, but that
he inherited it from a predecessor or even predecessors
(Evans 2019:2)
To me the flawed logic becomes from an inherent predecessor or predecessors to me using missed and re-missed irrational logic.
For example on Tertullian, he uses some of the Holy Spirit irrational personal belief and rewrites Praxeas? To me both illogical as far as Holy Spirit Logic.
Tertullian’s formulation became the foundation for the church’s definition of the Trinity. He maintained, “All are of one, by unity … of substance; while the mystery of the economy is still guarded, which distributes the unity into a Trinity, placing in their order the three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Against Praxeas, 2).
The logic in both Praxeas and Tertullian does not rationalize, to me. Mystery of the Economy? could be becoming again in both natures, spirit and life, One Body, One Holy Spirit Family through the three personal Gods in being before creation, logically to me.
To me, We are all One by United through both natures One Holy Spirit Family in being from three Gods preexisting before creation. The Father, the Mother and The Son. What logic are they using? Not using? and we know not to preach and judge others only to generalize logically, rationally and through the Faith of Abraham, eternal spirit and life promised and fulfilled 2000 years later through His Son.
The God of Abraham is a Two Nature, God, becoming One Body.
Fulfilled in both natures How logically? OMNIlogically, through the New Living Sacrifice.
Rationally, Forgiven is from the Old Living Sacrifice of Animals in spirit nature only awating in the Bosom of Abraham only becoming again through both natures, Spirit and life, God and Temple, from the New Living Sacrifice through the Christ for all becoming again, in One Holy Spirit Family.
“For from him and through her and for him are all things. In him be glory forever. Amen” Both Natures, spirit and life.
Logically, Jesus came to resurrect life from the Holy Spirit through the Christ, the New Living Sacrifice in the Host, the body, blood, soul and Divinity of God, the Entire Holy Spirit Family which transforms and glorifies and transfigures for all from created through becoming and becoming again for the second nature through The Body from the Holy Spirit, out of the Bosom of Abraham where only the spirits in the souls awaiting for flesh to become again, the body from the spirit through the souls of all for the immaculate flesh through the New Eve, the New Temple through the Holy Spirit in the New Adam in the Christ to become again in both natures, One Holy Spirit Family, One God, in spirit and life.
True, The Bible is the inspired Word of God and a reference book, a true historical non-fiction story of The Christ becoming again in all and the greatest story ever told.
To me, we can see the Mind of God logically.
Peace always,
Stephen
Wisdom did not descend just once with its fire. It always descends to give you its lights. It suffices for you to love it and seek it with good will as a most precious treasure. A few key points to keep in mind when reading the Gospels:
(I) The canonical Gospel is essential for believing and for saving oneself; but it is not a complete knowledge of Jesus. Jesus was sufficiently described in the Gospels, the minimum necessary for the salvation of hearts. Mary was little known. Just an incomplete outline which left too much of Her in shadow.
(II) The order of the Gospels is good, but not perfect as a chronological order. A diligent observer notices that. He [John] who could have given the exact order of events, having been with Jesus from the beginning of the evangelization to His Ascension, did not do so, because John, a true son of the Light, devoted himself to and worried about making the Light shine brightly through its appearance of a Body in the eyes of the heretics, who contested the truth of the Divinity enclosed in a human body. John’s sublime Gospel achieved its supernatural purpose, but the chronology of Jesus’s public life has not been improved by it. The other three Evangelists show resemblances to one another with regard to events, but they alter their order with regard to time, because only one of the three was present at almost all Jesus’s public life: Matthew, and he wrote it only fifteen years later, whilst the others wrote theirs even later, after hearing the story from Jesus’s Mother, from Peter, from other Apostles and disciples. [P:IV]
(III) The gaps in the four Gospels—brought about by natural causes and by supernatural will—those too strictly literal versions which have allowed the establishment of fertile ground for the plants of deceit, schisms, heresies, separations and denials; in twenty centuries we have not been able to fill those gaps in a way acceptable to minds that are ever more open to and more tempted by Satan who hates Jesus. Those erroneous words, “Joseph did not know her until she gave birth,” and further on, “Mary’s firstborn; Jesus’s brothers; Mary’s sisters” which create confusion among the good and denial in the evil. Gaps and erroneous words that in twenty centuries we haven’t shown how to fill or substitute boldly but in a holy way, in order to save the faith and stop schisms and heresies.
(IV) Read the Acts of the Apostles and see that the fusion of so many different thoughts was not peaceful, and that while they admired one another, acknowledging one another’s merits, they did not lack differences of opinion, because the thoughts of men are various and always imperfect. And to avoid deeper ruptures between one thought and another, the Evangelists, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, in their writings deliberately omitted some sentences that might have hurt the excessive susceptibility of the Hebrews and scandalised the Gentiles, who needed to believe that the Hebrews were perfect, as they were the nucleus from which the Church came, in order not to go away saying: “They are like us”. It was just to make known the persecutions of Christ, but not the spiritual diseases of the people of Israel, by now corrupt, particularly in the higher classes. And they veiled them as much as possible.
Observe how the Gospels become the more and more explicit, up to the limpid Gospel of John, the later they were written after Jesus’s Ascension to His Father. Only John fully relates even the most painful flaws of the very apostolic group, openly calling Judas a “thief”, and he integrally reports the base actions of the Jews (Chapter 6—feigned will to make Jesus king, the debates at the Temple, the abandonment by many after the sermon on the Bread of Heaven, Thomas’ incredulity). The last survivor, who lived long enough to see the Church already strong, he lifts the veils that the others had not dared to lift. [P:V]
(V) In the parables, Jesus spoke simply because He was addressing crowds of common folk. But when He spoke to cultured minds—Israelite or Roman or Greek—He spoke as was most appropriate for perfect Wisdom. Jesus’s Words, moreover, in the versions of the Evangelists, just two of whom were Apostles—and if one observes closely, they are the two Gospels most clearly mirroring Him, for Luke’s, good stylistically, may be better termed the Gospel of His Mother and His Childhood, abundantly narrating details in relation thereto which the others do not narrate, rather than the Gospel of His public life, being more an echo of the others than a new light, as is that of John, the perfect Evangelist of the Light who is Christ the God-Man—the versions, I was saying, of Jesus’s words were greatly reduced by the Evangelists, to the point of being diminished to a skeleton—more an allusion than a version. A fact which deprives them of the stylistic form which Jesus had given them.
The Teacher is in Matthew (see the Sermon on the Mount, the instructions for the Apostles, the praise of the Baptist and the rest of this chapter, the first episode in chapter 15 and the heavenly sign, divorce in chapter 19, and three other chapters: 22, 23, and 24). The Teacher is in the luminous Gospel of John, above all, the Apostle in love, fused in charity with his Christ the Light. Compare what this Gospel reveals about the power of Christ the Orator to what is displayed in this regard by the essential scantiness of Mark’s Gospel—precise in the episodes he had heard from Peter, but reduced to a minimum—and you will see whether Jesus, the Word, used only a very humble style or whether the power of the Perfect Word did not often flash forth in Him. Yes, it shines out in John, though quite reduced in a few episodes. [N:43]
(VI)
-
Matthew, as a man, was completely human in his past and in describing the Son of Man. Matthew was matter, all matter until Christ converted him and made him his own. Matthew, the man, still a man even after the conversion which made him, a sinful man, into a man of God—that is, a man raised back up to the degree of a rational creature destined for eternal life in Heaven. But still a man, without Luke’s culture, without John’s supernatural knowledge, and without Mark’s lion-like strength. But remaining “a man” did him no harm, but, rather, served to lead him higher in perfection by keeping him humble, contrite over his past, just as his describing the Word made Flesh as man, more than as Teacher, Miracle Worker, and God served at that time and in the future centuries to confirm and confess and assert the true Nature of Christ, Who was the Word of the Father eternally, but Who was really Man, becoming incarnate through a unique, divine miracle, in the womb of the Virgin to be the Master and Redeemer forever and ever. He had neither the loving raptures of John nor the admirable economy of Luke. On the mystical ladder of the Evangelists, Matthew may be placed on the first rung…
-
Mark was a lion in preaching Christ among the pagans, even more than in describing the time of Christ in his Gospel, in which, however, as a lion, he loved to bring out the figure of the Divine Miracle Worker more than that of the Messiah as a Man, as Matthew had done. And this was for the purpose of causing amazement and winning over the pagans through astonishment, as they were always seduced by what appeared to be wondrous. If Luke is the erudite historian, Mark is the impulsive man who imposes Christ on the pagan multitudes, bringing out His supernatural—indeed, divine—power in miracles of every kind. Mark was a quarter of the way up [the mystical ladder]…
-
Luke, patient and strong as an ox in completing—also with persevering investigation of the events leading up to the real apostolic activity of Christ and his followers—the full work of God for the salvation of humanity. For this work of infinite love began with the Immaculate Conception of Mary, with the fullness of Grace granted to Her, with Mary’s continuous communion with Her Lord, Who, after creating Her, as a Father, with unique perfection among all the bodies of those born to man and woman, as His most beloved Daughter, then filled Her with His Light, the Word, Who had revealed Himself to Her in the divine, intimate lessons by which She was the Seat of Wisdom from Her earliest years, where as the Holy Spirit, Eternal Lover of the Pure, poured the fires of His most perfect charity into Her and, making Her an altar and ark that was holier and more beloved than those in the Temple, took up His repose in Her and shone forth in the full splendor of His Glory. Luke, unique and patient, consulted and also wrote what may be termed the introduction to the Gospel, which means “announcement,” speaking to us of Our Lady of the Annunciation, without Whom and without Whose absolute obedience the Redemption would not have been carried out. It is the property of an ox to ruminate on what was swallowed some time ago too. Luke imitates the ox. Over many years time had swallowed the preliminary episodes of the coming of the Messiah as such—that is, as Master and Savior-Redeemer. Luke brings them back to light. He shows us the Virgin, a necessary instrument in order for us to have Jesus Christ, the God-Man. He shows us the Most Humble Woman Full of Grace, the Most Obedient One in Her “Let it be done to Me according to Your Word,” the Most Charitable One rushing with holy celerity to Her cousin Elizabeth to comfort and help her and, though She did not have any idea about it, to sanctify him who was to prepare the ways for the Lord Jesus, Her Son; the Most Pure and always physically, morally, and spiritually Inviolate One, from conception to Her ecstatic passage from Earth to Heaven. Luke—a physician in addition to being an Evangelist, with the patient study of the doctor who does not stop at the objective fact or the subject under consideration, but studies and examines the environment and heredity from which the subject proceeds and may have received psychophysical characteristics—to present God Incarnate to us, the Son of Man, and have us come to know Him better in His gentleness, which is such, even though, when necessary, He can be strong, in His loving kindness towards the sick and sinners desirous of physical or spiritual healing, in His most perfect obedience to the point of death, in His humility, which did not seek praise, but, rather, advised, “Do not talk about what you have seen”, in His fortitude, able to overcome every affection or human fear to carry out His mission, in His integrity, because of which nothing could harm His sense, nor could He harbor, even fleetingly, any passion that was not good, presents His Mother to us—that is, the Woman Who by Herself formed Her Son by transmitting, in a single blood which was to robe Him in flesh, a likeness—indeed, even more than a likeness—to Her. He as Man, and thus more virile in His features and manner. She as a Woman, and thus gentler in appearance and style. But in the Boy capable of replying to Her, “Why are You looking for Me? Didn’t You know that I must do what My Father wants Me to do?” (Lk. 2:49) and in the Man asking, “Woman, how does Your concern affect Me?” (Jn. 2:4) and also, “Who is My Mother and My family? Those who do the will of My Father” (Matt. 12:48-49), the fortitude is evident which was communicated to Him by the Woman Who was able to suffer deeply at all times and for many reasons: the death of Her parents, poverty, Joseph’s suspicion, the trip to Bethlehem, the prophecy of Simeon, flight and exile in Egypt, the disappearance of Jesus, Her husband’s death, being abandoned by Her Son when He undertook His mission, the Jewish world’s hostility towards Him, and the martyrdom of Her Son on Golgotha. In the Son’s gentleness the gentleness inherited from Mary is evident, as are Her humility, obedience, and purity. All the supreme virtues of the Mother are also in the Son. Jesus, it is true, reveals the Father to us, but the Mother does too. And it may well be said that those who want to know Mary, Who was revealed too little by the Evangelists and in the Acts of the Apostles, should look at Her Son, Who from Her, and from Her alone, took everything, except His Divine Nature as the Firstborn and Only-Begotten Son of the Father. “May the Will of God be done,” Mary says in Lk. 1:38. “Thy will be done,” Jesus says in Lk. 22:42. “Blessed are You for having believed,” Elizabeth says to Mary (Lk. 1:45). And Jesus praises those who are able to believe on many, many occasions during His evangelization. “You have cast down the powerful and exalted the humble,” Mary professes in Her Magnificat, and Jesus says, “I thank you, Father, because You have concealed things from the learned and the great and revealed them to the small”. The Word, the Wisdom of the Father, made His future Mother a Master in Wisdom. And His Mother transfused into Her Son, along with blood and milk and motherly care, the select thoughts which had always been rooted in Her unharmed intellect and the very select sentiments which were the only ones occupying Her Immaculate Heart. Luke did not limit himself to speaking about Christ the Teacher, but also speaks to us about what the preparation for Christ was like—that is, about His Mother and the events preceding the public manifestations of Jesus Christ, to make everything known to us, to confirm the prophets, and to demolish (with the most exact narration of the hidden life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) the future heresies which would arise—and they are not all over yet—which alter the truth about Christ, His person, and doctrine, His healthy, strong, patient, and heroic person, like no other that has ever existed. Who shows us Christ the Savior and Redeemer, who begins the Passion by sweating blood at Gethsemane, as Luke does? Luke was halfway up [the mystical ladder]…
-
John, the fourth Evangelist, is the Eagle. High, powerful, and solitary flight and the ability to look fixedly at the sun are proper to the eagle. In John the Evangelist there is the nobility of the noble bird, powerful flight, and the capacity to gaze fixedly at the Divine Sun-Jesus, the Light of the world, the Light of Heaven, the Light of God, Infinite Splendor—the ability to rise up to supernatural heights to which no other Evangelist rose and, in this way, by rising up, to be able to penetrate the mystery and truth and doctrine—everything—of the Man Who was God. John, the loving eagle of Christ, has revealed Christ to us with a power superior to every other, inferior only to that of Christ Himself, which was infinite, since it was the power of God, in revealing his Father to us. Soaring like a royal eagle quite high above earthly things and humanity, he saw Christ in His true Nature as the Word of God. More than the Miracle Worker and the Martyr, John presents us with “the Teacher”. The only most perfect Teacher the world has ever had. The God-Teacher, Wisdom become flesh and the oral teacher for men, the Verbum or Word of the Father—that is, the Word making His Father’s thoughts perceptible for men, the Light come to illuminate the darkness and make the twilight flee. In his Gospel of Truth and Light, John clearly calls [Judas]…: “thief”. He sees the undercover plots, the subtle traps used to make Christ unpopular with the Roman dominators and Jews, and the “least ones” who formed the flock of those faithful to Christ. And he notes them all and makes them known, showing Christ in his sublime holiness, not just as God, but also as man. A Man Who does not compromise with His enemies to make them friends; a Man Who is able to tell the truth to the powerful and unmask their sins and hypocrisy; a Man Who, while not rejecting any of those deserving of being drawn near because they are moved to come to Him by their soul’s desire to be redeemed, is able to hurl His anathema at those who, though most powerful, deceive Him with false offers of friendship so as to catch Him in sin; a Man Who respects the Law, but tramples on what is superimposed on the Law: the “burdens” set upon the least ones by the Pharisees; a Man Who refuses a kingdom and earthly crown and flees to get free of them (Jn. 6:15), but does not cease to proclaim His spiritual Kingdom and take the crown of the Redeemer to confirm His doctrine of sacrifice with His own sacrifice; the most holy Man Who wanted to experience everything associated with man except sin. The eagle does not sing more or less melodiously, as other birds do, but casts forth his powerful cry, which is such an affirmation of power that it makes the hearts of men and animals tremble. John does not sweetly sing the story of Christ, either, but hurls forth his powerful cry to celebrate the Hero, and it is such a forceful cry in asserting the Divinity and most luminous Wisdom of Christ that it makes souls and hearts tremble from the first words of his introduction. John, like the eagle, loved to remain on the summit, in the fire of his Sun, and look at Him alone, listen to all of his words, both spoken and secret—that is, the deep, sweet lessons and conversations of Christ and His solitary outpourings of feeling, His prayers and communion with the Father, in the silence of the nights or in the depths of the forests, wherever Christ—the great Solitary, because He was the great Unknown and Misunderstood One—isolated Himself to find comfort in union with His Father. John: the lover of the Sun of Charity and the virgin wedded to Charity—he, the pure one, attracted by Jesus, perfect Purity. Love gives special understanding. And the stronger love is, the more the lover understands even the intimate movements of the beloved. John, the one most faithful to and most loving towards Jesus as God and Man, comprehended everything about Him, not as if resting on His Divine Heart, but as if in His Heart. No one knew Christ intimately as John did. All the perfections of Christ were known to him. He penetrated into His mystery and into the ocean of His virtues, truly measuring the height, breadth, and depth of this living Temple not made by human hands that men were trying to destroy in vain. And, after decades had transpired, he wrote about them all and described them, leaving the most perfect Gospel in historical veracity, the most powerful in doctrine, the most luminous in terms of wisdom and charity, and the most faithful in describing episodes and characters, capable of overcoming the mental restrictions of the Jews and describing even what the other Evangelists had not dared to say: the Samaritan woman, the royal official, the scandal and flight and rebellion of the disciples against the Master after the discourse on the Bread of Heaven, and the’ adulterous woman, and the open disputes with Jews, Pharisees, Scribes, and Doctors, and his taking refuge in Samaria and Ephraim, and His contacts with the Gentiles, and the truth about Judas, “who was a thief,” and many other things. The first words of his Gospel canticle are praise of the Light. His last words in the Apocalypse are a cry with a loving reply and a loving question: “Yes, I am coming soon!” “Come, Lord Jesus!” And these two cries, of the Beloved and the Lover, disclose to us—more than anything else—what John meant to Jesus, and Jesus to John: Love. John was at the top of [the mystical ladder]…
-
Each of the four Evangelists served to compose the mosaic giving us the true Jesus Christ, God-Man, Savior, Master, Redeemer, Victor over death and the devil, Eternal Judge, and King of kings forever. For this reason, in the theophany described by the Apostle John in his Apocalypse (4:5-9), the four, with their four different appearances, serve as the base and crown for the Throne on which there is seated the One who is, was, and will be, who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all that was, is, and will be, and their voices, joined to those of the twenty-four—that is, of the twelve main patriarchs and the twelve greatest prophets, or major prophets—sing eternal praise to Him who is Most Holy and Omnipotent. [N:45-50]
I also hadn’t read the Bible and when I finally went to college I enrolled in Bible study because of all the books I would learning from I believed and still do the Bible is the most important book. My professor was Protestant but it was still the Bible. All the students knew every scripture and verse and could find it quick when my instructor said turn to Matthew 5. Everyone was on the page as I struggled through all the pages. I grew up in a rural town a cradle Catholic where we shared a priest from a nearby town. When I did finally find that scripture I found it and read it and believed I had lived His words and grew up believing in His word without knowing the Bible. The Catholic religion has taught me what the Bible was saying- I was living it all along just how Jesus wanted.
1 Like
Thanks Rosa. Welcome to the forum! We hear 71.5% of the New Testament at Mass in a three-year cycle (Year A, B & C). This is not by accident. We see in “The Didache,” written around the first century or late second century, that the reading of Sacred Scripture was a part of their Sacred Liturgy from early on, as we still do today. The first half of the Mass is dedicated to God’s Word (usually an old testament, psalm, epistle & Gospel Reading).
The Bible is not only the Word of God, but a Catholic Book. The Early Church Councils discerned which books and letters were considered to be inspired and affirmed which to be included in the Canon of Scripture by the Council of Rome in 382 AD, the Synod of Hippo in 393 AD, the Councils of Carthage in 397 AD & 419 AD, the Council of Florence in 1431-1449 AD and finally, as an article of faith, by the Council of Trent in 1545-1563 AD.
It was a Catholic British scholar named Stephen Langton, who would later become the Archbishop of Canterbury, who numbered the Bible (giving it chapters & verses).
Some anti-Catholic Christian Fundamentalists will regurgitate the lie that the Catholic Church locked up Bibles “so that Catholics couldn’t read what was in it.” This is a false assumption on their part. The reason we had to chain the Bibles or lock them up was because Bibles were copied by monks by hand! The cost for one copy was extremely expensive to have made. The cost to have it transcribed and the cost of the parchment or vellum that they were hand-written onto. The Printing Press had not been mass-produced yet. It isn’t like going down to your local Dollar Tree and buying a cheap Bible for $1.25.
The more you read your Bible, the more you will be familiar with where the books are located. And I encourage all Catholic Christians to read the Bible. What’s nice about the Catechism (the green one or blue one for sure) has a section in the back where you can look up a verse in the Bible and it tells you everywhere the Catechism references the verse. So if you are reading the Bible and you have a question about something you have read or would just like to dive deeper, this is a good way to learn. I also find reading the intros in your Bible that talks about whom wrote the book and their intended audience at the time it was written to be helpful.
Thank you again for sharing your story. I put myself in your shoes as I read it.
Thank you Cade for your information, I love learning about The Trinity. God is so good to us all, to all Christians. I love being Catholic. Where else can you genuflect, do The Sign of the Cross, say Jesus’name 1000 times if you want? It gives me God’s abundance of the joys of His creations, His blessings, His love, even His humor! I can’t wrap my mind around how great He is. He is my King.
1 Like
I got carried away with my love for God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit but yes the Bible lives in me for He knew me before I was even conceived. I can’t tell you where to find that in the Bible but I believe that to be true.
1 Like