“NOURISHED AND RULED BY SACRED SCRIPTURE”

 

In a previous column on scripture, I promised to develop further the topic of how we as Catholics interpret the scriptures. The reason this is presently a “hot” topic is that the Catholic bishops from around the world are meeting in Rome this month for a Synod on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”

 

Years ago I saw a famous painting of St. Matthew writing his gospel with an angel guiding his pen as he wrote implying that God was dictating every word.  What we call “fundamentalism” ascribes to this theory, maintaining that every word in the bible has been dictated by God and therefore each word should be taken literally.  The approach of the mainline Christian churches (Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist)) is that the scriptures were inspired by God but written by human beings who had the limitations of their time and their culture.  We call this a contextual approach.

 

In a preparatory article for the Synod, Bishop Richard Sklba (in America 9/29/08) reminds us that the Church encourages us to use “every scientific and literary method available” as we read and interpret the Word of God.  What this basically means is that we accept what science has learned about our universe (e.g. Genesis) and we also accept that scripture takes many forms—history, poetry, legends, wisdom, testimonies of faith, moral exhortation, etc.  Therefore, we do not read every page of our bibles in the very same way any more than we read every page of our newspapers in the same way--news, features, editorials, sports, comics, horoscopes, etc.

 

The Book of Jonah is a good example of this. We’re all familiar with poor Jonah ending up in the belly of a big fish (it does not specify a whale!). In a book of only four short chapters, Jonah is portrayed as a grouchy and reluctant prophet who gets into all kinds of trouble by trying to avoid what God has sent him to do. Taken literally, this legend strains our intellect, but looked at for its message--which comes in the last few sentences--it is priceless: God scolding Jonah for being more concerned about his dead plant than saving the people of Nineveh, a not-so-subtle hint to the prophets/leaders of the writer’s time!  It’s possible the writer was also sending another message: God has a sense of humor!  Pick up your bible and read the entire text!  You’ll enjoy it!

 

In taking the Catholic approach to reading the bible, scripture scholars suggest we ask three questions:

          1. Who wrote this book of the bible? (often unknown in the O.T.)

          2. To whom or for whom was he writing?  

          3. What was the writer’s message?

 

To make it personal, we might add another question:

          4. How does this message speak to me in my life today?

                 (e.g. Is there a bit of Jonah in me??)

 

If you’d like to make scripture a greater part of your life, St. Joseph’s has two opportunities—the regular Wednesday morning group that studies and reflects on the next Sunday’s scripture readings and Susan Mahan’s present evening series on Paul’s Letter to the Romans.  If you can’t do either of these, consider spending a little time before Mass on Saturday evening/Sunday to read the scriptures for that day in the missalette and ask yourself the four questions, especially 3 and 4! 

 

Sister Marie Wiedner, O.P.

 

 

 

 

 

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