YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 19
AVE MARIA SERIES “So that all may be one…” Jn 17:21
What role does Sacred Scripture play in the Church?
The Church draws her life and strength from Sacred Scripture.
The Second Vatican Council urged scriptural reading of the Bible rather than relying solely on devotional writings, booklets, and the lives of the saints. ….. 19 ….. 180
Besides the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, there is nothing that the Church honors more reverently than Christ’s presence in Sacred Scripture. At Holy Mass we receive the Gospel standing, because in the human words we hear, God himself speaks to us. 128
“To read Sacred Scripture means to turn to Christ for advice.” --St. Francis of Assisi (1183-1226, founder of religious orders, mystic)
[CCC ¶103-104, 131-133, 141]
103 For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body. 66
104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, "but as what it really is, the word of God"67 "In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them.”68
SACRED SCRIPTURE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH
131 "And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life109Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful.”110
132 "Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place - is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture."111
133 The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, ‘by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ’”.112
112. Dei Verbum 25; compare Philippians 3:8 and St. Jerome, Commentariorum in Isaiam libri xviii prol.: Patrologia Latina 24, 17b.
IN BRIEF
141 "The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord"*: both nourish and govern the whole Christian life. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path".**
Illustration:
Apostle Philip Samaria Gospel
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