The Bible: Introduction (I)
Sunday 28th June 2020
I would like to begin this reflection by bringing
you down to a dusty desert road. It is almost two thousand years ago and a
conversation is about to take place between two strangers. At the end of their
meeting a life is changed for ever.
‘The
angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, 'Be ready to set out at noon and go
along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road’. So he
set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on
pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the
kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia; he was her chief treasurer. He was now on his
way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The
Spirit said to Philip, 'Go up and join that chariot.' When Philip ran up, he
heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are
reading?' ‘How can I’ he replied, 'unless I have someone to guide me?' So he
invited Philip to get in and sit by his side...Starting, therefore, with this
text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him.’
(Acts 8:26-31, 35)
The result of Philip’s guidance and explaining the
scriptures to the Eunuch leads to new life for the Ethiopian court official, ‘...Both
went down into the water and Philip baptised him.’ (Acts 8:38). I was
reflecting on this episode in the Acts of the Apostles recently and it reminded
me of how important our knowledge of the Bible is. Saint Jerome’s saying came
back to me, ‘Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!’
As we begin to adapt to life with the Coronavirus,
as we begin to learn the new language of two meter distancing, social bubbles
and virus tracing apps, the only one constant and unchanging rock we have to
rely on is Our Lord. To be ignorant of him, to not know the ‘the Way, the
Truth and the Life’ can only lead us to sadness and despondency.
As I write this reflection our churches are still
not fully open and operational for Masses and liturgies however by being able
to pick up our Bible, to read and to have some basic understanding of God’s
word, allows us to still hear and follow Him. For many people praying with the
Bible is second nature but for others it can be a little daunting and an
obstacle in their relationship with God. For those who aren’t that confident
praying with scripture I thought we might copy the example of Saint Philip and
the Ethiopian court official. The Eunuch had the scriptures in front of him but
needed a little guidance so that the words on the page became truly alive for
him and he was able to hear God speaking.
I love these words from the prophet Jeremiah who
said:
‘When
your words came, I devoured them:
your
word was my delight
and
the joy of my heart;
for
I was called by your name,
Lord
God of Sabaoth.’ (Jer 15:16)
You can hear the hunger of Jeremiah as he knows
earthly food can feed the body, but God’s holy word is the only sustenance that
can nourish the soul. Our vocation as baptised members of God’s family has not
been suspended because of the Coronavirus and the challenges it presents. No.
Our vocation, our calling, our duty as children of God should be as active as
ever and therefore we need to continue to know the Lord more and listen to
where He is calling us and what His will for us is. Over the next few weeks I
invite you to wander with me through the Bible and hopefully begin to have both
the confidence and the hunger to listen to the voice of God speaking to you
personally through Sacred Scripture. I invite you to continue to foster and
nurture your relationship, through prayer, with God by devouring His Word, as
the prophet phrased it. I think you will be surprised at what He says!
To begin you will need a Bible. I strongly
recommend buying:
The CTS New Catholic Bible not only contains all
the books of scripture we use but it has various maps and charts, helpful
notes, meditations and a table of the readings used at Mass throughout the
year. If you are unable to get a CTS Bible then another edition is the New
Jerusalem Bible.
This translation is more or less the same as the
CTS Bible. During the 16th and 17th centuries when some
Christians separated themselves from the Church and set up their own faith
communities they edited the Bible and removed various texts from the
scriptures. Therefore some Bible translations do not have all the books that we
pray with like Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Wisdom, Sirach (also known as
Ecclesiasticus), Maccabees and some additions to the Books of Daniel and
Esther.
You can buy these Bibles online at the Catholic
Truth Society’s website – www.ctsbooks.org
or from Amazon – www.amazon.co.uk
I look forward to our scriptural wander together as
we all continue to grow and know the Lord more and listen to where He is
calling us to be.
God Bless and keep praying
Happy Feast of St. Peter and St Paul.
Fr. O’Brien