Richness of Scripture

On the memorial of St. Jerome (Monday), I preached at daily Mass on the richness of Scripture. St. Jerome said that “knowledge of Scripture is knowledge of Christ. Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” He truly helped the world to know Scripture and thus Christ. We can get to know Christ (better) by simply reading a little bit of Scripture each day. Of course, I recommend a Catholic Bible!

On my annual retreats which are silent, I use a very simple formula to hear God. I meditate on the daily Mass readings each day and all day. Even though they are usually short and familiar, the readings are incredibly rich. And, they can give each of us amazingly new revelations. By this I mean that God can speak to us in new ways personally.

For example, Monday’s first reading was from the Book of Job. One of the last lines from the passage was what Job said after losing so much personally: “the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” This inspiring but potentially challenging line is one on which to reflect for many days. It can be a bookmark for future suffering in which we hope to repeat those words. It can heal past wounds if we are open to the Spirit of God as Job was. It can also be a challenge for us if we are struggling currently in our faith with suffering. It’s a powerful verse to ponder…and it’s only one line from the daily Mass readings! There is so much that the Lord wants to say to us and have us ponder even in just one Scripture verse or passage in order to know Him better.