The Sacred Scriptures: Take Up and Read

From this Sunday’s readings we can draw on many themes and reflect on many different aspects of the Christian life, i.e. The Resurrection, sin and forgiveness, conversion, resting in the Lord, etc.  For me, however, there was one verse from the Gospel which really jumped off the page and that was the verse that said, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters love their Scriptures and many denominations study and know the Scriptures by memory, having the ability to quote verses and chapters.  Largely that is not the case within Catholicism and that is so for a number of reasons, some reasons being neutral, such as cultural, other reasons being negative, such as, “don’t read the Scriptures because you will not understand them,” at least back in an earlier time of our history.

It is a cultural reason that we do not read Scripture like other Christians.  The reason is that we are not a Church of the book or in ecclesial terms we do not believe in “sola scriptura,” (Scripture only).  A large part of our culture is sacramental.  The sacraments are vital and should be a large part of how we worship and practice.  And yet, we could take a lesson from other Christians.  That lesson is as St. Augustine who was moved to do exactly so when the angel said to him in the garden, “Take up and read!”

The angel says the same words to us “Take up and read.”  Why should we take up and read?  We take up and read because the story of our God is contained within its pages, but it is also the story of salvation and the story of us all.

In those pages we find incredible stories about Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Ruth, Queen Esther, King David, and then the story of Jesus and His Apostles.

We read these stories so that we can know and understand human nature, human relationships, and must of all understand God’s relationship to us.

We do not only take up and read to gain knowledge but we can also pray the Scriptures.  We can do so by meditation and reflection on certain passages.  During the Easter season for example we may meditate on the Resurrection stories.  Sometimes the Scriptures can serve as answers to our prayers; one may search the Scriptures for an answer to a question about life.

I have mentioned to you before that St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”  Immerse yourself into the bible.  Know it, breathe it, live it!  If you are looking for a great story about the key to life, you don’t have to run to the movie theater to watch a movie (though that is fun) or read the latest teen dystopian novel (that could be fun as well) but turn first to the greatest story, the main story, for without it the others make no sense.  It is in the story of the Bible that you will find your ancestors, you will find your God, and you will also find yourself!  “Take up and read!”

Divine Mercy: A Two Way Street

This second week of Easter is a very holy day indeed, as are all Sundays, but Easter Sunday is the most important because we celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord.  We remember that today in some cultures it is known as little Easter.  We also celebrate this Sunday as “Divine Mercy Sunday.”  Divine Mercy is a private revelation received by Saint Faustina which was eventually approved as authentic (but not binding on believers as only Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are binding) by the Church and made as an optional celebration on the 2^nd Sunday of Easter.

I want to touch upon this theme of mercy.  Sometimes we lose its true meaning, because mercy is one of those words we throw around so much.  We also lose its meaning when it comes to its application both for ourselves and for others.

When it comes to the way we treat ourselves we sometimes are more harsh and judgmental of ourselves than God ever would be with us.  Remember that Jesus went to the Cross for us while we were still dead in our sins.  If He would so easily send us to hell then why the sacrifice for us while still dead in our sins?   There is one simple answer, love!  What causes a person to die for someone, even those who hate the person; it has to be a love beyond our everyday understanding.  As the Gospel says, “it’s hard to die for a good man, let alone a bad one.”  If Christ loves you this much can He not forgive you even for the worst of sins?  He absolutely can.  It is a matter of accepting it and of forgiving yourself.

Mercy, however is a two way street.  It runs from God to us but it also runs from us to others.  “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)  And again from the prayer that Jesus taught us, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  God demands and requires, since He has given us mercy that we do not deserve, and do not fool yourselves, you did not deserve it, nor did I, and since this mercy has been granted to us free of charge we must do the same for others.  How can we expect on the one hand God’s mercy and then withhold it on the other hand from our neighbor?  No, we must be merciful and merciful without any conditions.

We have been forgiven the worst of sins; we must go and do likewise with our neighbor.  We must forgive him for everything.  It can be hard and a process but when we show mercy we free ourselves from carrying a weight we were never meant to carry, we also release a great weight from our shoulders when we accept God’s mercy in our own lives.

Saint Faustina was blessed to have Jesus visit her because He gave her a revelation of great mercy.  The revelation was that all can be forgiven, it comes down to two things, one, that I accept it and two, that I give it to others.  It is a simple message; it’s been the same message for thousands of years, since Adam and Eve.  God has forgiven you of your sins, have you forgiven yourself, have you forgiven your neighbor?  To have done so means you are living Divine Mercy Sunday, God bless you, Fr. John