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Vatican II renewed the life of the Church in many ways. One of the most dramatic effects has been the transformation of Catholics into a people who truly "hunger and thirst" for the Word of God in their lives.
It is most encouraging to see the proliferation of excellent Bible study programs in parishes throughout the United States. The positive effects of Bible study among Catholics are several. First, Catholics who use the Bible in study and prayer are more likely to be open to further growth in their faith. Second, Bible study encourages people to listen more attentively to the Sunday readings. In fact, some Bible study programs are designed around the three year lectionary cycle. Third, Catholics who become familiar with the Bible are more likely to feel at ease with other Christians who come from churches with an established tradition of Bible study. This familiarity helps Catholics avoid the danger of a naive fundamentalist approach to Scripture.
The Bible itself presents a vision of how powerful and influential God's Word can be in our lives. As the Second Letter of Timothy says: "All scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who is of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3: 1617).
"The apostolate in which you are engaged is both exciting and challenging. It demands hard work and perseverance. It requires study and prayer. At all times, it is personally engaging, for "the word of God is living and active." Like a two-edged sword it cuts through all pretense and deceit and prepares the way for conversion. " Pope John Paul II
Another image is found in the prophet Ezekiel. At the beginning of his prophetic ministry, he is told what he is to do. God offers him a scroll on which judgment is written, yet even the just judgment of God tastes sweet. As Ezekiel recalls, "He said to me: Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey" {Ezek 3:3).
The Church strongly commends the nourishment which comes from reflecting on God's Word. A beautiful passage from Vatican lI's Constitution on Divine Revelation expresses it in these words:
"There is such force and power in the Word of God that it stands as the Church's support and strength, giving her children sturdiness in faith, food for the soul and a pure and unfailing fountain of spiritual life."(Del Verbum #21).
Diligent study of the Bible, then, is an opportunity to feed on God's Word and be transformed by it. Bible study allows the Word of God to influence us directly. We begin to see ourselves and the challenges of our world more clearly. It truly can transform the faith of Catholics, especially as it better prepares us to celebrate the Eucharist. God's own Word becomes a vehicle for experiencing the presence of the risen Christ in our lives.
The General Instruction on the Roman Missal puts it this way:
"In the readings, which are interpreted by the homily, God speaks to his people, reveals to them the mysteries of redemption and salvation, and provides them with spiritual nourishment; and Christ Himself, in the form of his Word, is present in the midst of the faithful" (533, emphasis added).
Catholics who hunger and thirst for something more in their lives should pick up the Sacred Scriptures more often and read. There they will indeed find nourishment. They will also find themselves transformed because they "have tasted the goodness of the Word of God" (Heb 6:5).
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The liturgical season of Christmas and the Epiphany, which we have just celebrated, is humanly speaking the most joyful of seasons precisely because it is a season of communication. Christ, the Son of God and Mary, comes to live among us so that He can communicate to us the holiness, goodness, and love of God. The author of the letter to the Hebrews puts it succinctly but very beautifully. "At various times in the past and in different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, but in our time, the last days, He has spoken to us through His Son" "Hebrews 1:12). And preaching is communicating. Preachers communicate the Good News of Christ, the loving nature of God, the personal concern He has for each one of us and the path that we all must take to come to eternal life.
Preachers for the most part are seen in pulpits or at lecterns. This is the way we envision a preacher preaching. But there are many other methods which are open to the preacher, including television talk shows, radio, drama, song, poetry, and others. This issue of The GoodNews Letter focuses on yet another way of preaching Christ's GoodNews Bible Sharing. Using this method, Christ the Communicator becomes in a special way the centerpiece and it is He who preaches through His Word.
It was after the Second Vatican Council that Bible Sharing groups began to spring up in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Charismatic Movement held Bible Sharing in great esteem and it was through this movement that Bible Sharing became popular. From the Charismatic Movement many other groups emerged where people gathered to listen to God's written revelation, to share their insights, to pray for the gift of wisdom, and to conclude with a resolution to live more faithfully in accordance with God's will. One of the groups that I knew personally used a method called "R.E.A.P."
Christ the Communicator becomes in a special way the centerpiece and it is He who preaches through His Word.
"R" is for a reading from Scripture. This is the heart and core of the process. A member of the group slowly and meditatively reads a passage from the Bible, followed by a short pause of silence so that all might reflect on what has been read.
''E" is for experience and explanation. Here participants share their experiences and insights into the passage read. Then the leader is given an opportunity to explain the reading in the light of the Church's teaching. This mutual sharing opens up to all the richness of God's revealed word.
"A" is for action. After having listened to, reflected upon, and shared their experiences, the participants now determine how they might make the passage come to bear in their own lives. At this point personal resolutions are made and conversion takes place. The Word of God now becomes active in their lives.
"P" is for prayer as each one prays silently and privately, communicating to God those innermost feelings and asking for wisdom, strength, and guidance in striving to follow Christ more closely. In conclusion, the leader guides all in a common prayer gathering all the aspirations and feelings of those present.
Bible Sharing is assuredly an excellent way of preaching. In this method God communicates Himself to us through Scripture, the Church communicates its teaching, participants communicate their innermost perceptions and, most of all, conversion is achievedthe goal of all preaching. Bible Sharing is indeed a wonderful way to preach.
Catholics who hunger and thirst for something more m their lives should pick up the Sacred Scripturesmore often and read. There they will indeed find nourishment. They will also find themselves transformed because they "have tasted the goodness of the Word of God" (Heb 6:5).
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Dear Friends in Christ,
My lifelong love affair with the Bible began when I was fifteen years old. My family had an old King James Bible which had been handed down for generations in my Mother's Presbyterian family. It was a lovely book, printed on vellum in old block letters. Today I am sure it would be very valuable, but in all our many family moves, the Bible simply disappeared. Still it is most valuable to me because I learned to read it.
Kneeling down by the side of my bed, I would take the large pages that had the most wonderful feel and read at least a chapter each night before I went to sleep. Of course, over the years my way of reading the Bible has changed, and I use a fine modern Catholic Bible. What has not changed, however, is the fact that God continues to bless me with his word. The Bible itself says, 2 Tim 3:1417:
The sacred scriptures (are) capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith m Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is helpful for teaching, for refuting error, for correcting, and for training in holiness, so that the person who belongs to God may be ready, equipped for every good work.
God certainly gave me a great gift as a teenager. Since those first days, seldom has a day gone by that I have not read the Bible and been nourished by it.
As a result of this experience, my ministry as a preacher has always centered around the Bible, introducing parishes to the joys of the Bible. This approach was fortified by the teaching of the Church:
The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the Body of the Lord, since from the tab/e of both the word of God and of the body of Christ she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life. /Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, #21)
The methodology that I have found most effective for long term growth is Biblesharing, the topic of this issue of The GoodNews Letter.
There is no doubt that basing the sharing of the Scriptures on the lectionary is a valuable practice, but unless we understand the context of the particular passage and are able to see it as a part of the whole book of the Bible, we can miss valuable insights into what God is saying to us. Each book has its own theology, as it were, its own perspective to communicate. Unless we grasp this, a richness is lost.
One way to introduce young people to the Bible is to conduct a special retreat for them. I have written a Bible-SharingYouth Retreat Manual available from the Institute, which offers detailed suggestions for conducting a weekend retreat. This program was developed out of my experience working with young people and I know it works.
So the National Institute for the Word of God has always advocated approaching the Bible book by book. To that end, I wrote Beginner's Guide to Bible Sharing, proven to be immensely popular for parish programs. It is always deeply moving when people I don't remember come up to me or write to me about a Bible sharing group that started as a result of my mission still going strong after ten, thirteen even fifteen years!
The power of the Word of God!
Because I was so nourished by the Bible as a teenager, I know teenagers today, looking to deepen their experience of union with the Lord Jesus, will be greatly enriched by Bible Sharing. One way to introduce young people to the Bible is to conduct a special retreat for them. I have written a BibleSharing Youth Retreat Manual available from the Institute, which offers detailed suggestions for conducting a weekend retreat. This program was developed out of my experience working with young people and I know it works.
Two exciting events are coming up: First, the pilgrimage Fr. Joseph Allen, OP, and I will be leading, "In the Steps of Paul." This is a repetition for me because I was so spiritually excited by the 1988 pilgrimage. It was so rewarding that I have not changed the itinerary. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" If you did not get our flier on the pilgrimage, please write and we will be glad to send you one. Dates are April 27 to May 8, 1995.
The second event is the celebration of the Second National Conference on preaching in Chicago, September 24-27, 1995. The first conference in 1993 was a smashing success. This year we are opening the conference on Sunday evening in order to allow more priests and deacons to attend. The theme of thisconference, Word for a Hungering World, focuses on identifying and satisfying the hungers that are present both in the hearers of preaching and in the preachers themselves.
Thank you for spreading the news about these two exciting events in 1995.
Sincerely in Jesus Risen and Lord,
John Burke, OP, Executive Director
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I was brought up in the inner city by a Christian mother and an alcoholic father who didn't believe in God. When Mom took me anywhere, Dad would accuse her of being with other men. I felt like their fights were my fault, because she was taking me places like church or shopping.
By the time I was eight years old, I didn't want to live any more. So I got a bottle of sleeping pills and was going to end my life. I had a vision the night before I was going to do it. It showed me what heaven and hell were like and if I took those pills, I would go to hell. I knew I didn't want that so I went into Mom's room crying and she got me into counseling to deal with the real world. Maybe I learned too well.
It didn't take me long to start hanging out with older people, and a motorcycle gang where drugs were. I wanted large sums of money, so I started taking drugs out to the county where there were no drugs available. It didn't take long before I was transporting so much that the people who were bringing the drugs in wanted to meet me.
As a young teen, I was taken under the wing of organized crime. I was willing to do anything they wanted me to do. It was the first place in my life that I felt I really fit in. And I was very successful for twenty-seven years! By the end of that time, I was paying two to six thousand dollars a week to keep the law from bothering me or my people. I could do anything I wanted to and I did. I didn't fear DEA, FBI, CIA, IRS, Federal Marshals, State Police or any other law enforcement agency. I didn't even fear God.
God will pull you to him the easiest way you are willing to come. I was a real hard head. I had to lose everything: a good job I had for 22 years, power, drugs, cars, money. I had to go broke and end up in jail with a judge telling my high priced lawyer that I was going to sit in jail until I went to trialthen to prison for twenty years or more. He wouldn't even set bond for me.
Out of boredom I started reading the Bible. I found Proverbs 1:7, " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." I remember thinking that I must be a fool because all I was, all I did, brought me to this and I didn't like my life in jail! Then I found Matthew 23:1 2, "But those who think themselves great shall be disappointed and humbled; and those who humble themselves shall be exalted." I used to think I was great, and how I had been humbled. Then I found Acts 13:3839, "Brothers! Listen! In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins! Everyone who trusts in him is freed from all guilt and declared righteous."I wanted that for me.
I started to pray, just by talking to God, and God set me free. The bars were still there, but I was free for the first time in my life. That day God made the judge change his mind and set a bond for me. I still have some legal problems, but God set me free. And I intend to spend the rest of my life serving him any way I can. This freedom he gave me is from God. It is inside me where no one can ever take it from me. I'm happier now than ever before.
Power, drugs, and money only made me think I was happy. Jesus is the only real happiness there is for anyone. I hope and pray that you, too, can find this happiness in Jesus that I have. It's great!
Reprinted from Straight From the Gate Newsletter of the Mission Gate Prison Ministry in Bellwin, MO. Rick Mathes, Founder and Director.
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Interpretation of the Bible in the Church by the Pontifical Bible Commission. Origins, January, 1993. This unofficial document presents a detailed description of the theological, philosophical, literary, and historical aspects of interpreting the Bible. Excellent for those interested in probing the Scriptures with a view to theology.
Consuming Fire: Christian Introduction to the Old Testament by Rev. Michael Duggan. Ignatius Press, 1991. Fosters a Christian understanding of the books of the Old Testament.
Navarre Bible Series. Commentaries on each of the books of the New Testament. Dublin: Four Courts Press. Incorporates contemporary scripture study with that of the Fathers and of the living tradition of the Church. Effective for unpacking the spiritual import of the New Testament for contemporary readers. The entire series is now in print.
Word Among Us by the Word Among Us Press, an apostolate of the Mother of God Community. A periodical issued 11 times/year. Excellent in bringing the Word home into hearts today. Phone (301) 990 2090. $ 18.00.
Collegeville Bible Commentary in Two Volumes. Karris, Robert J., O.F.M., General Editor. New Testament. Dianne Bergant, C.S.A., General Editor. Old Testament. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992.
The Ignatius Bible. Ignatius Press, 1994. A newly released copy of the RSV, considered an outstanding translation. $29.95.
For those who are planning to come on the pilgrimage In the Steps of Paul we highly recommend an 88 minute color video Paul's Journeys According to Scripture, a Robin Williams Film Production. Available from: Robin Williams Films, 1277 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 (714) 4943307, $30.00 + $4.00 S&H
Books "We Recommend" is continued in Part 2...
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