Pope calls Catholics to daily meditation on the Bible

CNA ^ | Vatican City, Oct 28, 2009

[GonzoII]

www.catholicnewsagency.com

Pope calls Catholics to daily meditation on the Bible

Pope Benedict XVI

Vatican City, Oct 28, 2009 / 10:37 am (CNA).- At today's General Audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict provided a lesson on the theological renaissance of the 12th century, advising Christians to learn from the monks and set aside time every day to meditate on the Bible, “so that the Word of God will be the lamp that illuminates our daily path on earth."

Benedict XVI began his address to the 15,000 faithful by recalling how the 12th century was a time of a spiritual, cultural and political rebirth in the West. In that time, theology “flourished, refining methods, advancing towards new problems, in contemplation of the mystery of God,” he said.

As fruits of this development, figures such as St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure would appear in the thirteenth century. The two different environments in which this theological activity flourished were monasteries and schools, which would soon gave birth to universities, an invention of medieval Christianity.

Monastic theology, the Pope added, was due to abbots gifted with evangelical fervor and dedicated to inspire and nurture the desire for God. The method was primarily linked to the prayerful contemplation of Holy Scripture and the texts of the Church Fathers. The monks, he expounded, "were devoted to the Sacred Scriptures and one of their main activities consisted in lectio divina, that is, a meditative reading of the Bible." The Holy Father noted the Synod on the Word of God last year recalled the importance of reading Scripture and said it must be built on monastic theology.

"As monastic theology is listening to the Word of God," the Pontiff said, "it is necessary to purify one's heart to welcome it and, above all, one must be full of fervor to encounter the Lord. Theology therefore becomes meditation, prayer, a song of praise, and the impetus for sincere conversion."

The Holy Father emphasized "it is important to reserve a certain time each day for meditation on the Bible so that the Word of God will be the lamp that illuminates our daily path on earth."

Scholastic theology, the Pontiff explained, was formed "around a master and his disciples, to train professionals of culture in an era in which knowledge was increasingly appreciated." The method involves the placement of a "quaestio," a question around which "the discussion between teacher and students revolved."

"The organization of the ‘quaestiones’ led to the compilation of evermore extensive syntheses, the so-called ‘summae’ that were vast dogmatic-theological treatises,” Pope Benedict said. “Scholastic theology sought to present the unity and harmony of Christian Revelation with a method, called precisely 'scholastic,' that grants faith in human reason."

"Echoing the invitation of the First Epistle of Peter scholastic theology invites us to be always ready to answer whoever asks the reason for the hope that is in us," he noted. It "reminds us that between faith and reason there is a natural friendship, founded in creation itself." Faith liberates reason, enabling the human spirit to rise to the loving contemplation of that fullness of truth which is God himself.

Let us pray, Benedict XVI concluded, "so that the path of knowledge and exploration of the mystery of God is always enlightened by divine love."

In his Italian-language greeting to young people, the sick and newlyweds, Pope Benedict XVI said, “Today the liturgy remembers the Holy Apostles Simon and Jude Thaddeus. Let their evangelical testimony sustain you, dear young people, in the commitment of daily faithfulness to Christ. Let it encourage you, dear sick, to always follow Jesus along the road of trial and suffering. Let it help you, dear newlyweds, to make your family a place of constant encounter with the Love of God.”

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[GonzoII]

" Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ."

[Carpe Cerevisi]

But, but, I thought we weren’t allowed to read the Bible!!

[manc]

he needs to get tot he north east and start telling these so called catholics that they are voting against their supposed faith and they should be ashamed.

[mbarker12474]

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Read them for yourself.

You have a decision to make.

[GOP Poet]

Thanks GonzoII for the post!

[Alex Murphy]

Get Cracking, Catholics!
A formative, family-friendly factoid from a recent study or survey in the news.
November 19-25, 2006 Issue
Posted 11/16/06 at 8:00 AM

According to a study released in September by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, evangelical Protestants are a whopping eight times more likely than Catholics to read the Bible on a weekly basis. Of course, the survey only looked at private Bible reading; it did not take into account the Scripture passages Catholics take in at every Mass. Still, we tip our hats to our separated brothers and sisters in Christ for their zeal for the Word of God.

Related threads:
Synod: Christianity not a 'Religion of the Book'
Yesterday saw...a forceful plea from a key papal advisor [Bishop Salvatore Fisichella, the rector of the Lateran University and President of the Pontifical Academy for Life] to reject the idea of Christianity as a “Religion of the Book.”

Synod to Focus on Proper Use of Scripture
The Church should combat widespread "Biblical illiteracy" among the Catholic faithful, Archbishop Eterovic said

A Literate Church: The state of Catholic Bible study today
...while fewer believers know much about the Bible, one-third of Americans continue to believe that it is literally true, something organizers of the Synod on the Word of God called a dangerous form of fundamentalism that is “winning more and more adherents…even among Catholics.” Such literalism, the synod’s preparatory document said, “demands an unshakable adherence to rigid doctrinal points of view and imposes, as the only source of teaching for Christian life and salvation, a reading of the Bible which rejects all questioning and any kind of critical research”....
....The flip side of this embarrassment is the presumption among many Catholics that they “get” the Bible at Mass, along with everything else they need for their spiritual lives. The postconciliar revolution in liturgy greatly expanded the readings, with a three-year cycle in the vernacular that for the first time included Old Testament passages. Given that exposure, many think they do not need anything else. As Mr. McMahon put it, “The majority still say you go to Mass, you get your ticket punched, and that’s it for the week.”

Barna Survey: The God Gap in American Politics Alive and Well

By the numbers:

Percentage of "liberals" who:
33%: read the Bible, other than at church events, during the past week
35%: attended a religious service during the past week
76%: prayed to God, other than at a religious service, during the past week
39%: shared their religious beliefs with others, during the past year (among the born again Christians interviewed)
06%: have ever participated in a short-term missions trip, either within the U.S. or in another country

Percentage of "conservatives" who:
57%: read the Bible, other than at church events, during the past week
62%: attended a religious service during the past week
91%: prayed to God, other than at a religious service, during the past week
56%: shared their religious beliefs with others, during the past year (among the born again Christians interviewed)
12%: have ever participated in a short-term missions trip, either within the U.S. or in another country

Percentage of "liberals" who believe:
27%: "the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches"
17%: that Satan is real
23%: have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others
54%: their religious faith is very important in their life
23%: a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by doing good deeds or being a good person
38%: faith is becoming an increasingly important moral guide in their life
37%: their church is very important in helping them find direction and fulfillment in life
33%: Jesus Christ did not commit sins during His time on earth
43%: their primary purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul

Percentage of "conservatives" who believe:
63%: "the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches"
36%: that Satan is real
48%: have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others
82%: their religious faith is very important in their life
37%: a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by doing good deeds or being a good person
70%: faith is becoming an increasingly important moral guide in their life
62%: their church is very important in helping them find direction and fulfillment in life
55%: Jesus Christ did not commit sins during His time on earth
76%: their primary purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul

[Petronski]

[Alex Murphy]

"The organization of the ‘quaestiones’ led to the compilation of evermore extensive syntheses, the so-called ‘summae’ that were vast dogmatic-theological treatises,” Pope Benedict said. “Scholastic theology sought to present the unity and harmony of Christian Revelation with a method, called precisely 'scholastic,' that grants faith in human reason."

"Echoing the invitation of the First Epistle of Peter scholastic theology invites us to be always ready to answer whoever asks the reason for the hope that is in us," he noted. It "reminds us that between faith and reason there is a natural friendship, founded in creation itself." Faith liberates reason, enabling the human spirit to rise to the loving contemplation of that fullness of truth which is God himself.

Ping for later

[Mad Dawg]

Wow. Interesting data.

One thing I was wondering though would be the portion of Catholics who go to Mass 3 or more time per week and/or pray t he Liturgy of the Hours. Some of us get a pretty decent chunk o' Scripture daily>

Probably most of us could stand to study a lot more. One of my favorite things to do at adoration is to read the Bible.

[GonzoII]

"that grants faith in human reason."

Indeed, I have faith (human) that God's existence can be known by the "natural light" of reason.

Don't go off the deep end Murphy.

[Alex Murphy]

One thing I was wondering though would be the portion of Catholics who go to Mass 3 or more time per week and/or pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Some of us get a pretty decent chunk o' Scripture daily

When I put that together Monday, I had recalled someone telling me that hearing the entire Bible in three years involved attending every Mass, i.e. attending Mass daily. I couldn't find where I'd heard that, however. What you've described sounds a lot like what I recalled being told. I don't think you can hear the entire Bible in three years by only attending one Mass a week (i.e. in 156 readings). But something is far better than nothing, and more is always better than less!

One former church I'd attended used maybe 4-5 verses of scripture total per worship. Total, and that includes the readings mid-service, and all citations actually provided/read within the sermon! Please note that I do not fault Catholic parishes for their Scripture readings during Mass. I think this is a good thing (Philippians 1:15-18). From my own experience, the only denominations/congregations that provide a regular reading/exposition of Scripture during worship have been Reformed. I can honestly say that I wish other Protestant churches would do likewise!

Calvin's preaching was of one kind from beginning to end: he preached steadily through book after book of the Bible. He never wavered from this approach to preaching for almost twenty-five years of ministry in St. Peter's church of Geneva - with the exception of a few high festivals and special occasions. "On Sunday he took always the New Testament, except for a few Psalms on Sunday afternoons. During the week . . . it was always the Old Testament". The records show fewer than half a dozen exceptions for the sake of the Christian year. He almost entirely ignored Christmas and Easter in the selection of his text.

To give you some idea of the scope of the Calvin's pulpit, he began his series on the book of Acts on August 25, 1549, and ended it in March of 1554. After Acts he went on to the epistles to the Thessalonians (46 sermons), Corinthians (186 sermons), pastorals (86 sermons), Galatians (43 sermons), Ephesians (48 sermons) - till May 1558. Then there is a gap when he is ill. In the spring of 1559 he began the Harmony of the Gospels and was not finished when he died in May, 1564. During the week of that season he preached 159 sermons on Job, 200 on Deuteronomy, 353 on Isaiah, 123 on Genesis and so on.

One of the clearest illustrations that this was a self-conscious choice on Calvin's part was the fact that on Easter Day, 1538, after preaching, he left the pulpit of St. Peter's, banished by the City Council. He returned in September, 1541 - over three years later - and picked up the exposition in the next verse.

-- excerpted from John Piper's The Divine Majesty Of The Word

[Mad Dawg]

There is no way you're going to get ALL the Bible in current Cahtolic worship. Great chunks of Leviticus and Numbers will be left out. Similarly -- full disclosure -- the current psalter in the Liturgy of the Hours (For those of you in Rio Linda that's matins, lauds, nones, sext, terce, vespers and compline in the old lingo - though most of us just pray lauds, matins, vespers, and compline) has some of the "difficult" verses sort of left out a little bit. No shock ending to 137, for example. Some of us don't approve.

In three years of Masses you will get the 4 gospels almost in their entirety. (Maybe the genealogies of Mt. and Lk ares skimmed a little. Add to that the two year cycle of daily Mass readings and you've got a heavy NT dose and a decent amount of OT.

Still, important as that is, it won't replace time spent with the Bible and on the Bible.

I LOVE the notion of Calvin's picking up at the next verse after the hiatus! On the other hand, I think devotion MUST include Bible study but ought not to be limited to it and I'm a great fan of the "seasons" of the Church year. So I'm not all about going from one end to the other of the Bible in public worship.

[Alex Murphy]

In three years of Masses you will get the 4 gospels almost in their entirety. (Maybe the genealogies of Mt. and Lk ares skimmed a little. Add to that the two year cycle of daily Mass readings and you've got a heavy NT dose and a decent amount of OT.

Weekend Mass = Four gospels over 156 readings
Daily Mass = heavy dose NT, smaller dose OT (a recent addition) over 730 readings

Thanks for the explanation. You do realize that's a long way from the "Catholics hear the entire Bible in three years" apologetic that I hear from other Catholics, don't you?

Still, important as that is, it won't replace time spent with the Bible and on the Bible....I think devotion MUST include Bible study but ought not to be limited to it and I'm a great fan of the "seasons" of the Church year.

One hundred percent in agreement with you on every point above, Mad Dawg. I myself am "all about going from one end to the other of the Bible in public worship", hence the Calvin anecdote, but I think we're in agreement that JUST readings in public worship or JUST private study should NOT be the ONLY exposure for believers. Thanks for everything in your post!

[narses]

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[Mr Rogers]

For my part, I’ll gladly cheer anyone encouraging folks to read the Scriptures...even if his version has more books than mine!

;>)

[Mad Dawg]

Well, just to keep my Catholic street cred, I want to say that the BEST place for up close and personal immersion in the Scriptures is in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The Word in the Presence of the Word! It doesn't get a lot better than that, this side of the Kingdom.

For example, since mid-September and until the beginning of Advent, I am just savoring Ephesians. Sometimes it's explicitly devotional reading, but sometimes it's more scholarly in focus. But I'm enjoying a nice relationship with that letter.

Alex, what I've heard which is, I think, pretty true, is that attentive Catholics end up with a LOT of scripture kind of sneaking into their consciousness. They haven't done enough formal study (though I think more do these days than did before Vatican II) but a lot is sort of clanging around in there.

Perhaps because I'm in a Dominican parish, there is almost always a brief homily at every Mass, and often they are a brief exposition du texte, though sometimes the homilist will draw a moral or a piece of spiritual advice.

[Mad Dawg]

I guess maybe it’s an acquired taste, but I really, really love it. I wish more people had a sense of what a kick it is to read the Bible.

[Mr Rogers]

One of the blessings of these online discussions is that it has driven me to read more and study more, and the more I study, the more I enjoy reading and studying.

May God bless your studies!

[Mad Dawg]

Yeah! I have the same experience. I'm really glad to be refreshing my kind of rusty and creaky Greek.

And Blessings to you, also.

I may have mentioned I am going to take a week away from home at a small Dominican Priory and research the word "emeth"= "truth" in the OT. I had been toying with the idea for this project (which I'm sure wiser, holier, and better scholars than I have already done) for a while before I had the "duh" moment of remembering that the motto for Dominicans is "Veritas".

And I mention that as intro to say that, as we Christians 'know', THE Truth is a person who calls out to us in love, and says "seek my face." So I rejoice in the kinship that all share who respond, "Your face, O Lord, will I seek."

I have to thank Him for His promise that those who seek will find.

[Alex Murphy]

I guess maybe it’s an acquired taste, but I really, really love it. I wish more people had a sense of what a kick it is to read the Bible.

Youbetcha! It's like drinking from the firehose!