Do you know what I think is the best part of the Bible is?
Go ahead. Take a guess.
The creation story? The Passion of Christ? The really mushy parts of Song of Solomon? Nope. Nope. And nope.
Those are all wonderful, for sure. But the best part of the Bible isn’t a story at all.
It’s the relationship it has to the Mass.
This is one of my favorite things about being Catholic.
You see, as a Protestant I obviously had the Bible. In fact, it was the focal point of my faith life.
I was taught from an early age that the Bible was the only thing I could build my beliefs upon because it is the inspired, inerrant word of God. (Of course, nobody told me it was given to us by the Catholic Church...but that's another story:).
But all I could do as a Protestant was read it, pray over it, and look cool carrying it around at church. That’s about it.
I’m not saying that it wasn’t useful. It’s the life-changing Word of God, so of course it had a profound impact on my life. Even so, there was a kind of "limit" upon its application to my spiritual life.
But not as a Catholic.
And that's because the "natural" home for the Bible isn't my living room or office. It's the Mass. In fact, the entire canon of Scripture (i.e. all the books that make up the Bible) was formed primarily for proclamation in the liturgy.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't read it at home or anywhere else. We definitely should.
But the Church declared which books were inspired so we would know which were worthy of the Eucharistic celebration.
It knew the words of Scripture are preparation for the sacrament (CCC 1154-1155). They go together. As the Catechism says, "The liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist together form 'one single act of worship'" (n. 1346).
Why? Because that Word is a person...Jesus Christ.
In other words, the Word we hear is the Word we consume.
It is in the liturgy that the words of Scripture most come alive. It's in the liturgy that God interacts with us most powerfully.
All of our reading, all of our prayer finds its end, so to speak, in the liturgy. The “liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed,” says the Catechism (n. 1074).
That's why everything we do in our daily lives should be ordered to the liturgy, ordered to that next real encounter we have with the God of the universe. All the love that our Lord has for us – that love he describes in Scripture – is poured out upon us as he gives himself to us in the Eucharist!
That’s the best part of the Bible!
God bless!
Matthew
P.S. Speaking of the liturgy...our latest group study - Liturgy & Life: Unveiling the Mystical Movement of the Mass - will transform your understanding of and participation in the Mass! Have your parish check it out!
We've got FOUR other powerful Group Studies, as well! CLICK HERE to learn more!
