Romancing the Scriptures

Falling in love with Lady Wisdom

09/08/2019

Wisdom 9:13-18B Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

I have a confession to make today: I have fallen in love. Gasp – Fr. John is in love! Fear not, my new love does not make me want to leave the priesthood, on the contrary, she makes me want to remain a priest forever. Who is this fascinating female who has captured the heart of your pastor? It was the same damsel to whom Jeremiah was devoted. The ancient prophet confessed his love in Jeremiah 15:16, “When I found your words, O Lord, I devoured them; they became the joy and the happiness of my heart.” In other words, both John and Jeremiah are in love with the same woman: La Biblia, the Sacred Scriptures.

But that ancient prophet and this old priest are not alone in romancing the scriptures. There has been a veritable explosion of bible studies here at our parish, a sort of “big bang in scripture study.” Have you noticed this? For instance, David and Rosalie Young have a group studying the Bible Timeline with Jeff Cavins, an overview of the whole bible. Surennah Werley is facilitating a study of the book of Isaiah by Fr. Mitch Pacwa. Terra Harmon has formed a group to study the Gospel of Matthew, and they actually use an app called First 5 that sends study question to their phones. Peggy Brandebura is leading a group also studying the Gospel of Matthew, with presentations by Jeff Cavins. Maria Muylaert has gathered cadre of Catholics studying the Gospel of Mark led by Tim Gray. And Holly Jennings has inspired a group of friends to also study the Gospel of Mark based on university lectures by Scott Hahn. More and more Catholics are repeating with Jeremiah: “When I found your words, O Lord, I devoured them; they became the joy and happiness of my heart.”

Now, why all this sudden attention on the Sacred Scriptures? Well, the happiness we feel in studying scripture is because we learn our home is in heaven, not on earth. To paraphrase the medieval astronomer, Galileo Galilei, “the bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.” Galileo was stating the issue correctly, but emphasizing the wrong side of the equation. He was more interested to learn how the heavens go – by studying astrophysics – but it is infinitely more interesting to know how to go to heaven by studying the bible. Why? Well, when we turn 80 or 90 years old, and about to leave this planet, we won’t care how the heavens go, but only how to go to heaven! Wouldn’t it be nice to discover how to go to heaven before you turn 80 or 90? Discovering that highway to heaven is causing this remarkable big bang in scripture study at I.C. We love the bible because it tells us how to go to heaven, how to get home to the One who loves us.

The first reading today from the book of Wisdom explains why we need help to get home to heaven. We read: “Scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven who can search them out?” In other words, if we can’t figure out earthly things, how will we discover heavenly ones? Then we hear the answer: “Who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?” That is, what the bible teaches is the wisdom of heaven, holy wisdom, in Greek “hagia sofia.” I have a niece named “Sophia,” and she is very wise, at least she thinks she is. In other words, when we fall in love with the Holy Bible, we really fall in love with Holy Wisdom, who shows us “how to go to heaven.”

If there’s one great hurdle and hang up we Catholics have about the bible, it is that we think it is a “Protestant book.” Have you ever thought that? After all, we Catholics have the sacraments and the Protestants have the Bible. Catholics say it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday (and that’s true). Meanwhile Protestants would say it’s virtually a mortal sin to miss Bible study on Sunday. I sometimes think we priests may have contributed to the problem because we take little time to prepare homilies inspiring people to fall in love with the Bible, Holy Wisdom. If priests are not excited about the Bible – and it shows in our sermons – why should we expect our Catholic parishioners to be? No wonder Catholics are flocking to Protestant churches where the preacher proclaims the Word loudly and proudly, and there’s little doubt that minister madly in love with the Word. Protestants may not have the fullness of the truth like we Catholics do, but they love the little they have far more passionately than we love the fullness of truth sitting in our laps, our bibles. The bible is not the exclusive patrimony of Protestants. The sacred scripture is the precious family heirloom that belongs to all Christians. Catholics should claim their rightful inheritance.

Today, ask yourself, why am I not participating in a bible study? If you are not excited about one of those I mentioned earlier, you could start one yourself on a book of the bible that intrigues you. Tell your friends, B.Y.O.B. – bring your own bible. And Catholics can beer, too. Don’t settle for easy excuses like a lack of time, or lack of interest, or lack of energy because it really just boils down to a lack of love. We all make time, generate interest and find energy for those things are that important to us. I pray every Catholic will confess one day he or she (like me) has fallen in love with the beautiful book called the Holy Bible, the fount of Holy Wisdom. Why? Because you will experience a happiness that is out of this world. You don’t have to believe me, just ask Galileo.

Praised be Jesus Christ!