Divine Addiction

Passing the pandemic in Scripture study

08/11/2020

Ezekiel 2:8—3:4 The Lord GOD said to me: As for you, son of man, obey me when I speak to you: be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you. It was then I saw a hand stretched out to me, in which was a written scroll which he unrolled before me. It was covered with writing front and back, and written on it was: Lamentation and wailing and woe! He said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat. Son of man, he then said to me, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

This pandemic has provided me a lot of time for bible study. And I must confess, the more I study Scripture, the more I love it, and the more I desire it. It’s becoming a holy habit and a divine addiction. I almost feel like a Protestant because occasionally I can even quote Scripture passages from memory. No self-respecting Catholic would ever do that. One of my favorite passages is Jeremiah 15:16, because it perfectly describes how I feel about bible study. The Old Testament prophet was also a Scripture addict and exclaimed: “When I found your words, O Lord, I devoured them; your words were my joy, the happiness of my heart.”

Last week I was working on a bible study on the gospel of Mark and I said spontaneously out-loud: “Wow, that’s amazing!” Just then Cindy McNally walked in and with a smirk said: “Sounds like you wrote something really good.” I replied: “No, I just read something really good.” I am a happy addict of the Word of God, and I don’t want any 12-step program to save me. Indeed, it is the Scriptures that are saving me, together with the sacraments.

Now, Scripture study is not all sweet, with rainbows and unicorns. There is also a sour side, a hard side, a side where you sweat and struggle. Scripture is like the sweet and sour sauce you get at Chinese restaurants. Today’s first reading from Ezekiel 2-3 reads: “[God] said to me: Son of man, eat what is set before you, eat this scroll…I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.” So, Scripture study is indeed sweet.

But do you recall another instance where a prophet was commanded to eat a scroll? Well, I do because I study the bible! In Rev. 10:9 an enormous angel straddling the earth, with one foot on land and one foot on the sea, commands St. John: “Take and swallow [the scroll]. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.” In other words, like all real and enduring relationships, so too our love affair with the Scriptures will have sweetness and sourness, peaks and valleys. There will be butterflies, rainbows and unicorns to be sure, but also tears and tribulations. In short, bible study requires work, hard work, but if you persevere, you will reap great rewards.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with Lawson Hembree, who manages our school endowment funds. After discussing the endowment, we talked about how we’re passing our free time in the pandemic. Not surprisingly, he was involved in leading a bible study in his church. He started talking excitedly about the book of Revelation and the two anonymous witnesses of Revelation 11. He and I exchanged ideas about their identities. He believed they were Elijah and Enoch. I replied that they must be Elijah and Moses because Elijah called down fire from heaven, and Moses delivered the plagues. After I got off the phone, I had to stop and pinch myself and said: “Did I just have an intelligent conversation with a Protestant about the Scriptures?” That’s reaping the reward of serious Scripture study, and it is sweet indeed.

But perhaps the best tool of Scripture study is the lives of the saints, like today’s feast of St. Clare. She was one of the first followers of St. Francis of Assisi and started the women’s religious order called the “Poor Clares.” Francis fell in love with “Lady Poverty,” and he taught Clare the joyous rapture of that love affair, too. Clare renounced her family’s riches and cut her hair as a sign of that renunciation. What is the theological term for that kind of radical poverty? It’s called “evangelical poverty,” one of the three “evangelical counsels” of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Evangelical is another way of saying “gospel” because both come from the Greek root “euangelion” which means “Good News.” How do I know that? Well, because I study the bible! In other words, the saints are like a mirror reflecting the truth of the Scriptures up and down the ages in every culture and continent. If you want to know “WWJD” (What would Jesus do?) today - and Jesus is simply the Scriptures on two legs - just look at the life of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope St. John XXIII, St. Teresa of Calcutta, Blessed Stanley Rother. In a sense, the best bible study consists of a close contemplation of the lives of the saints, like St. Clare.

Folks, it seems like this pandemic will not be over anytime soon, so you may have free time on your hands. May I invite you to learn my holy habit and enjoy this divine addiction of bible study? The rewards of serious Scripture study are out of this world, just study St. Clare.

Praised be Jesus Christ!