Four Can Openers

Identifying which are the best Bibles

10/06/2025

Luke 10:25-37 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is: What is the best Bible to read? Have you ever struggled with which Bible to buy? I always answer: “A Bible in the hand is worth two on the shelf.” That is, whatever Bible you will actually pick up and read is better than the most expensive leather-bound Bible that just sits on the shelf collecting dust.

Bibles are not meant to be museum pieces that should be admired from a distance and never touched. Instead, they should actually look well-worn: underlined, dog-eared, with notes in the margins. A friend of mine once wisely told me: “A Bible that is falling apart is usually read by a person that is not.” So the best Bible is one that you actually read, and even wear out.

Now, I just gave you a subjective answer, so let me also provide you with an objective answer to the question about the best Bible. Bibles are differentiated by the commentary that they supply to explain the Word of God. That is, Bibles invariably contain both the inspired Word of God, but also the insightful words of men, Scripture scholars. The Sacred Scriptures is not a self-interpreting book.

If the Bible is a can, the commentaries, the footnotes, the explanations are the can openers. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches there are basically four can openers we can use to open the inspired can of the Bible. We read in no. 115: “One can distinguish between two senses of Scriptures: the literal sense and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral, and anagogical.”

It goes on: “The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of the Scriptures in the Church.” In other words, the best Bibles will provide the best commentaries – can openers – that explain the four dimensions of the Word of God. Let me explain.

First, the literal sense or dimension is the author’s reason for writing, how he aims human history at a theological target. Second, the allegorical sense or dimension is the symbolic reading of the Bible. For example, how Moses leading people out of Egyptian slavery symbolizes Jesus who frees us from slavery to sin.

Third, the moral sense or dimension gives us a compass to guide our steps on earth to avoid sin. And fourth, the anagogical or heavenly sense or dimension helps us to keep our eyes on the prize, our heavenly destiny. The best Bibles, therefore, always give you the four can openers in their commentary, so we can relish every sense of Sacred Scripture.

Every morning when I read the Scripture readings for Mass, I consult the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website. It gives you exactly the readings for the daily Mass and you can easily click on the commentary, the footnotes, for unfamiliar or confusing passages. While it is convenient, though, I find it rather limited. How so?

Well, it usually only gives you one of the four can openers to break open the Word of God. That is, it does a great job with the literal sense – the author’s reason for writing – but almost entirely ignores the other three senses. Put differently, the USCCB commentary tends to be one-dimensional, where it should be four-dimensional.

And that brings me to the Bible I like best, namely, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. The general editors are Curtis Mitch and Scott Hahn, and they have taken great care to provide readers with all four can openers to break open the Word, so we can behold and benefit from all four dimensions of the Sacred Scriptures. Now, one small drawback is that their English translation is not the one we use at Mass. But their commentaries and footnotes are exceptional.

For example, they explain the allegorical (symbolic) sense of today’s gospel of the Good Samaritan. They write: “The parable signifies Christ’s restoration of mankind. Adam is the man attacked by Satan and his legions; he is stripped of his immortality and left dead in sin. The priest and the Levite represent the Old Covenant and its inability to restore man to new life.”

Now comes the good part: “Jesus Christ comes as the Good Samaritan to rescue man from death and brings him to the inn of the Church for refreshment and healing through the sacraments” (p. 1854). That refreshment and healing is symbolized by the “oil and wine” which we use in the sacraments of the Anointing of the Sick and Mass.

Can you see how the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible presents the Scriptures in all its richness? That is, using all four can openers we can behold the banquet of all four dimensions of the Word of God. And then we can sit down to this feast of faith called the Sacred Scriptures and not go home hungry.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

My Orlando Vacation

Understanding the interplay of faith, works, and grace

10/05/2025

Luke 17:5-10 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

Last weekend I went to visit my sister, Mary, in Orlando for a little vacation. But instead of getting a selfie with Mickey Mouse or working on my tan sipping on a Pina Colada on Daytona Beach, Mary put me to work. First, she asked me to give a presentation to her OCIA class, then she wanted me to speak to her Marriage Mentor group, and finally she scheduled me to celebrate two Masses on Sunday. Let me tell you, an Orlando vacation is way overrated.

At the end of my presentation to the OCIA class, though, one participant raised her hand to ask: “So, why do Catholics say we are saved by works but Protestants put more weight on faith?” I answered: “I would say it’s not mainly about faith or works, but much more about grace. In other words, we are saved by grace." Then I shared this illustration with the OCIA class which I have shared with you before.

One day Scott Hahn was jogging around his neighborhood and noticed a man trying to move his front yard. But his small toddler son kept crossing in front of him with his toy mower, imitating his dad. The man was getting visibly frustrated, so Scott Hahn decided to make another loop around the block to see how the father would resolve his 4-year-old dilemma.

When Hahn came back by the same house, he noticed the father had picked up his son and was carrying him in one arm. With the other arm he was steering his mower. Meanwhile the little boy had both his hands on the real mower, and a huge smile on his face. I’ll give you one guess why he was smiling from ear to ear. The boy thought he was moving the yard with his dad’s mower. That image illustrates how we are saved by grace. How?

Well, you and I are the little boy being carried in God the Father’s arms and anything we think we do by our “works” is entirely sustained by his loving grace. We read a succinct summary of salvation in Deut 1:31, “The Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all along your way.” You see, faith opens our eyes to see how God’s grace saves us, from beginning to end. We might say our only contribution is to not jump out of the Father’s arms.

The gospel today juxtaposes, side by side, two apparently unrelated topics, but they are in fact, inseparably connected. In Luke 17:5-6 the apostles request: “Increase our faith.” Then in verses 7-10, Jesus speaks about the attitude of a useless servant, saying: “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do’.”

What does increasing of faith (on the one hand) have to do with being unprofitable servants (on the other)? I believe the story of the father and son mowing the yard can help us here. First, as the faith of the apostles increases, they more they see reality as it is: how the Father’s love sustain all creation and every person by carrying everything in his arms.

Nothing (and no one) budges without his providence guiding it or his permission allowing it. Notice this spiritual fulcrum at work: the more faith we have, the less credit we feel we can take. John the Baptist said it best: “He must increase and I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). Faith sees how grace does it all. And we are but "unprofitable servants.”

Let me draw out three implications of this interplay between faith, works, and grace. First, faith is a gift from God. Thus, we cannot increase it by ourselves, for example, watching Youtube videos on faith, or listening to the Bible in a Year, or reading thousands theology books. All these things are good, but they do not change the fact that God gives the gift of faith as he pleases.

All we can do is pray for faith and open our hands to receive. We are like those people standing on the street corner with signs asking for assistance. They need financial help because they are materially poor. We need faith help because we are spiritually poor. We are all beggars before God when it comes to faith.

Second, we can understand sin more accurately in light of faith, works, and grace. How so? Well, if faith helps us to see that anything good we do is simply cooperating with God’s grace – sitting put in God’s arms – then sin is simply not cooperating with God’s grace. Put differently, sin is jumping out of the Father’s arms and foolishly trying to mow the yard with our toy mower. In a word, every sin is silly, unnecessary and slows down God’s work of salvation.

And third, faith, works, and grace teach us the meaning of humility. When we grasp we are all just the little boy carried in the Father’s strong arms, what can we possibly boast or brag about? Our higher education degrees are God’s work. Our brilliant inventions and bright insights are his work. The money we earn, the milestones we reach, the families we raise, the churches we pastor, the businesses we build – everything we lift a finger to do – is always his work first and foremost.

If we take any satisfaction or pride, or gloat in anything we achieve or how hard we work, we are imitating that little boy who smiled from ear to ear thinking he was mowing the yard. Instead, we should humbly conclude: “We are unprofitable servants.” And perhaps that’s a better way to think about what I did last weekend: as a little boy carried in his father’s arms. So maybe last weekend really was a pretty good Orlando vacation, where fathers carry their children in their arms through the Magic Kingdom.

Praised be Jesus Christ!