Mark Hart - Unleashing the Power of Scripture: A Guide for Catholics

UNLEASHING

the Power of Scripture

A Guide for Catholics

UNLEASHING

the Power of Scripture

A Guide for Catholics

Mark Hart

Copyright 2017 by Mark Hart

All rights reserved.

Published by The Word Among Us Press
7115 Guilford Road, Suite 100
Frederick, Maryland 21704
wau.org

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ISBN: 978-1-59325-297-7

eISBN: 978-1-59325-487-2

Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1965 and 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America, copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.
Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other, except for brief quotations in printed reviewswithout the prior permission of the author and publisher.

Made and printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017932032

Contents

Appendix 2:
Suggested Reading List: Other Biblical Resources to Help You Go Deeper

Introduction

G rowing up Catholic meant a lot of things to me. It meant serving Mass and getting to carry fire at the Easter Vigil. It meant crushing the toes of my unsuspecting brother with the kneeler when Mom and Dad werent looking. Growing up Catholic meant feeling guilty for most sins (and some things that werent actually sins), a love for plaid, prayer cards of bleeding saints, and a rosary on the rear-view mirror. Mass began at 10 a.m. sharp but ended at 11 a.m. dull, and only the promise of a chocolate donut from the Knights of Columbus table could keep this brat of God in line most Sabbaths.

Growing up Catholic also meant we had a Biblea large, heavy, unopened Bible. There the word of God sat, on the shelf, untouched but impressive to random visitors. Had anyone taken the time to peruse that Bible, theyd have undoubtedly noticed, sadly, that each page was in pristine condition. Sure, the sacred writ may have made its way to the coffee table from said shelf on the annual evening that Fr. McGuire came over for dinner, but never did it make its way before our eyes. It didnt serve much purpose other than as a bookend, holding up all the other books we actually did read.

Sure, Id heard the famous Bible stories growing up. Vacation Bible School gave me the basic gist of the kid-friendly classicsyour David and Goliath, Noahs ark, Daniel and the lions den, and at some point, Jesus apparent healing of a leopard (imagine my surprise and relief years later when I realized it was a leper). These fanciful stories failed to inspire me, however, during my crucial preteen and high-school years. The Bible just didnt pique my interest enough to motivate me to read it myself or retain anything I heard from the pulpit.

As we grow, though, most Catholics who pay even moderate attention at Mass begin to notice a pattern. We hear of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, even if we are unsure of how they were related or why that matters. We hear of angelic interventions, miraculous healings, and enough agricultural parables to choke a farmer. We watch as lectors struggle mightily to pronounce impossible names of forgotten places. We hear lineages and biblical names that would land modern parents and their children in psychotherapy. Can you imagine, for example, being named Nimrod (Genesis 10) or Dorcas (Acts 9)?

Sometimes we resolutely crack open Genesis in January with a New Years plan to read the entire Bible, only to surrender in Marchtrapped somewhere in Leviticus with warnings against incest and rules regarding the treatment of wild oxen.

Still, theres something deep within most of us that finds the Bible special and enigmatic. Even if unread or misunderstood, the Bible means something. Even if our parents or grandparents didnt read it to us, many people do still read it. And even many of those who dont read it still think the Bible is important albeit confusing.

What Makes the Bible So Special: A Love Story

God reveals his love and providence to us in myriad ways. Consider a starry sky, a sunset over the ocean, or a babys laughter. Assuredly, the Creator is seen throughout his gorgeous creation. But Gods revelation is not limited to nature: just as freely as he reveals himself to us through created things, so does he reveal himself through his inspired word.

Written in more languages, read by more people, with more copies published and sold than any other written work in the history of the world, the holy Bible stands alone. Kings and rulers have outlawed it, wars have been waged over it, and millions of lives have been lost but also found because of it. Gods divine revelation: inspired, entrusted, and gifted to us.

No other book will ever compare. Inspired (from the Latin inspirare, meaning breathed) by God, recorded over a span of about seventeen hundred years by more than forty separate authors, and composed of seventy-three books of varying lengths and typesfrom songs to history, to letters, and morethe Bible is one of our greatest family heirlooms.

Gods plan for our salvation, revealed in the Bible, is played out age after age, from the dawn of history. The danger for modern believers, however, is failing to see this history as just that: his story. Even more dangerous is the failure to understand that our stories are found in and wrapped up in Gods.

Consider this: Jesus Christ could have chosen to teach us in a variety of ways. The fact that the Second Person of the Trinity chose to employ storytelling (parables) as his primary teaching tool tells us a great deal. Everyone loves a good story, and our story is part of the greatest story ever told.

As Pope Francis reminds us,

So this love story began, a story that has gone on for so long, and is not yet ended. We, the women and men of the Church, we are in the middle of a love story: each of us is a link in this chain of love. And if we do not understand this, we have understood nothing of what the Church is.

Theres a reason that the Bible has been translated into every conceivable language (even Klingon for you Star Trek fans out there). Theres a reason that, when Johannes Gutenberga Catholicinvented the printing press, his first print job was the holy Bible. Theres a reason we still turn to one or two favorite verses to paint on a wall or tag an e-mail or scribble in a greeting card: after thousands of years, not even Hallmark can do better than Love is patient. Love is kind. As beautiful as the works of Shakespeare, Austen, and Hemingway are, and as beloved their characters, their words are earthbound; they are not words inspired by the Holy Spirit about the Living Word who came down from heaven

The Bible is unlike any other book. The Bible is prayer, the very breath and life of God. It is the word of God, not mere words about God. That distinction necessitates our attention and demands reverence. That distinction should comfort you in your afflictions and afflict you when you get too comfortable. The journey to God is about joy, not happiness. Happiness is fleeting, but joythe eternal joy of a life in Christ and life in heaventhat is eternal. We come to know that life in Christ quite literally through the Scriptures and in the sacraments. Only in knowing Christ will we come to know what it means to truly live.