In the course of our life as
Christians, as members of the Church, as bodies of Christ in the world, what is
the Sacred Scripture to us? We always say that Bible is the word of God for
those who believe but it was written by human authors, but is this what we are
living for? These are the questions that we will try to reflect on as we go
along.
The Scared Scripture is a
juggernaut, a powerful force. Like an irresistible tidal wave it sweeps
everything before it. In light of the extension of life, the Sacred Scripture
is improving the quality of the life of each member of the Church.
The Bible presents Christ to us
as the word of God for He is the fullness of word. If Jesus comes to us as the
Word of God clothed in human flesh, Sacramentum Dei, Sacred Scripture,
too, clothes the Absolute in the sacramental garb of words. It provides a
storyline that is meant to be evocative rather than literally historical.
“Evocative,” I think, is an apt word. Most books in the Sacred Scripture are
closer to poetry than workaday prose. Speaking to the deep self, they seek to
elicit from it an assent to truths that are already secretly known but can only
with difficulty be brought to explicit, surface consciousness.
Theology uses Sacred Scripture as
one of the sources. Theology acknowledges the Bible as the Word of God. The
Sacred Scripture would be equated as the finger pointing to the moon. It is
useful, suggestive and it does point the way. But one must remember that one
does not stop with it. Used as a launch pad, it does make a fine point of
departure. It should not be treated as a port of arrival. It should not be
absolutized, for rigid literalism is a subtle and most dangerous form of
idolatry. Historically it has led to a great deal of enmity, suffering, and
injustice.
The Sacred Scripture is the
primarily spiritual documents, with a background in history, which teaches us
how to live and love.
We, people are embodied species,
as long as we are as such, we will continue to need external signs and symbols
to help concentrate the mind and suggest deeper spiritual truth. The Bible is
the best sign and symbol that will help us for it narrates to us how Christ,
Son of God, became man to show us how we must live. The Sacred Scripture does
not end there but it continues to be elucidated through the course of time.
There are many ways and forms on
how to illuminate the Sacred Scripture. We are not limited to the present forms
or ways. The Bible is the Word of God; as such we have to look deeper and
deeper to the gist of what God wants to tell each of us.
We then on our part us an
interpreter of the Sacred Scripture are demanded to be attentive and practice
with order. There is a dynamic energy in the Sacred Scripture that must be
“caught,” swallowed, and digested.
As members of the Church, we are
asked by the adage “Don’t just stand there, do something!” Go! Walk and talk
your way through your fear, and become the community of believers, the body of
Christ in the world, calling others to hope and to new life in Christ.
Sacred Scripture is our birth
canal and birth pang of our community, a community born in the waters of
baptism, dying and being buried in the tomb with Jesus, called forth by the
power of the word of God in the Sacred Scripture and then drawn forth from the
tomb.
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