Is it a pleasure to read Scripture? It would seem when we look around today that it isn’t a joy. It would appear that most people have given up on vigorously reading the Bible. But are they right in this?
It is the contention of this series, and from my own experience, that people have not really given up on the joy of Scripture. They have given up on Scripture not because they understand it, but rather because they don’t understand it. Perhaps they have been told something about Scripture by a supposed “expert” (somewhere), or they have tried to read but were confused and quit early. But they haven’t really rejected it because they have actually encountered it and left it behind.
When we look at those who have lived it out to the full they have always found in the pages the source of unending joy and satisfaction. They have found an infinity of everything they ever desired. It began speaking to their hearts, giving understanding to their minds.
Here is a little sample quoted by Pope Benedict XVI after the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God…
The 31st Doctor of the Church St. Theresa of Avila once said,
All the evil in the world is derived from not knowing clearly the truths of Sacred Scripture.
Vita, 40, 1.
The 7th Doctor of the Church, St. Basil of Caesarea, likewise said,
What is the distinctive mark of faith? Full and unhesitating certainty that the words inspired by God are true… What is the distinctive mark of the faithful? Conforming their lives with the same complete certainty to the meaning of the words of Scripture, not daring too remove or add a single thing.
Moralia, Regula LXXX, XXII: PG 31, 867.
Speaking of the effect of the Scripture upon her, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the 33rd Doctor of the Church, wrote,
No sooner do I glance at the Gospel, but immediately I breathe in the fragrance of the life of Jesus and I know where to run.
Story of a Soul, Ms B, 254.
Blessed Jordan of Saxony wrote about St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers, that he:
everywhere showed himself to be a man of the Gospel, in word as in deed.
Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum, 104; Monumenta Fratrum Praedicatorum Historica, Rome, 1935, 16, p. 75.
The First Constitutions of the Order of Preachers says of the Dominicans that they are also to be:
Men of the gospel.
Consuetudines, II, XXXI.
When we look at any of the world-changing movements in this history of the Church, from the Benedictines, Franciscans, Carmelites, Jesuits, the Desert Fathers in Egypt, and many others, we see that the joy of the gospel was their main and primary hope, and they derived it from the Scriptures.
St. Benedict, the patron saint of Europe, writes in his Rule that the Bible is:
A most perfect norm for human life.
Rule, 73, 3: SC 182, 672.
The Saints are all witnesses to the prospect of joy that comes through drawing closer to the Scriptures. Their emphasis is completely correct. Scripture promises unending joy and satisfaction to every human soul in their endeavours.
The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.
Proverbs 10:28
Pope Benedict pointed out others like Padre Pio, St. Anthony of Egypt, St. Francis & St. Clare of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. John Bosco, St. John Vianney, St. Josemaria Escriva, Mother Theresa, Edith Stein, Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac of Zegreb. All these saints and leaders of the Church hold that there is no greater joy, no deeper pleasure, than those who who give themselves to self-denying, whole-hearted, single-minded devotion to the Word of God. No matter what area of life, be it friendship, family, food, art, sport, gaming, mating, adventuring, serving, or working, nothing can compare to that of the joy of the diligent Scripture reader.