When Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert, He overcame the temptations of Satan by quoting the Scriptures (see Lk 4:4, 8, 12).
Jesus told the Pharisees that listening to Moses and the prophets, that is, the Scriptures, has more power to change our hearts than meeting someone raised from the dead (Lk 16:31).
On the day Jesus rose from the dead, He spent the afternoon and evening interpreting the Scriptures (Lk 24:27, 45).
After the first Christian Pentecost, the new-born Church devoted itself to the apostles' instruction, which was based on the Scriptures (Acts 2:42).
Therefore, St. Jerome, the patron of Catholic Bible studies, insisted: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." The Church officially accepted this assertion in Vatican II. It is re-stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (133). "The Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body" (Catechism, 103). "The Church ‘forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful...to learn "the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ," by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures' " (Catechism, 133).
Abide in God's Word (Jn 8:31; 15:7). May it be the "joy and the happiness" of your heart (Jer 15:16).
| PRAYER: | Father, I put Your Word on the lampstand of my life so as to give light to all in the house (Lk 8:16). |
| PROMISE: | "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose Hope is the Lord." –Jer 17:7 |
| PRAISE: | Charlie has faithfully taught the Bible for over ten years. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College