The Bible

Dearest Ones,

Recently, Hollywood movies have made fun of Sacred Scripture by portraying the Bible as nonsense, like a fairy tale. In order to counteract this Godless trend, Pope Benedict XV1 has called a special meeting of all the bishops in the world during the month of October. The meeting is called "The Word of God" Synod (synod means meeting). To begin the meeting, the Bible was read from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation - non-stop, right straight through, night and day. People of all faiths, religious, lay people from all walks of life, each took a turn reading a chapter from the Bible in the Basilica of the Holy Cross. This Bible reading marathon was broadcast on Italian radio and was done to counteract the desecration of Sacred Scripture by the media. It is hoped this special Synod will encourage Catholics to read the Bible. Before reading the Bible, I call on the Holy Spirit to direct me, to wake up my mind, so that I can be "tuned in" to God talking to me. I like to choose a Scripture passage each morning and then use it throughout the day to give me courage and strength. Here are some of my favorite "life-lines:" "Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest - for my yoke is sweet and my burden light.""Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart." "Be not afraid, I go before you always, come follow me." "Love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you." Sometimes, it is hard to get started reading the Bible. I suggest reading the Gospel of John: Ch 14 -17, which contains Jesus' farewell message to His beloved followers. The Book of Proverbs is cleverly worded and the letter from St. James is another favorite. Setting aside a certain time of the day helps me to keep the discipline of reading the Bible. We need to remember that the first Christians did not have a Bible. After Jesus died, they depended only on the words of the Apostles for their Bible. The Apostles risked their lives to pass on the message of Jesus' love. It was 400 years later when their inspired words were written in the Bible. St. Paul refers to this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: "When we preached to you, you did not think of the words we spoke as being just our own, but you accepted what we said as the very Word of God - which, of course, it was and it changed your lives when you believed it." In the Bible, we have a treasure! The very God who made us is right there talking to us. That is why we treat the Bible with great respect. It is not an ordinary book. (Some people, sad to say, don't even know where their Bible is!) The Bible is a "love letter." No one ever gets tired reading a love letter - they can read it over and over again. The same with reading the Bible, I can read the same passage, day after day, and get something new from it each time. I went with my nieces and nephews to Storybook Land, which depicts favorite fairy tale characters in giant size. When we saw the houses of the three little pigs, I asked my grandnephew which house was the best - the straw, the wood or the brick? Of course, he said the brick because it is the strongest and won't blow away. It's like God's Word, which builds a strong foundation in our faith life. When nothing else makes sense, it gives strength and courage.When evil dictators take over a country, the first thing they do is to get rid of the Bibles. Why? Because they are afraid - they seem to know the power of God's Word. In 1939, during the reign of Russian Communist dictator Joseph Stalin, under whose regime 40 million people were murdered, a Catholic priest was asked to step on the Bible - instead, he knelt down and kissed it. As a result, he was put into the Siberian labor camps and sentenced to hard labor for ten years. When he got out, he was again allowed to say Mass - during the Mass, after reading the Gospel, he kissed the Bible. The people in the Church were in tears because they remembered what happened the last time he had kissed it.We are not here just to reflect Christ, we are to become Christ to others. Through reading God's Word we become transformed into "other Christs." Do people know what Jesus is like by knowing us? What would I be like if I did not have the Bible as a guide? It would be like driving a car without a steering wheel.To be ignorant of the Bible is to be ignorant of Jesus Christ.

I Love you,
Sister Francelle