We think of the Bible as a book we should read, from beginning to end, like all other books. It comes with a binding, it comes in a box, and we know we should know it, whether we like it or not. But it was not ever so; no, that’s not how it started. The Bible is books (plural) with dozens of writers. We know there’s one Author of Divine revelation, but to bring it all together took centuries of cooperation.
You might never ask, Who decided what’s in the Bible? But to think on that for a moment is surely worth your while. Bible writers were inspired, and so are still Bible readers. The bridge between them is the Church, and centuries of divine worship.
“Scriptures” are writings, but with greater significance. That’s the word Jesus himself used, because even in His time there was no single collection. There were the Law and the Prophets, but there was more too, which He often quoted. The same writings, and the same terms for them, were taken up by the Apostles. For centuries, when the Church said “Scriptures,” they had in mind all those writings.
When in 142 A.D., Saint Justin Martyr wrote to explain the practices of Christians to the Emperor of Rome, he described the Sunday Eucharist that is the center of Christian worship. He said that there are readings from “the Scriptures and the memoirs of the Apostles,” using a marvelous expression that shows that the Gospels and Epistles had not yet been codified into what we call the New Testament.
Centuries later, it became clear that some definition was in order. By then, there was a near-consensus among the local churches around the world what writings were divinely inspired, that is, Scriptural; what was need was an official act of the Church to ratify the consensus. In response to this need, in 382 A.D. Pope Saint Damasus promulgated the definition of what we now know as the Holy Bible. One of the criteria upon which this was based was which texts were proclaimed and preached on during Mass.
That’s right; you had always thought that the readings we hear proclaimed at Mass are there because they are contained in the Bible; whereas in truth, what we find in the Bible is there because it is what the Church proclaims at Mass. The Divine Worship of the Church is the place where revelation regarding the content of Sacred Scripture is manifest and ratified.
There is no better time than Advent to understand how the Divine Worship sheds light on the Scriptures, when so many expect only the reverse. As we began the season last week, the readings and the antiphons all seemed to carry the very same message as in previous weeks as last year ended: be alert, He comes! Then, they boded dread consummation and judgment; now, these similar words carry different import: incarnate consolation and hope in the fullness of time. Think of how the Davidic titles identify their fulfillment as the great Antiphons lead us to His Nativity: O Daystar, O Key of David, O Emmanuel.
It is clearly not enough simply to read the Scriptures; they open themselves most fully to us when we pray and sing them in the context of worshipping their Divine Author. The Sacred Liturgy that guides and defines our worship reveals the meaning and significance of the Scriptures in ways that cannot be grasped otherwise.
The Bible’s Author still inspires and reveals, and to worship Him brings Communion. We should surely all read it, though it’s not like other books. The Holy Mass is its true binding, where lifted hearts think out of the box.
Monsignor Smith
