The Word.

Acts 17:2-3 ‘According to his usual habit Paul went into the synagogue. There during three sabbaths he held discussions with the people, quoting and explaining the scriptures and proving from them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from death’.

Notice how the disciples when teaching or defending themselves before the elders always quoted the scripture. They used the word to teach about the word. Always they taught by quoting scripture. 

Pentecostal Christians accuse Catholics of not being familiar with the word. Little wonder as there is a widespread lack of personal study of the word amongst Catholics. 

It’s also not uncommon to be at mass and not hear a scripture passage quoted during the homily. One might argue that the homily is already based on one or more scripture passages; but scripture is filled with so many passages that link to each other that perhaps an injustice is done if proper reference is not given. But again there is the constraint of time, I guess.

Anyway to conclude this, we cannot give what we don’t have. We must fall in love with the word, read it everyday and proclaim it with our words and actions. We cannot know God if we do not know his word because he and his word are one. ‘Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ’ St Jerome says.