1Cor 11, 1-7 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ

1Corinthians 11

(1Cor 11, 1-7) Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ

[1] Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. [2] I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you. [3] But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and a husband the head of his wife, and God the head of Christ. [4] Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings shame upon his head. [5] But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had had her head shaved. [6] For if a woman does not have her head veiled, she may as well have her hair cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil. [7] A man, on the other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.

(CCC 107) The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures" (DV 11). (CCC 108) Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book". Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, "not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living" (St. Bernard, S. missus est hom. 4, 11: PL 183, 86). If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures" (Cf. Lk 24:45). (CCC 109) In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words (Cf. DV 12 § 1).