Sunday, April 19, 2015
Youcat commented through CCC. Question n. 16 – Part III.
(Youcat answer) The right way to read Sacred Scripture is
to read it prayerfully, in other words, with the help of the Holy Spirit, under
whose influence it came into being. It is God’s Word and contains God’s
essential communication to us.
A deepening through
CCC
(CCC 117) The
spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of
Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.
1. The allegorical sense. We can
acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their
significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of
Christ's victory and also of Christian Baptism (Cf. 1 Cor 10:2). 2. The moral sense. The events reported in
Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written
"for our instruction" (1 Cor 10:11; cf. Heb 3-4:11). 3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, "leading"). We can
view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us
toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly
Jerusalem (Cf. Rev 21:1-22:5). (CCC 118) A medieval couplet summarizes the
significance of the four senses: The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny (Littera gesta docet, quid credas
allegoria, moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia. Augustine of Dacia, Rotulus pugillaris, I).
Reflecting and
meditating
(Youcat comment)
The Bible is like a long letter written by God to each one of us. For
this reason I should accept the Sacred Scriptures with great love and
reverence. First of all, it is important really to read God’s letter, in other
words, not to pick out details while paying no attention to the whole message.
Then I must interpret the whole message with a view to its heart and mystery:
Jesus Christ, of whom the whole Bible speaks, even the Old Testament. Therefore
I should read the Sacred Scriptures in the faith that gave rise to them, the
same living faith of the Church.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 137) Interpretation of the inspired Scripture must be
attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the sacred authors for
our salvation. What comes from the Spirit is not fully "understood except
by the Spirit's action' (cf. Origen, Hom.
in Ex. 4, 5: PG 12, 320). (CCC 119) "It is the task of exegetes to
work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation
of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the
Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about
the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of
the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of
watching over and interpreting the Word of God" (DV 12 § 3). But I would
not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already
moved me (St. Augustine, Contra epistolam
Manichaei 5, 6: PL 42, 176). [End]
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