Time to awaken to the Word
Guest Columnist
By Msgr. FRancis x. Meehan
I have become more aware of something over the past months — something that may seem very prosaic, almost a cliché — namely, how graced we are to have the holy Scripture, the very Word of God.
It is often said that as we get older, a sense of mortality settles in. It suddenly occurs to me: What a shame if I do not come to know better that which God has placed right in front of my eyes — the Scriptures, themselves.
Catholics often compare themselves to Protestants. They say, “Oh, how much better my Protestant friends know the Scriptures.”
But I remember one older scholar cautioning Catholics not to be quite so down on themselves. His point was this: By hearing the Scriptures every Sunday, in a repetitive cycle of readings, Catholics know more than they think. They may not be able to cite ‘chapter and verse,’ but they have a solid instinct for the rhythm of both the Old and the New Testament.
On the other hand, we Catholics must admit a certain passivity — an un-knowing-ness of the basic timelines of the Old Testament and a diminished personal internalizing of the Scriptures in our everyday spiritual life.
Allow me to tell a story on a very dear friend: Over the years, he would often — so often — inform me of how poor were the homilies at the Masses he attended.
Usually I would accept his criticism, trying not to be defensive. But, then, one day, I decided to push back a bit. “Joe,” I said, “It is really such a shame that you are deprived of a good Sunday homily — and, imagine, after you had been preparing all week by reading the upcoming Mass Scriptures, and praying over them each morning.”
I was, of course, being just a tad sarcastic, but it was a friendly joust. Joe responded with a warm “touché,” acknowledging that I had made my point.
Of course, this column is not about my friend but about the priest I see in the mirror, this preacher, theologian, Catholic, baptized Christian. Why has it taken me so long to appreciate more these life-giving words in story and history, poem and wisdom, Gospel and letter?
Now, this very week, I have retrieved a book that has been sitting too long on my shelf — a book titled, “Reading the Old Testament,” by the great Scripture teacher, Father Lawrence Boadt. I need to understand more about Jesus — how He is prefigured in so many stories, how God prepared His coming, and how the Gospels are filled with allusions to those past stories.
I also pulled from my shelf a book on the Psalms — those poems of affection, of love, of hope, of trust and yes, even of disappointment, hurt and anger. Have you ever noticed how beautiful are the Responsorial Psalms at Mass? Whether they are sung or spoken, there is always a very human affection — plaintive, longing, calling out, soulful.
Too little I know. Yet this I do know: Jesus, Himself, prayed the Psalms. And when we try to pray them — as more and more Catholics are beginning to pray the everyday Liturgy of the Hours — we are, in truth, praying in union with Jesus, in union with the whole Church, even when we do not realize the multi-layered meanings beneath every line.
Too little I know. Yet this I do know, too: It is time for me, and perhaps for a reader of this column, to come to know more, to love more, to follow more the Word of God graced to us in this all-too-short lifetime of ours.
Msgr. Meehan assists spiritual directors in their work for St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood.