Why Studying Scripture Isn't Optional
Day 18/40: Ch. 4 in 'The Art of Dying Well' by St. Robert Bellarmine
According to Bellarmine, we are blind if we do not constantly have the Bible in our hands or have the Scriptures always before our minds. Why? Because Scripture is like carrying a lantern in the middle of the night on the way back Home. The Word of God sheds light on our path so we never depart from it. Without scripture, we are walking around in pitch blackness and living in the ignorance of a darkened mind.
How long can you go without your smartphone? 1 hour? 1 day? 1 week? Many people begin to feel a level of anxiety when you disengage from your phone. What if I miss a text, an email, a phone call, or a newsbreak about something bad going on?! We should feel the same way about Scripture. If a whole day passes without engaging the Word of God through prayer, study, or worship, we should have a certain level of healthy anxiety and urgency that kicks in, because without Scripture, we truly become blind to reality.
This blindness can even lead to the spiritual destruction of holy people like it did with King David. In one fell swoop, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered her husband by corrupting his military leaders, and then covered up the deed through lies and deceit at the highest national levels. By the grace of God, he did not die in the state of mortal (deadly) sin, and he repented because the Prophet Nathan came to call him out. We can hear the cry of King David’s heart in Psalm 51 after this incident when he writes,
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”
This is a great text to meditate on during Lent by the way! (Here is a great song by Jon Foreman which meditates on this psalm).
Many saints were known for carrying parts of the Bible with them. St. Dominic, who started the Order of Preachers (The Dominicans) and lived from 1170 to 1221, was known for always having the Gospel of Matthew and the Letters of St. Paul with him, (along with St. John Cassian’s 30 Conferences). During his day, it was difficult to have one book of the Bible in your possession, let alone the whole Bible, because the printing press would not begin for another 300 years! Each manuscript was copied by hand in monasteries from apostolic times until the time of Martin Luther in the 16th century.
By the early 17th century, when St. Robert Bellarmine was writing “The Art of Dying Well,” it was becoming easier to have a large, printed Bible at your home although it still would have been a hefty price! The Family Bible would have been set in a special place in the home for the father or mother to read with the children perhaps after dinner. Although very popular in the 1700s and 1800s, the personal study Bible (much cheaper & easier to carry to church on Sunday) slowly replaced it. Today, Study Bibles have become cheaper and cheaper, and there are numerous online resources to aid in your study of Scripture. In the 21st century, active, church-going families in the United States are simply without excuse if they do not have a personal copy of Scriptures (a Study Bible) with them and actively engage the Scriptures with friends and family.
I admit that it can be difficult to lead the family into a time of Bible study, particularly with 6 children at home! However, let us all commit this Lent to turning off the tv and devices in order to study the Scriptures together with our families. I know many parents can feel overwhelmed with this task, but there are more resources today than ever. Before our children can learn from us about Scripture, we need to know the Scriptures ourselves! Therefore, dive into the “Bible In A Year’ Podcast with Father Mike Schmitz which was the #1 podcast on Apple for many months. There is also the “Bible Project” which summarizes each book of the Bible in 5 to 10 minutes through comic strips and graphic art videos. (Keep in mind that, although not a ‘Catholic’ or ‘Orthodox’ resource, they are made with an ecumenical mindset so they keep the summaries fairly generalized. I have found that the Bible project harmonizes with Catholic teaching about 99% of the time).
Now, let us turn to Bellarmine as he encourages us to always keep the Word of God before us as a lamp that sheds light on the path before us!
“It is not sufficient for the faithful servant to have his "loins girded," that so he may freely and easily meet his Lord; a burning lamp is also required to show him the way, because at night he should be expecting the Lord, when He returns from the nuptial (wedding) banquet. In this place, "the lamp" signifies the law of God, which will point out the right path. King David says: " Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path." The "law is a light" says King Solomon in the Book of Proverbs. But this lamp cannot illumine or point out the way, if it be left in our chamber or house, and therefore we must hold it in our hand, that it may show us the right way…
If King David, when he saw Bathsheba naked, had remembered the command of God, "You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife," he would never have fallen into so great a crime; but, because he was delighted with the beauty of the woman, forgetting the divine law, this man, once so just and holy, committed adultery. Therefore, we must always hold the lamp of the law, not hidden in our chamber, but in our hands, and obey those words of the Holy Spirit, who orders us to meditate on the law of the Lord " day and night," that so with the prophet we may say: "Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently. that my ways may be directed to keep thy justifications!" (Psalm cxviii.) He who always keeps before his eyes the lamp of the law, will always be ready to meet his Lord whenever He cometh.
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