What the Synod means to you and me

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Houston addressed the Synod on the Bible at the Vatican this week, and in an interview with Catholic News Service, he said priests need to be really good preachers and need to make preaching a priority.

“I think a priest is going to have to understand that even with all his activities during the week, which are important, he probably won’t reach as many people as he does in his Sunday homily,” the cardinal said.

“And therefore the preparation of his Sunday homily is an extremely important aspect of his ministry of interpreting God’s word,” he said.

A couple of years ago, at a convention of the Catholic Press Association in Orlando, Father John Cusick of Chicago, a pioneer in young adult ministry, said young people [click to continue...]

We all know the story of the “widow’s mite,” from Luke’s Gospel. Jesus saw some wealthy folks putting their offerings into the temple treasury, and a widow putting in two small coins. Jesus said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood” (Lk 21:3-4).

During the Vatican’s synod on the Bible, and today, when bloggers all over are participating in “Poverty Action Day,” it’s appropriate to look at what Scripture says for us about poverty and the poor.

Depending on what concordance you use — and which version of the Bible you’re searching — you can get anywhere from 150 to upwards of 175 hits for the word “poor.” That includes such references as the one in the beatitudes, “Happy are the poor in spirit,” which is not about material poverty, but it also encompasses a lot of comparisons between the rich and the poor.

Jesus loves everyone, but he seems to have a special place in his heart for the poor. When he decides to visit Zaccheus’ home, Zaccheus’s heart is changed so much that he decides to give half of what he has to the poor, and return many times over any amount he has overcharged anyone. A young man asks what he should do to follow Jesus, and the Lord replies, “Sell all you have and give the money to the poor,” but the rich young man is saddened “because he has many possessions” (Mt 19).

Still, when the disciples challenge Jesus when the young woman is washing his feet with oil and her hair, they rebuke her, because the money for the oil could have been better spent on the poor. “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me,” the Lord tells them (Mt 26).

What can we learn from Scripture about the poor, the hungry and those in need? We learn that sometimes the poor have more to share than we might have suspected (the widow). We can learn that the heart of a rich man can grow to encompass the needs of the poor (Zaccheus) and that the heart of a rich man can be hardened to the needs of the poor (the rich young man who would not follow Jesus).

Many more such lessons can be found in the Bible. What will you learn today? How will you put it into practice?

“Happy those concerned for the lowly and poor; when misfortune strikes, the Lord delivers them” (Ps 41). | cg

At the World Synod on the Bible, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos said sometimes the church in Nigeria requires that people have a Bible before they can be baptized, confirmed or married.

Catholic News Service reported that the archbishop said wealthier Catholics help provide Bibles for others since Catholic editions are very expensive. He noted that Catholic editions in the local language are virtually nonexistent.

The archbishop said parents are urged to bring to their child’s baptism a Bible “which will be kept for the child until he or she can read it.”

“We encourage the enthronement and sharing (of the) Bible at home and among family members” and encourage “ownership of the Bible even by those who cannot read,” he said.

I was going through my bookshelves the other day and found that I have quite a few Bibles — at least a half dozen. One is a huge “family Bible” that I got after my parents passed away. Several others have been bought or received as gifts through the years — various editions and translations. But my favorite edition is still the simple, black New American Bible I used during my seminary days for both personal prayer and studying theology. It was the edition recommended by my professors, and the one I had was a good size — neither too large to carry nor too small to read the text.

As the Synod on the Bible approached, I started thinking that it’s really a bit of a waste for one person to own this many Bibles. I can’t read more than one at a time. So, I’ll hang on to the family Bible from my parents, and the comfortable NAB that’s been with me since my college days.

But the other extra Bibles I have ought to go out into the world. If I take Archbishop Kaigama’s words to heart, maybe I ought to pass along these extra Bibles so that other people can have their own.

How do you suggest I pass them on? Do you know someone who needs a Bible or do you need one yourself? Should I leave them in airports or hotels with a note that the Bible is free for the taking? Or should I give them to our prison ministries so they can give them to inmates to whom they minister? I’m open to ideas. Submit your suggestions in the comment forum on this blog. | cg

Reading through the whole Bible on TV is impressive. Reading through the Bible chunks at a time by various parishioners in the adoration chapel over the course of time is a blessing too.

But Susanna George of Tampa took her journey through the Bible to a whole new level. Having come to the United States from Korea, she struggled with English. At Mass, she had trouble understanding the readings. She had a Korean Bible, but she longed to hear God’s word, not just read it. She came upon a novel way to learn English.

One day she got out her Korean Bible and a pad of paper. Just as Pope Benedict did when he initiated the RAI TV broadcast, she started with Genesis: “In the beginning…” and kept going. Night after night, first she wrote in Korean, then in English, learning her new language as she went along.

But more than learning a new language, she learned a greater appreciation for God’s word through the Scriptures.

If you did not get a chance to read Janet Shelton’s moving story about Susanna George’s “Love Letter to God” when it first appeared in July in the St. Petersburg edition of the Florida Catholic or online, do yourself a favor, check it out now.

Do you have a unique or powerful way to read through the Bible? Has it changed your life? Comment below. | fc

On the evening of Oct. 5, after the first session of the world Synod of Bishops on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church,” Pope Benedict began a marathon reading of the Bible on Italian TV. He started with the book of Genesis, of course, and was to be followed by hundreds of other readers in four- to eight-minute segments for the next 138 hours (not quite six days), until the whole Catholic edition of the Bible had been read.

If you happen to have a satellite dish that picks up RAI Edu, the educational station of the Italian TV broadcaster, you may be able to watch “The Bible, Day and Night.” Otherwise, you’ll have to just imagine it — or do it yourself or with a group of friends.

When I worked for the Catholic Sun, in Phoenix, Ariz., I covered a parish’s significant anniversary of its perpetual adoration. In the adoration chapel was a large Bible, with a bookmark and Post-it note, marking a passage of Scripture. I asked the pastor what the note was for.

He explained that part of the perpetual adoration included an invitation for those who were present to read the Bible, and that each person would pick up the Bible where the last one had left off, from the passage marked. At that time, the parish had already been through the Bible a dozen times, he said.

The pastor said his parish received many graces from people praying before the Blessed Sacrament and reading the Bible, being grounded in the Eucharist and in the Word.

If you try to read the Bible all at once, it’s a daunting task — six days straight, apparently. If you read the Bible in small chunks, it becomes a little more manageable. Either way, graces flow from the word of God. | cg

Last week, before the 12th Synod of Bishops began Sunday, the head of the Synod office briefed reporters about the upcoming three-week meeting. The synod, themed “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church,” will reflect on the Bible.

Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, said Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa, Israel, would address the assembly Oct. 6.

A rabbi addressing a group of Catholic bishops from around the world? It just makes sense. The Torah was their book before it became our Old Testament.

As Catholics, we tend to think of “the Bible” as one solid book. The Old Testament and New Testament become one, as we understand the flow of history. The prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah, whom we believe is manifested in Jesus.

Yet, we also esteem the Jews as our “elder brothers and sisters in faith,” as Pope John Paul II called them. They paved the way in their devotion to the God of Abraham, and they set down the stories over the centuries that reveal God’s word to us.

Through the Creation stories, and the Psalms, and the words of the prophets, our elder brothers and sisters have much to share. It is no wonder that many bishops from around the world suggested that a rabbi speak to the synod, and that Pope Benedict XVI readily agreed.

The Bible reveals great truths to us. But Catholics often don’t appreciate it enough.

We can only hope that the 12th Synod of Bishops, which started yesterday at the Vatican, will improve that. Dedicated to “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church,” the three-week meeting of bishops and other experts from around the world will make recommendations to Pope Benedict XVI for an eventual pastoral letter.

Join the Florida Catholic for the next few weeks as we look at the Synod with a View from the Pew, and see what this gathering — and the Bible it studies — mean for you and me.