The Treasure Offered in the Bible

On Sunday I offered a reflection on the first reading and the gospel (29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C).  In Ordinary Time, the second reading is chosen independent of the theme that is common to the first reading and the gospel second reading.  This often results in the homily not referring to the second reading.   

This was true this Sunday.  However, that does not mean the second reading is not important for us.  Today I would like to offer my thoughts from this this Sunday’s second reading.   

It begins with Paul calling the reader to “Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed because you know from whom you learned it.” Taken at face value, Timothy, to whom this letter is addressed, was a follower of Paul.  He learned his Christianity from Paul.  Yet, Paul did not create his own religion.  What Paul taught to Timothy was what he learned from God.  Paul came to know Jesus in his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9).  Paul was led by the Holy Spirit.  Paul was rooted in the Bible.  This passage from Paul’s letter to Timothy focuses on the value of what we read in Sacred Scripture. 

Paul reminds Timothy that the Sacred Scriptures are capable of giving us “wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” How is this so? 

The value of Scripture is rooted in the fact that “All Scripture is inspired by God.”  As Paul says, this inspiration by God makes Scripture “useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” 

The Bible is “useful for teaching” because it is rooted in God’s Truth.  It is useful “for refutation” for the same reason.  It has a solid foundation in God.  It is useful for “correction, and for training in righteousness” because it has God as its source.  Jesus tells us, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).  We find what we are created for not in self-righteousness but in the righteousness that is God. 

It is in knowing what is in the Bible that we “may be competent, equipped for every good work.”  This should not be a surprise for us for Moses wrote of the statutes that God teaches us, “Observe them carefully, for this is your wisdom and discernment in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “This great nation is truly a wise and discerning people” (Deuteronomy 4:6).     

This is why people say we need to be in a good Bible-based church.  It is unfortunate that Catholics have a reputation for not knowing the Bible.  In actuality, our Catholic faith is deeply rooted in the Scriptures.   

In my homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C in 2024, I showed how the structure of our Catholic Mass is based on the Bible as well as many of the prayers.  In that homily, I also said, “Some people think we have replaced the Bible with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  We have not.  The Catechism flows from the Bible.  In fact, if you look at the first 100 footnotes in the Catechism, at least forty of them point us to specific Bible verses on what the Catechism helps us understand.  That’s Bible-based.” 

Yet, while our Catholic faith is very much based on the Bible, people often don’t realize it because individually we do not know the Bible well enough to recognize the words used at Mass as being from the Bible or how our Catholic teaching is rooted in Scripture.  It is with this in mind that when I write or give presentations, I make it a point to provide Bible verses.   

We are not alone in our inability to recognize what comes from the Bible.  Whether it be from a lack of good instruction in the Bible or willful choice to reject God’s Truth, many people do not live a life rooted in biblical teaching.  In fact, people do not recognize God-based living as the people Moses spoke of in (Deuteronomy 4:6).  So, they can’t even recognize good Christian living for what it is, good.  They might even think us foolish for following what they call outdated teaching.  They call it outdated but they often give no basis for this.  They don’t like it.  They don’t want to follow it.  This is nothing new.  How many prophets were rejected for what they said without an argument by those who opposed the prophets (for example, see Wisdom 2:13-24)? 

There are those who point to Paul as dismissing the law and think this means they do not need to follow the Law.  It is true that Paul says we are under the Spirit rather than the Law.  However, this does not equate to completely casting off the law.  In this Sunday’s second reading, Paul speaks of valuable the Scriptures are for “training in righteousness.”  Where do we find the Law?  In Scripture.  (For Bible verses where Paul speaks of being “under the law,” click here)  What Paul tells us is that legal observance of the Law is not what saves us.  It is faith that saves us.  If we have faith and live according to the Spirit, we will cherish the Law. 

We need to remain faithful to what we have learned from our faith and the Bible.  We need to be persistent in our faith, “whether it is convenient or inconvenient.”  We need to study the Scriptures in the light of our Catholic faith and the Holy Spirit.  Then, the Holy Spirit will equip us to use the Scriptures to lead others to know the love Christ has shown for us. 

Peace, 

Fr. Jeff