Sacred Scripture Part Two

A couple of posts ago, in Part One of our reflections on Sacred Scripture, we spoke of Scripture as "the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit." (Catechism, p.81)   God speaks to us in Scripture in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the inspiration and interpreter of Sacred Scripture.  In order to understand Scripture in accordance with that Spirit, we spoke of different criteria that must be followed, and different "senses" of Scripture.  I encourage you to read that post again if need be, to refresh your memory, as it was made over a week ago.

The tragedy in Orlando forced me to interrupt my reflections on Scripture, and in the last post, we spoke about Islam versus Christianity.  Saying one religion is superior to another is something not popular in our modern times, but it has to be said, especially under the circumstances when we try to discern what is wrong in the world, why these awful tragedies are happening.
However, actually, I can make a connection between the topic of Sacred Scripture, and the topic I discussed in my last post regarding differences in religion.  Here, I will focus specifically on a contrast in one area between specifically Catholicism, which is the fullness of Christianity, and all other religions, including Protestantism.  This deals with how their sacred texts are interpreted.

Does Islam have a body that claims to be an authentic interpreter of the Quran?  Do Buddhists have an authority to interpret their holy books?  Do Protestants have a reference point to interpret the Bible outside of the Bible?   The answer to all these is no.  Every follower of these religions is empowered to interpret their sacred texts on their own.   When everyone is free to interpret things as they deem fit, what happens?  We see chaos, disunity, disorder, pride, vanity, and
confusion, just to name a few undesirable things.

Only in the Holy Roman Catholic Church, in which subsists the One True Church founded by Jesus Christ, is there a teaching office that is charged with giving an authentic interpretation of Sacred Scripture.  This office is called the Magisterium.   The magisterium is the teaching office of the Church, which is the bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.   We will probably speak more about the Magisterium in a future post, as interpretation of Scripture is not its only function.  However, it is an important one, and how so glad I am for this gift, that I don't have to interpret Scripture for myself.   Especially considering the times we live in, I am so grateful for the gift of the Magisterium, and I find myself thanking God for it almost daily now.
Our Lord says to his apostles in Luke 10:16, "He who hears you, hears me."  The apostolic teaching tradition lives in the Magisterium of the Church.

You may be thinking now, "Well, didn't we just say the Holy Spirit is the interpreter of Scripture?"  Yes, we did.   However, one person could easily say well the Spirit says this, and another could say the Spirit says that.  Yes, the Spirit is the interpreter of Scripture, but who gives the interpretation?  Who is the voice of the Holy Spirit?   If there is a dispute, where do we turn to?   Protestants have nowhere to turn to.  Other religions have nowhere to turn to.  Only Catholics do.  Catholics have the Magisterium, who the Catechism says has "the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." (paragraph 85) 
A Catholic in joyful humility will defer to the teaching authority of the Church to help him or herself better understand those difficult passages in Scripture, or seeming contradictions within the words of Scripture.   The Magisterium, rather than being a burden, is a tremendous liberator for us, and safeguard, to keep us all united, and centered, in our never ending desire to drink deeply of the words of Sacred Scripture.  Only the Magisterium can prevent us from going to extremes or off into our world of private interpretation, of which we can see throughout history the devastating results of.  Let us thank God daily for this gift, and know, as we read Scripture, that the Church is always there as a caring mother, helping us to understand what is being spoken to us.   Like our mothers helped us learn to read, Holy Mother Church helps us learn to read Scripture, but not just to read it, but to hear what God speaks to us through the pages of the Bible.

In the final part of our reflections on Scripture, we will discuss the Canon of Scripture, how it was determined what was, and what was not, part of Scripture.

Joseph was a student of the Hebrew Scriptures.   As he raised Our Lord, though, and learned from Him,  I would imagine he was challenged to think of the Scriptures in a new way.   Likewise, we must be in our understanding of Scripture.  Are we open, as Joseph was, to reading and understanding Scriptures with the mind of Christ, carried on today by the teaching authority He established to act in His name?   Can we swallow our pride, and allow Christ to speak to us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who interprets Scripture, and whose voice is the Magisterium? 

Joseph most faithful, pray for us.