Gospel Reading - Cardinal Bacci

Gospel Reading

1. The Gospel is the books of books, for it contains, not the words of men, but the words of God. In the beginning the Word of God was made man and became the life-giving word during His earthly life. Thus we have the written word in the Sacred Scriptures. When we read the Gospel, we should imagine that Jesus is there before us, so that we can hear the words from His divine lips and feel the breath of His life and the fire of His love.

“In Heaven,” says St. Augustine, “Jesus continues to speak to us on earth through His Gospel.” His words are the bright stars which should guide men – often wandering in the darkness of error or engulfed in the abyss of sin – through the way of virtue and goodness towards Heaven. The more one penetrates the Gospel the more one gets to know Jesus Christ. St. Augustine writes that the Gospel is another way which Jesus has chosen of remaining among us. The same holy Doctor does not hesitate to say that “he who scorns even of these sacred words would be no less guilty than if he let the Blessed Eucharist fall on the ground through negligence.” When we read the sacred pages we begin to understand the infinite goodness of Jesus. We see Him whimper and suffer in the manger at Bethlehem; we see Him humbly working as a poor labourer in the workshop of Nazareth; we see Him pardon Magdalen and the penitent adulteress; we see Him restore life to the dead, sight to the blind, and health to all kinds of sick people; in the supper-room we see Him give us Himself under the veil of the Blessed Eucharist, at the very moment when He was forgotten, denied and betrayed; we see Him in the Praetorium before Pilate, where He was scourged for our sins; we see Him on Calvary dying on a cross for us, forgiving His crucifiers, and promising Heaven to the penitent thief; and finally, we see Him rising from the dead and ascending gloriously into Heaven, where He went to prepare a place for us, should we persevere as His faithful followers. “I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)

The Saints often read and meditated on the Gospel. It provided spiritual food for their souls. In the life of St. Philip Neri, we read that during his last years he read nothing but the Gospels, especially the Gospel of St. John, which treats profoundly of the love of God. Do you read the Gospels? With what dispositions and with what results do you read it? In modern times, unfortunately, very few read it at all. That is why so many stray so far from the spirit of Jesus, and why they often display a material form of piety, insipid and useless in the practice of the Christian life.

2. It is not enough to read and to meditate on the Gospel. We should do so with the correct dispositions, which are three in number. In the first place we should read the Gospel with the recollection of one who prays. “Prayer must often interrupt reading,” says St. Bonaventure. Now and again while we are reading, we should lift our minds to God and ask Him to enlighten us and to inspire us towards greater fervour.

Heavenly truths cannot be understood or penetrated without the light and grace which comes from on high. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6) The Gospel, therefore, cannot be read like any other book. It is the word of supernatural life which cannot be infused into our souls, except by grace, for which we should pray humbly and with fervour. In the second place we should read slowly and reflectively. “Read with the heart and not with the eyes,” writes Bossuet. “Profit by that which you understand, adore that which you don’t.” In the Gospel there is always something which is applicable to ourselves and to the particular circumstances which we find ourselves. The Saints found there their own particular road to sanctity to which they had been called; from our reflective and devout study of the sacred pages we also shall find what Jesus wants in a particular way from us.

3. Finally, we should practice what we learn in the Gospel. If this were not the result of our reading, our efforts would be worth very little. When reading, we should apply to our lives the spirit and the precepts of Jesus. This was the practice of the Saints, whose lives were a continual implementation of the Gospel message. St. Aloysius and many others understood and applied to their own lives the maxim: “Blessed are the clean of heart.” St. Francis and his followers applied another maxim: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” St. Francis de Sales applied to himself in a special way the words: “Blessed are the meek.” As a result, he was noted for his gentleness of character.

We should read the Gospel every day. It should be for us a school of practical spirituality, specially adapted to the needs of our own soul, which will finally lead us to sanctity.