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.

The Word of God - Cardinal Bacci

The Word of God

1. After Holy Communion, the word of God is the most nourishing food of the soul. St. Augustine urges us to listen to the word of God with the same devotion with which we approach the Blessed Eucharist. It is the normal method God uses to communicate with our souls in order to instruct and enlighten them and to lead them along the path of virtue. It is true that God sometimes makes direct contact with us by means of good inspirations or extraordinary graces, but the ordinary way in which He calls us to eternal life is by His divine word, whether it is proclaimed by His ministers, read in Sacred Scripture, illustrated in the lives of the Saints or outlined by masters of the spiritual life. Most important of all is the living word of the lawful representatives of God. Jesus did not specifically command His Apostles to write, but to preach. “He who believes and is baptised,” He added, “shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.” (Cf. Mark 16:16) Mary Magdalen was converted by the preaching of Jesus and wept for her sins. The sermons of St. John the Baptist called upon the Jewish people to do penance. Centuries earlier the prophet Nathan had converted David by means of the inspired word of God and the prophet Jonah had roused the Ninivites to repentance. We should treasure the word of God. We should read and listen to it with humility and devout attention. Whenever we hear a sermon or read Sacred Scripture or some spiritual book, we should reflect that it is God Himself Who is preaching to us. We should not be guided merely by a spirit of curiosity, desire for knowledge, or love of eloquence or literary style, but by the determination to apply such instruction to ourselves and to put it into practice.

2. In the parable of the sower, (Cf. Luke 8:5-15) Jesus tells us that the seed is the Word of God. Some seed falls by the wayside, that is, upon hardened and dissipated hearts which admit every kind of thought and affection except the love of God. The good seed cannot take root and the birds of the air come and eat it. Other seed falls upon rocky ground, but as soon as it has sprung up it withers away for want of moisture. Other seed falls among thorns, which choke it and prevent it from growing. Finally, some of the seed falls upon good ground and yields fruit a hundredfold. Let us read this parable and examine the way in which we hear the word of God. Are our hearts hard like the surface of the wayside, so that we are deaf and indifferent to the word of God? Or do we receive it with joy and enthusiasm at first, but lack the constancy to put it into practice, so that the seed dies for want of moisture and we forget everything which we promised? Or are our minds and hearts caught up in a tangle of earthly preoccupations—business, pleasure, and other interests—which choke the good seed and prevent it from yielding fruit? Let us make a thorough examination of our attitude. If we fall into any of these categories, let us remind ourselves that one day we shall have to render an account to God of all the gifts which we have received and the way in which we have used them.

3. The word of God should be for us a summons to turn completely from vice towards virtue. It should be the lamp which illuminates the darkness of our minds and helps us to see the ugliness of sin. It should revive our faith and set our hearts on fire with the love of God and the desire for Heaven. Every sermon which we hear and every prayer of Sacred Scripture which we read should incite us to further progress in the way of Christian perfection. This should be our main goal in life. If we try hard to reach it, we shall, by the grace of God, become the good ground in which the divine seed will bear abundant fruit for eternal life.