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Scripture and Tradition

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Here’s Pope Leo latest reflection of the documents of the Second Vatican Council at his Wednesday audience yesterday, on the important subject of scripture and tradition:

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

Continuing our reading of the Conciliar Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation, today we will reflect on the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Tradition. We can take two Gospel scenes as a backdrop. In the first, which takes place in the Upper Room, Jesus, in his great discourse-testament addressed to the disciples, affirms: “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. … When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 14:25-26; 16:13).

The second scene takes us instead to the hills of Galilee. The risen Jesus shows himself to the disciples, who are surprised and doubtful, and he advises them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). In both of these scenes, the intimate connection between the words uttered by Christ and their dissemination throughout the centuries is evident.

It is what the Second Vatican Council affirms, using an evocative image: “There exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end” (Dei Verbum, 9). Ecclesial Tradition branches out throughout history through the Church, which preserves, interprets and embodies the Word of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (cf. no. 113) refers, in this regard, to a motto of the Church Fathers: “Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records”, that is, in the sacred text.

In the light of Christ’s words, quoted above, the Council affirms that “this tradition which comes from the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit” (Dei Verbum, 8). This occurs with full comprehension through “contemplation and study made by believers”, through “a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience” and, above all, with the preaching of the successors of the apostles who have received “the sure gift of truth”. In short, “the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes” (ibid.).

In this regard, the expression of Saint Gregory the Great is famous: “The Sacred Scriptures grow with the one who reads them”. [1] And Saint Augustine had already remarked that “there is only one word of God that unfolds through Scripture, and there is only one Word that sounds on the lips of many saints”. [2] The Word of God, then, is not fossilized, but rather it is a living and organic reality that develops and grows in Tradition. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, Tradition understands it in the richness of its truth and embodies it in the shifting coordinates of history.

In this regard, the proposal of the holy Doctor of the Church John Henry Newman in his work entitled The Development of Christian Doctrine is striking. He affirmed that Christianity, both as a communal experience and as a doctrine, is a dynamic reality, in the manner indicated by Jesus himself in the parables of the seed (cf. Mk 4:26-29): a living reality that develops thanks to an inner vital force. [3]

The apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts his disciple and collaborator Timothy: “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you” (1 Tim 6:20; cf. 2 Tim 1:12-14). The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum echoes this Pauline text when it says: “Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church”, interpreted by the “living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ” (no. 10). “Deposit” is a term that, in its original meaning, is juridical in nature and imposes on the depositary the duty to preserve the content, which in this case is the faith, and to transmit it intact.

The “deposit” of the Word of God is still in the hands of the Church today, and all of us, in our various ecclesial ministries, must continue to preserve it in its integrity, as a lodestar for our journey through the complexity of history and existence.

In conclusion, dear friends, let us listen once more to Dei Verbum, which exalts the interweaving of Sacred Scripture and Tradition: it affirms that they “are so linked and joined together that they cannot stand independently, and together, each in their own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they contribute effectively to the salvation of souls” (cf. no. 10).”

_______________________________

[1] Homiliae in Ezechielem I, VII, 8:  PL 76, 843D.

[2]  Enarrationes in Psalmos 103, IV, 1

[3] Cf. J.H. Newman,  An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Milan 2003, p. 104.

The Numbers are Down:Mark 4:24-34

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The Sower. Jame Tissot

Numbers seem to indicate power and popularity. We think that way; Jesus’ disciples must have thought that way too. In Mark’s gospel Jesus begins his ministry in Capernaum before an enthusiastic crowd. At the end of his first day, the whole town gathers at the door of Peter’s house and word reaches out to other towns and places that a prophet has come. The numbers go up. (Mark 1, 21-34)

But then enthusiasm dies down as Jesus’ authority is questioned. Religious leaders from Jerusalem and the followers of Herod Antipas cast doubts about him. His own hometown, Nazareth, takes a dim view of him.. Gradually, Capernaum and the other towns that welcomed Jesus enthusiastically turn against him. His numbers go down.

Why are the number going down, his disciples must have wondered? It didn’t make sense. Jesus’ answer comes in Mark’s gospel today. God’s kingdom is coming; God is at work in the world, but human beings are mostly unaware of it:


“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.” (Mark 4, 28-34)

Great power is at work in the scattered seed, but we know little how it grows. The seed takes time, with its own law of growth; a great harvest will come, but still there’s mystery we don’t see. We sleep.

Meanwhile, we worry about numbers. Why are growing numbers giving up going to church or synagogue? Why are there so few vocations to our religious communities? So many of the good things in this world seem to be diminishing.

What can we do? Look into the signs of the time. Treasure the seed we have. Scatter it as we can. Be patient as we sleep. The Kingdom of God comes.

Putting in the Seed: Mark 4:1-20

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J.Tissot, The Sower, Brooklyn Museum

In one of his poems, “Putting in the Seed,” Robert Frost describes a farmer’s love affair with the earth. It’s getting dark and someone from the house tries fetching him to come in. Supper’s on the table, yet he’s a

“Slave to a springtime passion for the earth.
How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed
On through the watching for that early birth
When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,
The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.”

Can’t you see that farmer zestfully casting seed on the waiting earth, eagerly watching it to grow? Jesus sees the Sower as an image of God, casting saving grace onto the world in season and out, because he loves it so much.

 If you have ever been to Galilee and seen the lake and the surrounding lands abundant with crops, you know this is a blessed place. It was in Jesus’ time too. Here, the sower scatters his seed with abandon, hardly caring where it goes: on rocky ground, or amid thorns, or on the soil that gives a good return.

God the Sower sows blessed seed, no matter how badly our human world appears, or how badly it receives. In his parables Jesus acknowledges rejection as well as acceptance, but the sower still sows. Grace is never withheld, and that makes us hope.

And is it just the  human world God loves? Doesn’t his love extend to all the earth God calls “good” in the Book of Genesis? We worry about our planet earth, and with reason.  How fragile it has become, what damage we careless humans do! We are concerned rightly for its future.

The nature parables we are reading in Mark’s gospel tell us to hope for our earth too. Though it is not immune from the threat of destruction and degradation, God loves it still. He’s a Sower at work. Blessed be the Lord God of all creation, may you sow your blessings on all.

The Wisdom of Thomas Aquinas

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Thomas Acquinas

The feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, January 28th, in my student days was a day for presentations honoring the saint. The presentations were not about the saint’s life but his wisdom. Thomas Aquinas was a great theologian dedicated to the search for truth.

He was a man of faith, searching for understanding. That’s the definition of theology–faith seeking understanding, an understanding that draws us closer to God and helps us know God, the source of all truth.

He was a man of questions, who approached great mysteries through questions. That’s the way St. Thomas begins a sermon he once preached, found today in the Office of Readings for his feast:

 “Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us?” he asks as he looks at the Cross of Jesus. The passion of Jesus was necessary, the saint says, for two reasons. First, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act.

Interestingly, the saint doesn’t spend much time asking why it’s a remedy for sin. He’s more interested in the passion of Jesus as an example for us. To live as we should, we need to look at Jesus on the cross, an example of every virtue:

“Do you want an example of love? ‘Greater love than this no one has, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ That’s what Jesus did on the cross. If he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.

“If you want patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid.

“Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ’s patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.

“If you want an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.

“If you want an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.

“If you want an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink.

“Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honours, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, for in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

St. Thomas’ great theological work, the Summa Theologica can be found here.

David, the Penitent

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David, the Penitent, Getty, public domain

We’re reading at Mass from the Second Book of Samuel. The first 8 chapters describe David’s accomplishments as an ideal king. .

Chapters 9-20 of Second Samuel describe the darker side of David, culminating in his murder of Uriah and taking his wife Bathsheba. The Prophet Nathan accused him of sin, promised him God’s mercy, but also told him he must face the consequences of sin.  

The consequences? David’s own son Absalom betrays him and turns the people against him. Pursued by his son he escapes from Jerusalem over the Mount of Olives and meets a relative of Saul who curses him and throws rocks at him. The king humbly accepts it all. 

A penitent David recognizes his own sin and its consequences in this incident. In refusing to stop the man David recognizes he must bear the burden of sin, not only his sin, but the sin of the world: 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ‘Suppose the LORD has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?…Perhaps the LORD will look upon my affliction and make it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day…’ David and his men continued on the road, while Shimei kept abreast of them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.”

We read the Old Testament to hear the promises God makes to Israel in spite of her sinfulness and infidelity. Yet, let’s not forget sin has consequences, as this story makes clear. Do the consequences there match the bad news we face in our time. Like David our penance is to believe in God’s mercy, but also to bear hopefully sin’s consequences .

The church makes David’s prayer for mercy its own: 

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.

  In your compassion blot out my offence.

O wash me more and more from my guilt

  and cleanse me from my sin.

My offences truly I know them;

  my sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned;

  what is evil in your sight I have done.

That you may be justified when you give sentence

  and be without reproach when you judge,

O see, in guilt I was born,

  a sinner was I conceived.

Indeed you love truth in the heart;

  then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.

O purify me, then I shall be clean;

  O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,

  that the bones you have crushed may revive.

From my sins turn away your face

  and blot out all my guilt.

A pure heart create for me, O God,

  put a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

  nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;

  with a spirit of fervour sustain me,

that I may teach transgressors your ways

  and sinners may return to you.

O rescue me, God, my helper,

  and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.

O Lord, open my lips

  and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,

  burnt offering from me you would refuse,

my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.

  A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In your goodness, show favour to Sion:

  rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,

  holocausts offered on your altar.

Glory to the Father and to the Son,

  and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now,

  and will be for ever. Amen.

Faith Breaks Boundaries: Mark 3:1-6

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Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. J.Tissot

In the readings from Mark this week the Pharisees challenge Jesus. His hungry disciples eat some grain from a field on a Sabbath day. (Mark 2: 23-28} Then, in a synagogue on a Sabbath Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.  (Mark 3: 1-6) The Pharisees object and look for help from the “Herodians”.

Today the Pharisees may seem to us to be a small-minded group opposed to Jesus throughout his ministry. Yet, in his time they were seen differently. They were considered the “real” Jews, faithful people who kept the law and took care of their neighbors.They went to the synagogue, said their prayers, kept the Sabbath, and followed religious customs. They weren’t afraid to say they were Jewish, even the clothes they proudly wore told you who they were. 

They were the “good Christians” of their day. They believed they saw things and did things right. But Jesus called them blind. Their blindness appears especially in the way they looked down on others. Think of Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector in the temple. 

We learn a great deal about faith watching the Pharisees. Faith is not simply intellectual conviction or good conduct. It’s not simply knowing your catechism and keeping the church laws. Faith leads to “boundary-breaking activity.” Think of the four men who broke through Peter’s roof to lower the paralyzed man to see Jesus; they disturbed the order of that house. Jesus’ choice of Matthew, the tax-collector, disturbed the model for leadership. Jesus healing a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath broke the order of that day. 

Faith breaks boundaries, the Gospel of Mark indicates. Jesus broke boundaries when he drove the demon out of a man on a Sabbath day in the synagogue at Capernaum the first day of his ministry. (Mark 1: 21-28)

So, let’s not look down on the Pharisees either. We need to keep the laws and say our prayers and be proud of who we are. Actually, couldn’t we use more of that these days? 

Don’t lose Hope! 2nd Samuel

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Readings: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

We’re reading from the 2nd Book of Samuel this week at Mass. The first 8 chapters describe David’s accomplishments as an ideal king. Uniting the tribes of Israel he conquers Jerusalem from the Jebusites to make it his capitol– his greatest military victory. (Monday).

 Acknowledging God’s primacy over this kingdom, he brings the Ark of the Covenant and places it in a special tent in his capitol city, He listens to the prophet Nathan, acknowledging the prophetic voice, God’s voice, in Israel.

God says to David, through the Prophet Nathan: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.’” Unlike Saul’s throne, David’s throne will stand forever.  (Tuesday-Thursday) 

But chapters 9-20 of 2 Samuel describe David’s darker side, beginning with his murder of Uriah and taking his wife Bathsheba. That brings on him the accusation of the Prophet Nathan. (Friday-Saturday)  Though he repents, dire consequences follow his sin. Yet, God remains faithful to David and his people Israel. 

One reason we keep reading the Old Testament is to see Israel’s history unfold and hear the promises God makes to her, in spite of her sinfulness and infidelity. It helps us deal with our own times and ourselves.

I don’t think I have ever seen ordinary people and the news media so pessimistic about the future as they are today. There’s even a pessimism about science, once infallible, now with clay feet. There is pessimism about our political system, our church, climate change. No hope, no vision for science, capitalism or politics, even the physical world itself– all the big engines of our society.

The scriptures match the bad news we face, but they never quench hope. That’s why we read them. God has a parent’s love for us, and so we shouldn’t succumb to pessimism. We’re David’s children, through Jesus Christ. “The future of humanity rests with people who are capable of providing the generations to come with reasons for living and for hope.” (Gaudium et spes, 32)

I like the responsory to today’s reading from 2 Samuel about David: “My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.” That’s meant for us all.

Timothy and Titus: January 26

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Ephesus, Main Street, Wikipedia Commons

Timothy and Titus were companions of St.Paul on his missionary journeys and continued his mission. Timothy led the church at Ephesus; Titus assumed leadership of the church in Crete. Paul wrote letters of advice to them: one letter to Titus and two letters to Timothy, most likely written from house arrest in Rome.

Like Jesus, Paul never saw himself handing on a church that was completely developed. He ministered to a church evolving from a “way”, a movement, to a church settled in places like Ephesus and Crete. He had men and women companions at his side.

Timothy and Titus were important companions who represent another stage in Paul’s ministry.  While Paul and other apostles went out to the nations, the church had to be firmly established in every place they visited. The roles of bishops, priests and other ministries evolved to fulfill that task. A local church needed to be organized. The church is missionary, global, sent by Jesus to the nations, but it’s also local, part of a town. city, neighborhood.

The feasts of the Conversion of Paul and Timothy and Titus represent those two aspects of the church.

Paul’s  advice to Timothy is especially interesting. “Stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”

Is Paul trying to bolster Timothy’s confidence as he loses a powerful mentor. Timothy needs the gift of God to make the church in Ephesus a flourishing local church. 

Timothy and Titus were given “apostolic virtues” by God to continue the work of Paul and the other apostles, the opening prayer of their feast says. And “May we merit to reach our heavenly homeland” by “living justly and devoutly in this present age.” Like them “we” also are given a task –to work for the church’s growth and development in this present age.

Let’s remember them as our mentors, mindful that God “ does not give a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and self control.” Like the two followers of Paul, we have to hold on to what we’re given and continue their work: “Go into all the world, and proclaim the gospel. I am with you always, says the Lord.”

I see in the notes in the American Bible that the deacons Paul refers to in I Timothy 3, 8-13 may include women as well as men. “This (deacons) seems to refer to women deacons, but may possibly mean the wives of deacons. The former is preferred because the word is used absolutely…”

Why not today? We need women in roles of leadership. I have some in mind who would fit the role very well. I wonder if Timothy’s mother Eunice and grandmother Lois found a home and were involved there. I wonder what my mother would say.

 Look to Christ!  Come closer to him!  

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Pope Leo spoke about Christian Unity at the close of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity today, January 25th:  

My dear friends, every year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites us to renew our commitment to this great mission, bearing in mind that the divisions among us – while they do not prevent the light of Christ from shining – nonetheless make the face which must reflect it to the world less radiant.

Last year, we celebrated the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.  His Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch, invited us to celebrate the anniversary in İznik, and I give thanks to God that so many Christian traditions were represented at that commemoration two months ago. 

 Reciting the Nicene Creed together in the very place where it was formulated was a profound and unforgettable testimony to our unity in Christ.  That moment of fraternity also allowed us to praise the Lord for what he accomplished through the Nicene Fathers, helping them to express clearly the truth of a God who drew near to us in Jesus Christ.  May the Holy Spirit find in us docile minds even today, so that we may proclaim the faith with one voice to the men and women of our time!

In the passage from the Letter to the Ephesians chosen as the theme for this year’s Week of Prayer, we repeatedly hear the adjective“one”: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (cf. Eph 4:4-6). How can these inspired words not touch us deeply?  How can our hearts not burn within us when we hear them? 

 Yes, “we share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel” (Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei, 23 November 2025, 12).  We are one!  We already are!  Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible!

As we look toward the 2,000th anniversary of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus in 2033, let us commit ourselves to further developing ecumenical synodal practices and to sharing with one another who we are, what we do and what we teach.

Paul in Sin City

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We’re reading Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthian for the next few weeks at Sunday Mass. Paul wrote a number of letters to the Christian community he founded after reaching Corinth about the year 50. It was the most exasperating community Paul dealt with, but the Corinthians made him think about faith, so we can thank them for keeping Paul on his toes.

Corinth was a rich, sprawling seaport, being rebuilt as Paul arrived, a frontier city attracting ambitious people from all over the Roman world. They were people who wanted to get ahead. Corinth was a city of “self-made” people; only the tough survived there. It was also a center for prostitution and sexual commerce. We could call it a “sin” city.

Maybe that was a reason why Paul wanted to establish a church there. He was God’s apostle to the Gentiles. Where could be better meet Gentiles than a seaport connected to the whole world. If Christianity could take root there, it could take root anywhere.

When Paul arrived there around the year 50 AD, he did what anybody has to do when they go to a new place– find a place to stay and get a job. He stayed in the house of Prisca and Aquila, a Jewish Christian couple who owned a small shop in Corinth. He worked as a tentmaker in their shop. He met people, and Paul spoke to them of Jesus Christ, and they believed.

Then on the Sabbath in the synagogue he made contacts too, but I think Paul probably did most of his preaching while working. A lot of things can happen when you are working.

To form new believers, Paul asked some of his friends with large houses to hold meetings there. A lot of things happen in homes that don’t happen in church.

Paul generally founded a church and moved on. But when he moved on, troubles often started in many of those communities, so sometimes he wrote letters, and sometimes he had to come back himself to try to straighten things out. There were some grave problems in the church at Corinth. The church was split into factions, based on wealth, status and friendship. It also was confused about sexual morality.

Paul reminded the Corinthians where they came from and who they were. Not many of you were wise or well-born, he told them. God chooses the weak things.

God still does.