In new pastoral note, Archbishop Vigneron urges priests, laity to renew focus on Bible

Scripture studies, techniques such as lectio divina can help parishes and families bring God’s word to life in a powerful way, chief shepherd says

DETROIT — During every Sunday Mass, three readings from the sacred Scriptures invite listeners to dive deeper into the life and mystery of Christ.

But while Catholics hear the Scriptures often, many miss out on important truths God wants to teach because they remain unfamiliar with the Bible’s deeper context, including the “amazing interconnections” between its books that point to the eternal truth of Jesus Christ, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said in a new pastoral note released Jan. 23.

“A Church alive in Christ is a Church whose members love the Scriptures, study them, pray them, and live by them,” Archbishop Vigneron wrote in the note, titled The Power of the Word of God. “As the Archdiocese of Detroit continues to undergo its ‘missionary conversion,’ so that every Catholic may be formed and sent forth as a joyful missionary disciple, I would like to highlight the necessity of turning to the Word of God to equip and inspire us for this task.”

The archbishop’s catechesis was inspired by Pope Francis’ 2019 designation of the third Sunday of Ordinary Time as the Sunday of the Word of God, celebrated this year on Jan. 24.

A seminarian reads Scripture in chapel. Priests and deacons can help the lay faithful by supporting the establishment of Bible studies and lectio divina devotions in their parishes — even virtual ones. (CNS photo)

In examining the Church’s teaching regarding sacred Scripture, Archbishop Vigneron offers recommendations for how Catholics can prayerfully read and reflect on the Bible, transform its lessons into everyday actions, and engage in fostering “biblical renewal” in a meaningful way.

For instance, the archbishop encouraged parishes to make use of Bible studies and teach the practice lectio divina, an ancient form of Scripture study that involves reading and reflecting upon the word of God in an intentional way.

“As we study Scripture prayerfully, it shapes our relationship with God, which in turn shapes our whole life: our values, judgments, desires, words, and actions,” the archbishop said. “Even though it was written thousands of years ago, Scripture addresses the challenges of our time. God’s word speaks to family life, education, commerce, social justice, deadly pandemics, racial and political tensions, and living as God’s people in a world that is too often hostile.”

Other resources include the Archdiocese of Detroit’s recently launched Scripture “guilds” — small groups committed to reading the Bible during 2021 — or podcasts such as Fr. Mike Schmitz’s popular “The Bible in a Year” program.

Young adults from St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms gather for a Bible study in a private home. It’s critical that the Church’s life is permeated with the Scriptures, Archbishop Vigneron said, from liturgy and catechesis to pastoral ministry and Christian service. (Valaurian Waller | Detroit Catholic)

The intentional study of sacred Scripture is “an essential part of parish renewal in the Archdiocese of Detroit” and an indispensable way for priests, deacons and lay faithful to grow as disciples of Jesus, the archbishop said.

Lectors, for example, should be trained not only in oral speaking techniques to more effectively proclaim the Scriptures during Mass, “but also in the content of the Scripture readings (emphasis original), so that they may proclaim God’s word with understanding and faith,” the archbishop said. “All lectors are asked to engage in ongoing biblical study.”

Studies should have as their focus the person of Jesus, who “gave the most extraordinary Bible study in history to two disciples on the road to Emmaus when he ‘interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself’” (Luke 24:27), Archbishop Vigneron wrote.

After Jesus spoke, the disciples’ hearts were “burning within them,” the archbishop noted.

“Their hearts burned because they were discovering the untold riches hidden in Scripture: the revelation of Christ himself, whom they then experienced in ‘the breaking of the bread,’” Archbishop Vigneron said.

A young student proclaims a reading during an all-school Mass at Guardian Angels Parish in Clawson. Lectors should be formed not only in how to proclaim the Scriptures, but in the content of the Scriptures themselves, the archbishop said. (Naomi Vrazo | Detroit Catholic)

Scripture reading can never be separated from the act of prayer, which, together with orthodox study materials, reveals the meaning God intends to teach, the archbishop added.

“Prayer to the Holy Spirit is thus an indispensable part of the reading and studying of Scripture. Likewise, Scripture must always be interpreted in light of the living tradition and the teaching of the Church, which are guided by the same Holy Spirit,” Archbishop Vigneron said.

Methods such as lectio divina or the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola can help Catholics place themselves within the biblical stories to prayerfully meditate upon them, he said. The rosary is another such method.

“It is especially fruitful to pray the Scriptural Rosary, which makes more explicit the biblical foundations of the mysteries,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “There are various forms of the Scriptural Rosary, some in which brief passages of Scripture are read aloud between each Hail Mary, and some in which longer passages are read between the decades.”

The archbishop encouraged integration of the Bible into all aspects of the Church’s life, from theology and liturgy to catechesis and pastoral ministry, which “also need to draw constantly upon the word of God.”

Evangelization, likewise, must be Bible-centered for it to be effective in bringing people into an authentic encounter with Christ, he added.

Trying to evangelize without reference to the Scriptures is like “trying to drive a car without wheels,” the archbishop said. “’As Pope Francis noted, ‘All of evangelization is based on [the word of God], listened to, meditated upon, lived, celebrated and witnessed to.’” (James Silvestri | Special to Detroit Catholic)

“Seeking to unleash the Gospel without making use of Scripture is like trying to drive a car without wheels,” Archbishop Vigneron wrote. “As Pope Francis noted, ‘All evangelization is based on [the word of God], listened to, meditated upon, lived, celebrated and witnessed to. The sacred Scriptures are the very source of evangelization. Consequently, we need to be constantly trained in hearing the word. The Church does not evangelize unless she constantly lets herself be evangelized.’”

Those who hear and study the word of God thus have a responsibility to act upon what they read, Archbishop Vigneron said, referencing Jesus’ parable about the sower of seeds.

“The sobering truth is that it is possible to be like barren soil on which God’s word bears no fruit: by being unreceptive; or by being only superficially receptive so that we fall away in time of trial; or by letting the word be ‘choked out’ by worldly pleasures, concerns and preoccupations,” the archbishop wrote. “But the good news is that if we have been unreceptive soil up to now, it is always possible to change and become good soil! For those who receive the word and ‘hold it fast in an honest and good heart,’ God’s word is superabundantly fruitful.”

The Power of the Word of God

Read Archbishop Vigneron’s pastoral note, The Power of the Word of God, at UnleashtheGospel.org.