Is it important for Catholics to read the Bible since we hear Scripture at each Mass?

A. Yes, it is very important and here is an analogy to illustrate why. Most people recognize the Scripture phrase “Man shall not live by bread alone”, but what follows in that sentence is very important.

The full verse (Matthew 4:4) reads “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

The “word that proceeds from the mouth of God” is found in the Bible – the inspired word of God.

Think of it this way. Just like a person consumes food for bodily nourishment, the Christian person needs to “consume” Scripture for spiritual nourishment.

Simply watching someone else eat does not nourish a person, nor does simply listening to someone else read Scripture provide spiritual nourishment. You need to dig into the Bible and “consume” the word of God to get the full spiritual effect.

It is mostly true though; that until the twentieth Century it was only Protestants who actively embraced Scripture study. That changed after 1943 when Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. This not only allowed Catholics to study Scripture, it encouraged them to do so.  And with Catholics now studying Scripture and teaching other Catholics about what they are studying, familiarity with Scripture is growing, which is a wonderful thing for our faith and knowledge of God.

St. Jerome had it correct when he said “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” We encourage you to visit our Bible Basics website page and learn more about the Bible. We also encourage you to contact our office and sign up for the next Bible study class.

The more you learn from Scripture, the more you will grow to understand and love Jesus and find out what it means to become an Intentional Disciple of our Lord.