WORD 2day: Friday, 9th week in Ordinary time
June 5, 2020: 2 Timothy 3: 10-17; Mark 12: 35-37
Scriptures - from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:15). The Scriptures are for inspiration, the scriptures are for wisdom, the scriptures are for life - they are not merely for memorising, nor are they merely for making a living!
That is where the Spirit comes - to give us the true wisdom that will make us understand the Scriptures in the light of our concrete life. If this is not done, one will not be led to salvation, because salvation does not come from some frozen truth, hidden away in secret somewhere. It comes from a living person, the living Word, the life giving Word, the person of Jesus, the Christ.
Ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ, said St. Jerome. Hence, knowing the Scriptures has to be knowing Christ; knowing the Scriptures does not mean knowing them by memory, or reciting them by-wrote. Knowing the scriptures should put us in touch with the person of Christ. That is true wisdom: knowing the right knowledge, and knowing the effects of knowing it. The Spirit alone can lead us to this knowing: as St. Paul affirms, 'no one, unless in the Spirit, can confess that Jesus is Lord!'
It is the Spirit who brings us in relationship with the person of Christ and it is in this relationship that one experiences salvation! Salvation is not a destination, it is a journey; salvation is not a triumph, it is a travel; salvation is not an achievement, it is an experience, an experience of a person, the person of Jesus the Christ.