Many people today have a picture of the early Christians going to church in togas, sandals and with a bible under their arm for some kind of Bible service. Nothing could be further from the truth. These conceptions derive from a classical Protestant point of view that sees Revelation as being based on the Bible alone and so they affirm that if something is not in the Bible then it is not part of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Indeed, there are Modernists who would veer towards them when without nuance they talk about scripture, tradition and magisterium where scripture is presented as both logically and chronologically prior to tradition. So as this Sunday is called ‘The Sunday of the Word of God’ let us look into this a bit more deeply so we don’t misunderstand this Sunday that is called now by some ‘Word of God Sunday.’

Pope Francis instituted the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary time as ‘The Sunday of the Word of God’. Now the Word of God is, firstly, not a book but a person, a divine person. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh and he is the Word through which all things were made for he is the only begotten Son of the Father. As the Word, Our Lord Jesus Christ is the fulness of Revelation for God has nothing more to say or to reveal to us than Jesus.

To see Jesus is to see His Father (John 14:9). For this reason Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling it through his whole work of making Himself present and manifesting Himself: through His words and deeds, His signs and wonders, but especially through His death and glorious resurrection from the dead and final sending of the Spirit of truth. Moreover He confirmed with divine testimony what revelation proclaimed, that God is with us to free us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to life eternal [Dei Verbum n. 4].

Now this Revelation is handed on to the Apostles who make known the Lord and it is they who hold the deposit of faith [depositum fidei] which is contained in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.

The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei), contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practising and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful." [Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 84]

As a text must be understood within it’s context so Sacred Scripture must be understood within Sacred Tradition.

Hence 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. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while Sacred Tradition takes the Word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence [Dei Verbum n. 9].

As a matter of history, Sacred Scripture was heard by early Christians in the context of the liturgy, what they called the ‘breaking of bread.’ This is not surprising as only 1 in 10 people in the Roman Empire could read, so the vast majority of Christians heard rather than read the scriptures. So Christians did not go to Church with a bible under their arm but went to the ‘breaking of bread’ or the ‘synaxis’. It was a decidedly liturgical experience in which was set the Scriptures and the Memoirs of the Apostles, indeed in the Apostolic Church the term ‘Scriptures’ meant at first the Old Testament:

‘All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.’ [2 Tim 3:16-17].

Later in the post-Apostolic period the term ‘the Scriptures’ would include the writings of the Gospel accounts and the letters of Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude etc… in other words the New Testament. We find this all laid out by Justin Martyr [100-165 AD] in his First Apologia:

And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given [chapter 67].

It is important to keep in mind that the collecting of the writings of the New Testament took time and was a process guided by both the teaching authority of the Church [Magisterium], the Liturgical context that used, preserved and handed on these texts and the Apostolic succession of the respective Apostolic sees for vouchsafing the authenticity of these texts. For the Sacred tradition is the context for both the use and the Canon of the New Testament writings and for the use of the Septuagint for the Canon of the Old Testament. The term Canon means ‘list of books considered inspired.’ Concerning the Old Testament, it’s Canon was founded on the fact that 90% of the quotes of the Old Testament in the Gospel accounts, Writings and Letters had derived from the Septuagint, so the Septuagint became the basis of the list of books that were considered inspired and not the smaller selection found in the Hebrew edition of the books of the Old Testament.

So, if every Text needs to be understood within its Context then the Context of the Text of Sacred Scripture has to be Sacred Tradition for that is where it was collected, used, verified, interpreted and handed on! Before there was a Bible, there first was Sacred Tradition which would be the ultimate safeguard for the text and for the interpretation of Scripture from heretical theories and practices, as evidenced by the attempts of the Gnostics to add or distort texts and make them scripture.

Indeed, the process initiated by Pope Damasus in 382 AD for St Jerome to translate the Old and New Testaments into Latin came to its fruition in the Vulgate edition of the Bible [literally, the Common edition] which the Catholic Church used for 1500 years and not surprisingly we learn that it is the only Bible adopted and promulgated by the Catholic Church as inspired [the Council of Trent in 1546 AD]. Furthermore, the Canon [list of the books] of both Old and New Testaments was established at the Synod of Rome by Pope Damasus in 387 AD. Thus, as manuscripts of papyrus [made from reeds] gave way to vellum [made from calf skin] so scrolls gave way to the book, the Biblios, the Bible, as the book of books. But it would take the invention of the printed press in 1436 AD and a growth in literacy before people could carry paper printed Bibles under their arms to Bible services! Until then the Bibles made from vellum were far too large and far too heavy to be carried about as it took 170 calves to make the Gutenberg Bible! They were also very expensive and were treated as not just sacred but sacred treasures and were thus chained to pulpits to prevent their theft.

In other words, without the Catholic Church and without Sacred Tradition there would not have been a Bible! The early Christians came to a liturgical event before there was ever a Bible and the event was called the ‘breaking of bread’ or the ‘synaxis’ and it was in that context that the Scriptures were to be found, firstly as scrolls, then collections of scrolls and then as books. Indeed, it was this liturgical context and tradition that determined which book or letter or writing was considered an inspired scripture. So beware of those who seek to pit Scripture against Tradition be they Protestants or Catholic Modernists; for Catholics Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are both equally sacred, but it is Sacred Tradition that precedes both logically and chronologically Sacred Scripture:

Therefore both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence [Vatican II document - Dei Verbum n. 9].

Now given that many people until the 19th Century could not read and so they relied on paintings and frescoes which were often described as the Gospel for the poor, some might be thinking one of two things either that:

• the Bible does not really matter or that Sacred Art does not matter;

• but both would be wrong.

To those who would say that Sacred Art does not matter, I would pose this question what then will bless, anoint and convert your imagination? Either your imagination will be conditioned, polluted and malformed by Television, films and soaps or it will be blessed, anointed and converted by that Sacramental that the Church calls Sacred Art.

To those who would say Scripture does not matter, I would say that as you belong to a generation, unlike previous generations, that is able to read and write, it is your sacred duty to read and study the Scriptures; for if you watch the news and read newspapers to keep abreast of the times in which you live, then you need to read and study Sacred Scripture to keep yourself in tune with how the Grace of the Kingdom of heaven blesses, forms and transfigures life on earth, including your life on earth!

For this reason, the Lectionary of the New Ordo of the Mass is a vital and important tool for literate Catholics to deepen their faith and devotion through the praying, reading and study of Scripture. If we were to go to Mass every day or follow the Liturgy of the Word everyday in the Lectionary for 3 years than we would have read the whole Bible because the readings of Sunday follow a 3 year cycle and the readings of weekdays follow a two year cycle. Furthermore, there has been the wonderful development of the Lectio Divina that originates in the 12th century with a Carthusian monk, called Guigo, who gave to the Church a profound way of exploring the literal and the spiritual meaning of Scripture [read and watch https://catholic-link.org/pray-lectio-divina-steps/]

In conclusion, we can say as Oral Tradition and Written Tradition underpin Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, so Sacred Art, Sacred Music and Sacred Liturgy underpin, preserve, enhance and hand on the meaning and purpose of Sacred Scripture. As we do not dare to change or destroy the Scriptural texts, so we must also take care that we do not needlessly and recklessly change or destroy Sacred Tradition for both must be received, accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence.