Catholics should delve more deeply into Scripture, Catechism

I pray that each one of you had a very blessed Easter! The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are at the heart of our Catholic faith.

We proclaim this truth in the Creed each Sunday as we pray the words, “For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day, he rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures.”

Over the past years, the truth of Jesus Christ and our faith in him has come under attack in the book The DaVinci Code — which soon will be released as a movie — and with the recent release of the translation of the Gospel of Judas.

The writings are two different genres. One is a fictional novel that takes liberties with historical facts and twists and turns them. The other is a historical document thought lost for centuries, then found in 1970 and recently translated. Some Catholics have had their faith shaken by these writings, thinking they put into doubt fundamental teachings long accepted by the church. This demonstrates the need for Catholics to understand sacred Scripture and how the Scriptures and teachings of the church were established.

Catholics have understood that “God is the author of sacred Scripture” (CCC 105). The Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and God used the authors of the sacred books so that what is written in them concerning God and Jesus Christ is true (CCC 105-107). The apostles handed on what they received from Jesus Christ first in oral form — preaching and evangelizing — then in written form — the New Testament. Hence, the Scriptures are the revelation of God and his relationship with all of humanity, and [they] teach the truth (CCC 107).

The Second Vatican Council teaches that there are three criteria for the interpretation of Scripture.

First, we are called to “be especially attentive ‘to the content and unity of the whole Scripture’” (CCC 112). While there are different books of sacred Scripture, 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, there is a unity in God’s plan with Jesus Christ, true God and true man, at the heart and center of all Scripture (CCC 112).

Second, we need to “read the Scripture within ‘the living Tradition of the whole church’” (CCC 113). The church carries “in her tradition the living memorial of God’s Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture” (CCC 113). Throughout history, the church continues to hand on the spiritual meaning of the Scripture from generation to generation as she received it from her Lord.

Third, we need to “be attentive to the analogy of faith. By ‘analogy of faith’ we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of revelation” (CCC 114). The truths we proclaim each Sunday in the Creed form a unity revealed in Jesus Christ that can never change.

Hence, novels such as “The Da Vinci Code,” which is fiction, cannot change the truths of the faith. There is no historical evidence for a marriage of Jesus, that he had children or that Jesus was not known or that people were not taught that he was divine until 300 years after his death. The consistent faith of the church, given to her by Jesus himself and reflected in the Scriptures, is unchangeable. The rich tradition of the church regarding the role of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, clearly shows that the value and dignity of women has never been in doubt in the content of our faith.

Concerning the recent discovery of the Gospel of Judas, Catholics need to understand that after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ many “gospels,” as well as letters, were written. There was the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Thomas, gnostic writings and others that made claims about Jesus Christ, which were not part of the faith handed on by the apostles. The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were the only Gospels to be considered as inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore authentic Scripture. The Fathers of the Church in the first three centuries after the death and resurrection of Jesus quote the four Gospels extensively.

We know, too, that St. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, who died about 202, made reference in his writings to the recently recovered Gospel of Judas as heretical. The Gospel of Judas, like other gnostic writings, is interesting insofar as it helps us to understand the false teachings about Jesus, which the church has never accepted. The fact that they are not widely known is that they were judged as untrue and therefore not used, rather than the result of a plot of the church to suppress the writings themselves.

Various councils, beginning in the 300s, determined which “gospels,” letters of the New Testament, and books of the Old Testament were authentic and true and which were not. The Council of Trent in 1546 finally determined the books for all Catholics, as some of the Protestant reformers questioned the authenticity of long accepted books of both the Old and New Testaments.

“The Da Vinci Code” and the Gospel of Judas point to the real need for Catholics to understand their faith, as contained in both Scripture and tradition. The confusion caused by such writings reiterates the need for strong catechesis, the reading of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Scripture study. Catholics, to grow in their love and knowledge of Jesus Christ, must become better acquainted with Scripture. As St. Jerome, who died in 420, put so succinctly, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

In the Scriptures, Jesus describes himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). And in his conversation with Martha as he visits with her prior to the raising up of Lazarus, he states: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” And then he concludes with the all important question for Martha and for us today, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

During this Easter season, may we turn to the Risen Christ who is “the way, and the truth and the life.” May we ponder in our hearts with Mary, the Mother of God, the great truths of our faith. May we respond personally within our hearts to the question that Jesus presented to Martha and presents to us today, “Do you believe this?” Spend time in prayer with the Gospels and with the Catechism to grow in knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.

For more information about “The DaVinci Code,” call 800-376-0520 or visit www.DaVincioutreach.com.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila