SPIRITUAL READING

Part of what it means to be a Lay Cistercian is a reverence for the word (lower case) that writers have for the Word (upper case) of God and how they interpret it. Cistercian authors advance the understanding of the Word by their words. Their words try to describe how they have in them the mind of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5)

The point here is that all scriptural reading is good for the mind and heart but not all reading is equal. To put it another way, not everything we read that is spiritual reading is scriptural reading. Scriptural reading refers only to the Sacred Scriptures (Bible). The word Bible simply means book, which those who read it deem special. I like the words Sacred Scriptures because these words are deemed to be inspired by God Himself, although written by scribes and authors of the four Gospels. To those who don’t have faith (God’s life in us), mere men just write their own biases and ethnic peculiarities, but to those who do have faith (not belief), God speaks to us down through the centuries. With inspiried Words, only found in the Sacred Scriptures, we have assurances from Christ that this is from God. But who gives us this assurance? It is not an individual person, but the Church Universal with Christ as its head. He authorized the Church (not individuals) to bind and loose on earth as it is in Heaven. Such awesome authority is a testament to the trust Christ had in his Church to such an extent that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.

Scriptural reading — actual Words from Sacred Scriptures (Old Testament and New Testament),

Spiritual reading — the words and reflections of those who read and comment on Sacred Scriptures.

You will notice that not all early documents floating around the early Church (until the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. were recognized as inspired by God. The Church Universal determined which readings were so inspired.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11044a.htm

Who gave them the authority to determine which books were inspired and which were not and why? Where does this authority, to say what God thinks is inspired and what is not, come from?

That same Church Universal exists today, the Mystical Body of Christ, the Mystery of Faith, the sign of contradiction to the World. The Church Universal has four marks of authenticity: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic. No matter how bad humans mess up the Gospel, we have assurances that the Holy Spirit is with us and the gates of Hell will not prevail against the forces of Evil.

SOME SPIRITUAL READING ONLINE RESOURCES I USE http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM For spiritual reading, there is no other source that is so inspiring and leads me to try to have in me the mind of Christ Jesus as does the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Read it for yourself. The source of all of it is to love others as Christ has loved us.

http://www.newadvent.org/library/almanac_14388a.htm

SUMMARY

Have in you the mind of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5) every day

Primary reading is Sacred Scripture every day.

Secondary reading is Spiritual Reading once a week.

Pray that you become what you read.

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