"What could the Scripture be to us without the voice of the Holy Ghost in the Church? It is the Holy Ghost speaking through the Church, who alone makes us certain about the existence, the integrity, the inspiration of Holy Writ. Hence, the saying of St. Augustine, that he would not believe the Scripture, unless the Church taught him to do so. It is the Holy Ghost speaking in and through the Church, who was speaking to mankind and to the faithful before any written records of the New Testament existed, and who must yet complete the incompleteness of the Scripture. . . . The written Scripture presupposes and recognizes in those to whom it is addressed the knowledge of the whole truth. It is to the Church, guided by the Spirit of God, what the writings and letters of a man are to his personal identity. They would recognize all, but record only a part; imply many things, and express only such things as fall within their scope." Abp. Zardetti, Devotion to the Holy Ghost
"All the books (of Scripture) which the Church receives as sacred and canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost; and so far is it from being possible that any error can coexist with inspiration, that inspiration not only is essentially incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the Supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church, solemnly defined in the Councils of Florence and of Trent, and finally confirmed and more expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the words of the last: "The books of the Old and New Testament, whole and entire with all their parts, as enumerated by the decree of the same Council (Trent) and in the ancient Latin Vulgate, are to be received as sacred and canonical. And the Church holds them as sacred and canonical not because, having been composed by human industry, they were afterward approved by her authority, nor only because they contain revelation without error, but because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their Author." Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, The Study of the Holy Scriptures
CALL TO ACTION: Pray for the Gift of Understanding.
Understanding, as a gift of the Holy Ghost, helps us to grasp the meaning of the truths of our holy religion. By faith we know them, but by Understanding we learn to appreciate and relish them. It enables us to penetrate the inner meaning of revealed truths, and through them to be quickened to newness of life. Our faith ceases to be sterile and inactive, but inspires a mode of life that bears eloquent testimony to the faith that is in us.
Source of quotations: "Fountain of Living Water" by Rev. A. A. Lambing LL.D., 1st paragraph - pages 296-297 & 2nd paragraph - pages 60-61; Fr. Pustet & Co. Publishers and Booksellers (copyright 1907); Nihil Obstat: Remigius Lafort, S.T.L., Censor; Imprimatur: John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Photo by Nathan Dumloa