My sibling complained that her daughter, who graduated this spring summa cum laude from Rhodes College in Memphis, "had to take so many courses on the bible she should have qualified as a minister."The words grated on me, for they seem to disparage the central source of wisdom in our Judeo-Christian western culture. It seemed she was parroting what many in the secular culture think, that the bible isn't "culturally relevant." I told her so, which didn't make her too happy.
I wish I had memorized the following quote from St. Jerome, and just recited it to her, rather than objecting to her statement:
"What other life can there be without knowledge of the Scriptures, for through these Christ himself, who is the life of the faithful, becomes known. What food, what honey can be sweeter than to learn of God's wise plan, to enter into God's sanctuary and gaze upon the mind of the creator, and to rehearse the words of your Lord, which are full of spiritual wisdom."
I think the quote from St. Jerome would have been a more effective response than my (rather heated and judgmental) objection. For, as St. Angela Merici said:
"You will accomplish more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity."
So maybe the real answer is to read the bible more, but also to live it more.
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