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(4) Sacrament
There is a sense in which our encounter with scripture is sacramental, awakening us to the presence of God. One and the same Word of God gives Himself to the faithful in the Holy Mysteries and reveals Himself in scripture. The inspiration of one and the same Spirit jumps like an electric spark between the faithful in whom He dwells and the words full of His power. An early biblical commentator wrote: “we are said to drink the blood of Christ not only when we receive it according to the rite of the mysteries, but also when we receive his words, in which life dwells, as he said himself: ‘the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life’�? ([[Gospel of John |John]] 6:63). We receive extraordinary blessings, enlivening grace, through reading the scripture.
Well – for all these reasons - I hope that you will agree with me that there is a need to cultivate a loving and attentive study of scripture in our parishes and among our people. In doing so we will be faithful to the tradition of love for scripture, scriptural reflection and application of scripture to life that is a hallmark of Orthodoxy – a love that we find not only in the easy biblical fluency of the writings of the Fathers, but in the time-honoured manner of thinking and speaking among pious people down through ages. Who treasured their Psalters, and knew many of the psalms by heart. Whose knowledge of the Gospels was direct and intimate. Who reflected on the Epistles, who wondered at the mysteries of prophecy. Who incorporate biblical turns of phrase into every day speech. In whose homes the Bible had an honoured place – yes, even in the homes of our parents and grandparents who placed the ‘good book’ in a prominent place as a blessing on the family… In the special respect with which the faithful approached the sacred words… venerated the Gospel at Matins, kissed it at molebens…