The Bible is a sacramental encounter with the Divine. It communicates Divine realities through finite the human language and inspiration of the human author. This makes interpretation of it very critically important that we interpret the text according to the meaning it was meant to convey and not only the connotations and even sometimes denotations we assume given writings have.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says...

Paragraph 101 In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of his goodness God speaks to them in human words: "Indeed the words of God, expressed in the words of men, are in every way like human language, just as the Word of the eternal Father, when he took on himself the flesh of human weakness, became like men. Read more in subsequent paragraphs.

Catholicism and the Bible

After Jesus ascended, the Apostles were tasked with spreading the faith, not just the concepts and the law, important as they are, but rather the new and everlasting covenant. Out of the wellspring of the Apostolic evangelical efforts, came an oral tradition accompanied by other customs that defined what distinguished the life of a Christian from pagans, etc. All of this is what Holy Mother Church has called "the Deposit of Faith". The Bible was produced/compiled by the Apostles and their successors allowed the Chruch to ensure Christians could encounter Christ at least vicariously by their writings but still in a directly spiritual manner. All of Christian life to truly participate in the fullest possible extent of heaven on earth and what the Apostles meant by it requires not memorization of scripture but the actualization of it into all that is done. The Church has done this in nearly all aspects of sacraments, laws, etc. building and encompassing Sacred Tradition, the Catholic philosophical tradition, Church teaching, etc.

Saints from the very beginning of the post-ascension era have emphasized the importance of knowing and living what Scripture teaches and how instrumental scripture really is in one's relationship with God. Just as a faith-based community, Church teaching, and Church law/ruling, ground those striving for participation in eternity and direct them in sure and concrete ways toward that heavenly goal so also does Sacred Scripture and Sacred Scripture guides the others as well.

St. Augustine of Hippo’s phrase “ever ancient, ever new” describes the renewed interest in praying with Scripture that has re-emerged in today’s Church. Around the country, parish Bible study groups, small Christian communities, and other faith sharers have rediscovered a simple, insightful way to hear and experience the Word of God with one another through an ancient prayer form, lectio divina.

This portion of Vivat Agnus Dei is dedicated to directing viewers to more frequent and meaningful study, knowledge, and assimilation of Sacred Scripture.

Resources here include: