"the words of eternal life" (jn 6:68)
"Search the Scriptures." —John 5:39
You are reading this book, One Bread, One Body, to "search the Scriptures in which you think you have eternal life" (Jn 5:39). You are right in your belief that the Scriptures will lead you to eternal life. "These (things) have been recorded to help you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that through this faith you may have life in His name" (Jn 20:31). "If you believed Moses," that is, the first part of the Bible, "you would then believe" Jesus because the first part of the Bible and the whole Bible are about Jesus (Jn 5:46). "But if you do not believe what" Moses wrote and what the other Biblical authors wrote, "how can you believe what" Jesus says? (Jn 5:47)
"Faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of God" (Rm 10:17, our transl). St. Jerome said: "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." During this Lent and this year of God the Father, "humbly welcome the word that has taken root in you, with its power to save you" (Jas 1:21).
Prayer: Father, may I devote myself to the Church's teaching, especially in the Bible (see Acts 2:42).
Promise: "The Lord relented in the punishment He had threatened to inflict on His people." —Ex 32:14
Praise: St. Cyril encouraged catechumens: "Remove all obstacles and stumbling blocks so that you will be able to go straight along the road to eternal life."
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, July 23, 1998
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 27, 1998