Opening Prayer
Lord, I am awed by the marvelous depth of your Scriptures, which stoop to the lowly through simple language while hiding the majesty of secrets from the proud. It is a book that destroys my pride and invites me to a holy kind of lowliness.
Grant me the grace to be humbled by your Word, that I may confess my sins and make my neck submissive to the yoke of your service. Let the surface of the text invite me, and its deepness transform me.
Amen.
Matthew 10:16-23
16Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves. 17But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. 18And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles: 19But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. 20For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. 21The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death. 22And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. 23And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel, till the Son of man come.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine marvels at the “depth of Your Scriptures”. The Bible “stoops to all” through simplicity but “hides away the majesty of its secrets”. St. Augustine evaluates Scripture as a tool “destructive of pride” and “pure” enough to persuade us to confess. It makes our “neck submissive to the yoke”.
The Bible is uniquely crafted to receive everyone into its embrace, using a simplicity of language that “allures multitudes” while hiding majestic secrets within its depths. St. Augustine notes that these words are specifically “destructive of pride,” persuading the reader to confess their sins and submit to the divine yoke. This “holy lowliness” of the text invites the humble to be healed while resisting those who seek only to justify their own disordered structures.
“Approach the Word as a holy lowliness that stoops to reach the simple while hiding deep secrets for the serious seeker.”
— St. Augustine
Mary and the Magisterium
St. Augustine praises the “pure words” of Scripture as the medicine that destroys pride and makes the soul “submissive to the Divine yoke”. Mary’s purity of heart is the spiritual environment where this medicine is most effective. Her life provides the restorative “lowliness” that counters the “rash soul” of fallen humanity. By imitating her purity, the faithful find the health of the soul, becoming capable of serving God with “no reward other than Himself”.
- Do I treat Scripture with the "trembling of love" that St. Augustine describes?
- Is God’s Word "destructive of pride" in my life, or do I use it to justify my own opinions?
Closing Prayer
Lord, let me understand these words. Grant me the grace to serve You with no reward other than Yourself.
Amen.
