One of the great criticisms against Catholics is that we do not know the Bible. One reason for this is that Catholics claim they were taught not to read it, so that they would not misinterpret it.

Actually, one man from a cultish denomination lamented to me that the nuns told him that he should not read the Bible because it would lead to misinterpretation. He later read the Bible and joined this cult saying they had the faith correct. I wanted to say to him that he just proved every nun in his life to be correct at least about the warning of misinterpretation.

However, Bible reading is not only not forbidden to the Catholic, but knowing the Bible is also a basic requirement for being Catholic and I will demonstrate that to you today.

If you look at the second reading, you will see a passage from the Letter to James. James, whom the US Catholic bishops claim is not the apostle, nor does he claim to be, but a relative of the Lord who lived during the first century and was martyred about two years after St. Paul.

The Letter of James is quite controversial, so much so that Martin Luther called it a straw epistle and wanted to leave it out of the Bible altogether when he created his schism from Catholicism. The reason is because James taught about faith and works and Martin Luther said we were saved by faith not works. Luther’s words reflect a misunderstanding of Catholic teaching. We do not earn our way to Heaven, so our works do not get us there, our good works are how we demonstrate our love for Christ and our neighbor.

This tension is what led Luther to reject the letter because Luther says that Jesus dying on the cross leads us to salvation and no amount of good works in the world can overcome that obstacle only the death and resurrection of Christ can lead us to salvation. That is true, but James teaches that if you do not do good works your have no faith.

In today’s passage, however, James insists that we need to know the Bible.

Let me show you. First if you notice the citation, which is the exact passages of the Bible we are reading, you will notice it is not contiguous. There are passages that are here and they skip over a few passages. So we need to see what was skipped over and what was included.

Notice what was included was such passages as be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. If you are looking for proof that you need to know the Bible and live what it says, it is right there. Further, since this is from the letter to James, the letter Martin Luther wanted to exclude, you can assume that this was written to all Christians, but mostly to you as Catholics.

James commands you to make sure scripture is a part of our lives and to live it. If you do not, you are self deluded. Strong words, written to Catholics, by a disciple and relative of Jesus. You can not get a stronger command than that.

In the parts not here, he talks about how hearing the word of scripture and not acting on it is like looking at yourself in the mirror and then forgetting what you look like. In  other words, you forgot you are having a bad hairday and you look ridiculous the rest of the day. You forgot you have a stain on your shirt and you look ridiculous the rest of the day.

James warns us against not only not knowing scripture, but not acting on it as well.

So, what is that we have a calling to do. It is we need to allow scripture to affect our lives. Let me give you an example. Do you know that it says in the Bible 365 times, do not fear. How much do your fears affect you. Your fears can lead you away from Christ. Fear and anxiety are two of the things that Jesus warns can strangle. Fears and anxiety of finances are one of the greatest strains on the faith.

St. James in one of the one famous passages in the Bible tells us to consider it pure joy when things go wrong in our lives. So when things do go wrong make sure you bring God into your life and allow him to transform you through these difficulties.

The Catholics have a sacramental way of life that brings Christ present into every part of our lives. So we assume we do not need scripture, but in fact we do. It is scripture that teaches us how to live our lives, how to root ourselves in prayer and how to live through the good times and the bad times. It is an essential element for every Christian.

Reading the Bible properly, which by the way is not cover to cover, but in an organized way from the gospels through the epistles, later the major prophets, the psalms and finally the historical books, or simply following along the Church’s lectionary schedule are great ways to come to know the bible well. but knowing it is not enough. We need to make the words of scripture transform us and we do that by praying with scripture and using scripture to evaluate our spiritual lives.

So the next time you hear someone say, I am Catholic, I do not need to read the Bible, you can remind them that St. James would severely disagree as would all the other saints.