Scripture Leads Us to Eternal Life

Lord Jesus Christ, pierce my soul with your love so that I may always long for you alone, who are the bread of angels and the fulfillment of the soul's deepest desires.  May my heart always hunger and feed upon you, so that my soul may be filled with the sweetness of your presence.  May my soul thirst for you, who are the source of life, wisdom, knowledge, light and all the riches of God the Father.  May I always seek and find you, think upon you, speak to you and do all things for the honor and glory of your holy name.  Be always my only hope, my peace, my refuge and my help in whom my heart is rooted so that I may never be separated from you.  St. Bonaventure (1218 - 1274)

"Everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened." Matt. 7:8

"(S)eeking God is part of holy reading, just as worldly reading . . . leads to losing him. . . .  Always have a definite time each day for reading, just as you should have for prayer and contemplation." Blessed Alphonsus de Oroszco, 1500-1591

"As in prayer we speak with God, in reading (Scripture) our God speaks to us . . . " St. Lipsianus.

St. Bonaventure:
The end or fruit of Holy Scripture is not something restricted, but the fullness of eternal happiness.  These writings which contain "the message of eternal life" (Jn 6:63) were written, not only that we might believe in, but also that we might possess that everlasting life in which we shall see, and love, and be fulfilled of all we desire.  Then we shall really know that "love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge," and thus "be filled with the utter fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). . . . Such . . . must be our goal and our intent in studying and in teaching the Scriptures, and also in hearing them. . . . We must reach out in a spirit of pure faith to the Father of all light, and kneeling in our hearts, ask him to give us, through his Son and in the Holy Spirit, the true knowledge of Jesus Christ, and together with knowledge, love for him.  By knowing and loving Christ, by being confirmed in faith and "planted in love" (Ephesians 3:17), we can know the breadth, length, and depth of Scripture, and, through such knowledge, attain unto the all-surpassing knowledge and measureless love which is the Blessed Trinity.

Source:  The New Jerusalem Bible Saints Devotional Edition  

God bless you and speak to you as you study the Scriptures to grow in knowledge and love of Blessed Trinity, and at the same time receive those graces you most need to know and follow his holy will.