Over the course of his life of ministry, Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote and/or preached a sermon which served as a commentary on each of the 150 psalms. Some of these commentaries are very long, some short, some psalms have several homilies instead of just one, and most psalms are given a deeply spiritual interpretation in the light of Christ and the Church. These commentaries have been compiled into one great series of homilies called St. Augustine’s Enarrationes in Psalmos – “Commentaries on the Psalms.” Over the next several weeks, I will be reflecting on various snippets of these writings.
In a passage of St. Augustine’s commentary on Psalm 73, he refers to the scriptures in a unique and meaningful way. He calls the scriptures “Letters of God.” I see this as a really heartfelt and personal way of looking at the bible – Augustine saw the scriptures as a communication from God to us in the form of “letters.” John Rotelle, O.S.A., the editor of this passage in the version I used to read this commentary, notes St. Augustine’s use of this phrase, probably because of its rarity.
Rotelle also mentions that Pope Pius XII refers to the scriptures this way in his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. When Pope Pius XII writes about this, he explains, “it behooves us to be grateful to the God of all providence, Who from the throne of His majesty has sent these books as so many paternal letters to His own children” (DAS, 19, emphasis added). They are written out of the love of a fatherly heart.
Because of this love that is at the source of all the scriptures, Pope Pius XII and St. Augustine, as well as the bishops in our own contemporary church, would highly encourage our reading of the scriptures. We often think it is hard to hear God’s voice, but if we only picked up the scriptures, we would read the letters God has written to us.
Each of these letters is different. We have historical texts written to us today to remind us what God has done in our world and in history to save us. We have prayers he has written for us like the Psalms. We have love letters like the Song of Songs. We have ancient stories and writings that teach us the wisdom of God’s mind. God has spoken to us, and he has done so by inspiring these writings from the minds and pens of holy human authors from the ancient Israelites and the first Christians.
These letters are “Paternal” because they teach us, they guide us, and they offer us a sense of protection in the Truth. God has given a great gift to his people by sending them his Word, both in the words of scripture and also in the flesh in Jesus Christ. We meet Him in prayer, in the Eucharist, in his Church, and also very deeply in and through the scriptures. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that God’s word is living and effective. He truly speaks to us in these scriptures, just as deeply as he first spoke to the people who first read them. His word does not “expire.” It doesn’t “run out.”
Thanks be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for such a great gift!