From the earliest days of the church, the reading of Scripture has been an integral part of the Christian liturgy, an inheritance to some extent from the liturgy of the synagogue. Today, too, it is above all through the liturgy that Christians come into contact with Scripture, particularly during the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist.

In principle, the liturgy, and especially the sacramental liturgy, the high point of which is the eucharistic celebration, brings about the most perfect actualization of the biblical texts, for the liturgy places the proclamation in the midst of the community of believers, gathered around Christ so as to draw near to God. Christ is then "present in his word, because it is he himself who speaks when sacred Scripture is read in the church" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7). Written text thus becomes living word.

The liturgical reform initiated by the Second Vatican Council sought to provide Catholics with rich sustenance from the Bible. The triple cycle of Sunday readings gives a privileged place to the Gospels, in such a way as to shed light on the mystery of Christ as principle of our salvation. By regularly associating a text of the Old Testament with the text of the Gospel, the cycle often suggests a Scriptural interpretation moving in the direction of typology. But, of course, such is not the only kind of interpretation possible.

The homily, which seeks to actualize more explicitly the word of God, is an integral part of the liturgy. We will speak of it later when we treat of the pastoral ministry.

The lectionary, issued at the direction of the council (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 35) is meant to allow for a reading of sacred Scripture that is "more abundant, more varied and more suitable." In its present state, it only partially fulfills this goal. Nevertheless even as it stands it has had positive ecumenical results. In certain countries it also has served to indicate the lack of familiarity with Scripture on the part of many Catholics.

The Liturgy of the Word is a crucial element in the celebration of each of the sacraments of the church; it does not consist simply in a series of readings one after the other; it ought to involve as well periods of silence and of prayer.

This liturgy, in particular the Liturgy of the Hours, makes selections from the book of Psalms to help the Christian community pray. Hymns and prayers are all filled with the language of the Bible and the symbolism it contains. How necessary it is, therefore, that participation in the liturgy be prepared for and accompanied by the practice of reading Scripture.

If in the readings "God addresses the word to his people" (Roman Missal, n. 33), the Liturgy of the Word requires that great care be taken both in the proclamation of the readings and in their interpretation. It is therefore desirable that the formation of those who are to preside at the assembly and of those who serve with them take full account of what is required for a liturgy of the word of God that is fully renewed. Thus, through a combined effort, the church will carry on the mission entrusted to it, "to take the bread of life from the table both of the word of God and of the body of Christ and offer it to the faithful" (Dei Verbum, 21).

Lectio divina is a reading, on an individual or communal level, of a more or less lengthy passage of Scripture, received as the word of God and leading, at the prompting of the Spirit, to meditation, prayer and contemplation.

Concern for regular, even daily reading of Scripture reflects early church custom. As a group practice, it is attested in the third century, at the time of Origen; he used to give homilies based on a text of Scripture read continuously throughout a week. At that time there were daily gatherings devoted to the reading and explanation of Scripture. But the practice did not always meet with great success among Christians (Origen, Hom. Gen., X.1) and was eventually abandoned.

Lectio divina, especially on the part of the individual, is attested in the monastic life in its golden age. In modern times, an instruction of the biblical commission, approved by Pope Pius XII, recommended this lectio to all clerics, secular and religious (De Scriptura Sacra, 1950: Ench. Bibl., 592). Insistence on lectio divina in both its forms, individual and communal, has therefore become a reality once more. The end in view is to create and nourish "an efficacious and constant love" of sacred Scripture, source of the interior life and of apostolic fruitfulness (Ench. Bibl., 591 and 567), also to promote a better understanding of the liturgy and to assure the Bible a more important place in theological studies and in prayer.

The conciliar constitution Dei Verbum (No. 25) is equally insistent on an assiduous reading of Scripture for priests and religious. Moreover�and this is something new�it also invites,"all the faithful of Christ" to acquire "through frequent reading of the divine Scripture 'the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus' (Phil. 3:8)." Different methods are proposed. Alongside private reading, there is the suggestion of reading in a group. The conciliar text stresses that prayer should accompany the reading of Scripture, for prayer is the response to the word of God encountered in Scripture under the inspiration of the Spirit.

Many initiatives for communal reading have been launched among Christians, and one can only encourage this desire to derive from Scripture a better knowledge of God and of his plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.

The frequent recourse to the Bible in pastoral ministry, as recommended by Dei Verbum (No. 24), takes on various forms depending on the kind of interpretation that is useful to pastors and helpful for the understanding of the faithful.

Three principal situations can be distinguished: catechesis, preaching and the biblical apostolate. Many factors are involved relating to the general level of Christian life.

The explanation of the word of God in catechesis (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 35, General Catechetical Directory, 1971,16) has sacred Scripture as first source.

Explained in the context of the tradition Scripture provides the starting point, foundation and norm of catechetical teaching. One of the goals of catechesis should be to initiate a person in a correct understanding and fruitful reading of the Bible. This will bring about the discovery of the divine truth it contains and evoke as generous a response as is possible to the message God addresses through his word to the whole human race.

Catechesis should proceed from the historical context of divine revelation so as to present persons and events of the Old and New Testaments in the light of God's overall plan.

To move from the biblical text to its salvific meaning for the present time various hermeneutic procedures are employed. These will give rise to different kinds of commentary. The effectiveness of the catechesis depends on the value of the hermeneutic employed. There is the danger of resting content with a superficial commentary, one which remains simply a chronological presentation of the sequence of persons and events in the Bible.

Clearly, catechesis can avail itself of only a small part of the full range of biblical texts. Generally speaking, it will make particular use of stories, both those of the New Testament and those of the Old. It will single out the Decalogue. It should also see that it makes use of the prophetic oracles, the wisdom teaching and the great discourses in the Gospels such as the Sermon on the Mount.

The presentation of the Gospels should be done in such a way as to elicit an encounter with Christ, who provides the key to the whole biblical revelation and communicates the call of God that summons each one to respond. The word of the prophets and that of the "ministers of the word" (Lk. 1:2) ought to appear as something addressed to Christians now.

Analogous remarks apply to the ministry of preaching, which should draw from the ancient texts spiritual sustenance adapted to the present needs of the Christian community.

Today this ministry is exercised especially at the close of the first part of the eucharistic celebration, through the homily which follows the proclamation of the word of God.

The explanation of the biblical texts given in the course of the homily cannot enter into great detail. It is, accordingly, fitting to explain the central contribution of texts, that which is most enlightening for faith and most stimulating for the progress of the Christian life, both on the community and individual level. Presenting this central contribution means striving to achieve its actualization and inculturation, in accordance with what has been said above. Good hermeneutical principles are necessary to attain this end. Want of preparation in this area leads to the temptation to avoid plumbing the depths of the biblical readings and to being content simply to moralize or to speak of contemporary issues in a way that fails to shed upon them the light of God's word.

In some countries exegetes have helped produce publications designed to assist pastors in their responsibility to interpret correctly the biblical texts of the liturgy and make them properly meaningful for today. It is desirable that such efforts be repeated on a wider scale. Preachers should certainly avoid insisting in a one-sided way on the obligations incumbent upon believers. The biblical message must preserve its principal characteristic of being the good news of salvation freely offered by God.

Preaching will perform a task more useful and more conformed to the Bible if it helps the faithful above all to "know the gift of God" (Jn. 4: 10) as it has been revealed in Scripture; they will then understand in a positive light the obligations that flow from it.

The biblical apostolate has as its objective to make known the Bible as the word of God and source of life. First of all, it promotes the translation of the Bible into every kind of language and seeks to spread these translations as widely as possible. It creates and supports numerous initiatives: the formation of groups devoted to the study of the Bible, conferences on the Bible, biblical weeks, the publication of journals and books, etc.

An important contribution is made by church associations and movements which place a high premium upon the reading of the Bible within the perspective of faith and Christian action. Many "basic Christian communities" focus their gatherings upon the Bible and set themselves a threefold objective: to know the Bible, to create community and to serve the people. Here also exegetes can render useful assistance in avoiding actualizations of the biblical message that are not well grounded in the text. But there is reason to rejoice in seeing the Bible in the hands of people of lowly condition and of the poor; they can bring to its interpretation and to its actualization a light more penetrating, from the spiritual and existential point of view, than that which comes from a learning that relies upon its own resources alone (cf. Mt. 11:25).

The ever increasing importance of the instruments of mass communication (�mass media�)�the press, radio, television�requires that proclamation of the word of God and knowledge of the Bible be propagated by these means. Their very distinctive features and, on the other hand, their capacity to influence a vast public require a particular training in their use. This will help to avoid paltry improvisations, along with striking effects that are actually in poor taste.

Whatever be the context�catechetics, preaching or the biblical apostolate�the text of the Bible should always be presented with the respect it deserves.

If the ecumenical movement as a distinct and organized phenomenon is relatively recent, the idea of the unity of God's people, which this movement seeks to restore, is profoundly based in Scripture. Such an objective was the constant concern of the Lord (Jn. 10:16; 17:11, 20-23). It looks to the union of Christians in faith, hope and love (Eph. 4:2-5), in mutual respect (Phil. 2: 1-5) and solidarity (1 Cor. 12:14-27; Rom. 12:45), but also and above all an organic union in Christ, after the manner of vine and branches (Jn. 15:4-5), head and members (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:12- 16). This union should be perfect, in the likeness of the union of the Father and the Son (Jn. 17:11, 22). Scripture provides its theological foundation (Eph. 4:4-6; Gal. 3:27-28), the first apostolic community its concrete, living model (Acts 2:44; 4:32).

Most of the issues which ecumenical dialogue has to confront are related in some way to the interpretation of biblical texts. Some of the issues are theological: eschatology, the structure of the church, primacy and collegiality, marriage and divorce, the admission of women to the ministerial priesthood and so forth.

Others are of a canonical and juridical nature: They concern the administration of the universal church and of local churches. There are others, finally, that are strictly biblical: the list of the canonical books, certain hemmeneutical questions, etc.

Although it cannot claim to resolve all these issues by itself, biblical exegesis is called upon to make an important contribution in the ecumenical area. A remarkable degree of progress has already been achieved. Through the adoption of the same methods and analogous hermeneutical points of view, exegetes of various Christian confessions have arrived at a remarkable level of agreement in the interpretation of Scripture, as is shown by the text and notes of a number of ecumenical translations of the Bible, as well as by other publications.

Indeed, it is clear that on some points differences in the interpretation of Scripture are often stimulating and can be shown to be complementary and enriching. Such is the case when these differences express values belonging to the particular tradition of various Christian communities and so convey a sense of the manifold aspects of the mystery of Christ.

Since the Bible is the common basis of the rule of faith, the ecumenical imperative urgently summons all Christians to a rereading of the inspired text, in docility to the Holy Spirit, in charity, sincerity and humility; it calls upon all to meditate on these texts and to live them in such a way as to achieve conversion of heart and sanctity of life. These two qualities, when united with prayer for the unity of Christians, constitute the soul of the entire ecumenical movement (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, No. 8). To achieve this goal, it is necessary to make the acquiring of a Bible something within the reach of as many Christians as possible, to encourage ecumenical translations�since having a common text greatly assists reading and understanding together�and also ecumenical prayer groups, in order to contribute, by an authentic and living witness, to the achievement of unity within diversity (cf. Rom. 12:4-5).