Archbishop Prendergast stressed the fact that the success of any session like this is that people are motivated to read and engage with the Word of God more. He encouraged people to choose bibles that they will read often. He highlighted the profound ability of God’s Word to meet us and speak to us wherever we are in our lives. Participants were also given helpful information about what makes catholic and protestant bibles different from each other and the various languages that have been involved in the original writings of the scriptures and their translations over the years.

From excerpts from The Pentateuch through to several encounters between Jesus and people in the Gospels, the archbishop used a variety of stories to illustrate how we see God and humanity relating to each other. As he explained, literal truth is not the purpose of these stories. Rather, they reveal a more important or fundamental truth about God’s loving relationship with humanity and the many challenges of that relationship. He highlighted various stories to demonstrate this and paid special attention to the important place women have in the scriptures.

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast donns his 'Scripture Scholar's hat to lead a session on The Word of God.

Archbishop Prendergast and participants engage in enriching dialogue about various scripture passages.

The session demonstrated how important the reading and appreciation of the Bible is to the Church’s mission. Along with Tradition and the teaching authority of the Magisterium, Sacred Scripture is central to Catholic Christian life. The various encyclicals and other publications of the Pope and Vatican dealing with the Bible give testimony to this. So does the fact that this fall in Rome a synod will be held on “The Word of God for the Life and Mission of the World.” Archbishop Prendergast will be one of the bishops attending to represent Canada.

Participants expressed deep appreciation for this session. Not only was it an enriching and challenging session about what it means to be people of God’s Word, but also a prized opportunity to know Archbishop Prendergast better and to benefit from his expertise in this area.