THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH – THEOLOGY, PREACHING, PRAYER, AND THE FINAL VERSION OF DEI VERBUM

Today we come to the conclusion of our journey through Dei Verbum, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.

In today’s reading, we take up the final three sections of the document – sections 24, 25, and 26 – and bring our study of Dei Verbum to a close.

These final paragraphs turn our attention to the place Sacred Scripture must hold in the life of the Church and in the lives of the faithful. They speak of Scripture in sacred theology, the responsibility of priests to immerse themselves in the sacred text, and the great responsibility placed upon the bishops, as successors of the Apostles, to teach, explain, and nourish the faithful with the Word of God and to lead them more deeply into the truths of the faith. 

As we have done throughout this series, we will read these final sections in the light of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church, asking how they are to be understood in continuity with the Faith handed down through the centuries. 

Thank you to everyone who has followed this study with us. Although this brings our examination of Dei Verbum to an end, there are still many documents of the Second Vatican Council, and we hope to take up others in the future.

For now, let us finish Dei Verbum together.