With Saint Brother André, (re)immerse yourself in the life-giving source of Holy Scripture.

Scriptures have the ability to introduce God into our lives much like the sun brings light to the earth. The journey through the Bible can be surprising, beautiful, shocking, or bewildering, but powerful; at times, life seems to spring forth from God’s Word like clear blue skies with an irresistible force.

This is hardly surprising. Other books may speak of God, but the Bible is the only one that can become a sacred ground for us where we truly encounter God.

A life centered on the Word, an evangelical life in the best sense of the term—shaped by the Gospel and passionately seeking to hear Christ, to know Christ, to share Christ with others—such a life must always be deeply rooted in Scripture.

It is precisely in this way that we should consider Scripture, not simply as a resource for preaching or theology, nor simply as a treasure of inspiring devotion, and especially not as a mine of proof texts to perfect our dogmas and defeat our doctrinal enemies. On the contrary, we must be deeply rooted in the refreshing waters of the biblical text in order to become more deeply rooted and anchored in Christ. We must learn to turn to the Bible to encounter Jesus.

For Jesus Christ is at the center of the Bible. All the books of the Bible are full of Jesus Christ. In other words, from Genesis, which narrates the historical event of the fall of Adam and Eve, their condemnation, and then almost immediately the fulfillment of the terrible decree by the magnificent promise to fallen humanity of a Redeemer, everything, yes, everything in the Bible tells of Our Lord, the Savior.

As we conclude the month of August, dedicated to Saint Brother André, let us find in the simplicity of his life such an eloquent illustration of a man, a religious, a witness to the presence of Jesus in both the Bible and the concrete daily lives of the pilgrims of Saint Joseph’s Oratory. For him, Saint Joseph is an unfailing model, very present in Scripture, of a man chosen by God to watch over the holy mystery of the incarnation of the Messiah, foretold since the Old Covenant and fulfilled in the New. With Joseph and Brother André, may we be given the opportunity to participate as they did in the work of God with a spirit of prayer, compassion, and humility.

Brother Gustave Nsengiyumva, o.p.