EFFICACY OF THE WORD
If we value this declaration of Claret according to the present use of the Bible in the Church, its attraction for the Bible will look good but not extraordinary since in our days there is a lot of affection for reading and meditating on the Bible. But in the Catholic Church in the time of Claret, the Bible was not very much appreciated, or read and it was not even an important part for priests and religious. Claret was fortunate to have this attraction already as a young seminarian in Vic through the bishop, Mons. Corcuera, who was constantly animating the future priests to feed their spirituality mainly with the Word of God.
Claret was accustomed of reading two chapters from the Scripture every day and four in the Lenten season with the help of the best commentaries available in his time. This custom formed him and made him the apostle of the Bible; thus this dedication of Claret was extraordinary and fruitful, at a time when the church suffered a scarcity of Bibles, of the Word of God. He instilled this daily reading into his seminarians of Cuba and of El Escorial and to his Missionaries; he himself edited an inexpensive Bible with some practical indications for a better understanding.
Fifty years ago, following on from the Constitution of Dei Verbum of the Vatican Council II, a lot of biblical studies have been activated in our Church and pastoral initiatives of Bible reading have been multiplied in such a way that today in all the Christian communities there is an attraction for the Bible.
In this climate of very easy access to the Bible the extraordinary affection of Claret challenges each one of us with this question, “What is the Bible for you and what should it be for your daily living?
