Before we can do that, we have to know God’s Word ourselves, Prendergast told more than 200 people attending ScriptureFest.

Once you have a Bible, the most important thing is to open it, read it and use it to pray.

Ironically, Prendergast, who gave three talks at the event, said he took a long time to warm up to the Bible.

“When I was doing my doctorate on the Scriptures I couldn’t pray on the Scriptures,” he admitted. “So Scripture (for me) became a job, a work, a study, instead of being something that fed me.”

Later on, after he got his doctorate and was teaching for awhile, Prendergast, a Jesuit, was able to go back to the Scriptures and relate to them on a personal level.

In reading the working document of the latest synod of bishops, Prendergast said he was struck by the observation that many Catholics struggle with the Old Testament.

“I think this may have something to do with the way we do Scripture and the methods that we use. If the clergy are uncertain on how to do this, on how to read Scriptures and the preaching of them, it follows that those in the congregation will have hesitation on parts of the Bible.”

Prendergast noted that whenever Pope Benedict speaks about the Scriptures, he recommends being careful to avoid moralism.

“Moralism is when we kind of invite people to live the way God would want us to without (giving them) the basis to do it,” he said.

(Western Catholic Reporter)