Fifth Annual Biblical Conference

The study of Sacred Scripture is integral to the intellectual and spiritual formation of the members of our Religious Family. We read in #221 of our Constitutions:

"Also here, in the intellectual formation, the beginning and end is Jesus Christ: especially, Jesus Christ known through the Sacred Scriptures. He is the light of the Sacred Pages: He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:45). Understanding the Bible is a grace of Christ: …their minds, indeed, were closed; and to this very day their minds are covered with the same veil as they read the books of the Old Covenant. The veil is removed only when a person is joined to Christ (2 Cor 3:14). He is the center of the Sacred Scriptures: …and Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures (Lk 24:27). Thus, 'ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.' Therefore, the Sacred Scriptures are the 'soul' of Theology."

On February 4th and 5th, IVE priests and seminarians, sisters and guests gathered for the Fifth Annual Marie Joseph Lagrange Biblical Conference at the Bishop Fulton Sheen House of Studies in Chillum, MD.

The topics of most presentations centered on the Year for Priests, proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI from June 19, 2009 to June 11, 2010.

We were honored to have speakers from both here in the United States and abroad:

• Dr. Mark Zia, Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas, presented "Biblical Inspiration, Inerrancy, and the Ordained Ministry" and "Biblical Inspiration and the Eucharist";
• Fr. Frank Matera, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, presented "Christ in the Theology of Saint Paul";
• Dr. Joseph Atkinson, Pontifical John Paul II Institute, Washington, DC, presented "The Meaning of Genesis 1 and 2 in Terms of the Human Person and Rationality"; and
• Fr. Frederic Manns, OFM, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem, presented "A Jewish Reading of the Gospels (Status Quaestionis, Methodology, and Examples)" and "The Royal Priesthood in 1 Peter 2:1-10."