The Christian Scriptures proclaimed during the Sunday liturgy are semi-continuous readings from the Letters of Paul, James, Peter, and John. In these letters the authors usually begin with a greeting identifying the sender and the recipient. The opening prayer of thanksgiving is written in such a way that it prays about the subject that needs to be addressed by the community to which the letter was sent. The main body of the letter, then “breaks open” the teachings of Christ and examples of how to resolve particular issues in the community in a Christian way. Then the letter could talk about the writers personal travel plans or location. The author could then give one last bit of advice or council and then bid the recipients good bye.
What does the term “break open” mean in regards to scripture? So much of our scripture is metaphoric and this had rubbed off on people who work in the liturgy or Christian education field. The word break could mean to destroy, but it does not in this case. The idea behind the phrase break open could be more likened to opening a bottle of perfume and releasing its fragrance for all to enjoy. Once this fragrance is released into the air and people have experienced this aroma, no one can erase that memory of that fragrance. And so it is with scripture. Once we begin to peel back the layers of meaning to the scripture stories, we can’t go back to our previous way of understanding. We grow, we stretch, we bend, but we come away with fresh insight and something new to ponder until the next time someone offers a different perspective and the process begins all over again