Nearly 200 clergy and laypeople gathered on the pleasant grounds of Iona University in New Rochelle for the annual New York Catholic Bible Summit on Saturday, June 3.

Following sung liturgy of the hours, Dr. Michael Barber, professor of sacred scripture and theology at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado, began his presentation on “Old Testament Typology of the Eucharist.” 

Early in his talk, Barber reminded readers of a common statement about reading the Bible: “When we pray to God, He listens to us; when we read scripture, we listen to Him,” Barber said, quoting St. Augustine. “The Bible is not just what God said; It’s what God says right now, it is His Word to us,” he added.

Barber spoke at length about Exodus 16 and the story of manna from heaven as a Biblical foreshadowing of John 6, which tells the story of the multiplication of the loaves.

“Reading the Bible is a phenomenally powerful way to strengthen a friendship with Jesus,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, during Mass celebrated at the university’s Hynes Athletic Center. “Nothing comes close to the power of God’s word when proclaimed at the Mass,” Cardinal Dolan said.

In an emphatic afternoon keynote presentation that lasted almost an hour, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat returned to the themes of John 6, as a way of reinforcing the Eucharist in the presence, sacrifice, and foundation of the Church.

“What do the fathers [of the Church] say about the Eucharist as presence?” he asked. “The fathers of the Church give a united testimony regarding the Eucharist. Although expressed in different ways, they emphasize above all, the reality of Christ’s body and blood, that it is the sacrifice of Christ, and that it is a sacrament that brings about interior unity in the mystical body of Christ, and that it must be celebrated in union with the bishop,” he said, quoting Dr. Lawrence Feingold’s work, “The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, if the only time you pick up the Bible or hear the Word of God is when you to church, you are the problem,” Bishop Espaillat said, as part of seven points he made regarding the Eucharist and the Bible at the close of his talk.

Sister Cora Caeli, S.V., of the Sisters of Life, served as the M.C. for the day.

The day closed with Eucharistic adoration presided by Father Kareem Smith.