The Words of Life

Herod was overjoyed at seeing Jesus; for a long time he had been eager to have sight of Him, because he had heard so much of Him, and now he hoped to witness some miracle of His. And he questioned Him in many words. But He answered him nothing. Luke 23:8-9

Herod received the Lord with loud laughter as an enchanter and conjurer. In this dreadful misconception he commenced to examine and question Him, persuaded that he could thereby induce Him to work some miracle to satisfy his curiosity. But the Master of wisdom and prudence, standing with an humble reserve before His most unworthy judge, answered him not a word. For on account of his evil–doing he well merited the punishment of not hearing the words of life, which he would certainly have heard if he had been disposed to listen to them with reverence. — Venerable Mary of Agreda “Mystical City of God”

Bishops of Rome on Holy Scripture

Pope Francis

I love my old Bible, which has accompanied me half my life. It has been with me in my times of joy and times of tears. It is my most precious treasure. I live out of it, and I wouldn’t give anything in the world for it.Prologue to German edition of YouCat Bible

Pope Benedict XVI

“The Word of the Lord abides for ever.” This Word is the Gospel which was preached to you” (1 Pet 1:25; cf. Is 40:8). With this assertion from the First Letter of Saint Peter, which takes up the words of the Prophet Isaiah, we find ourselves before the mystery of God, who has made himself known through the gift of his Word. This Word, which abides for ever, entered into time. God spoke his eternal Word humanly; his Word ‘became flesh’ (Jn 1:14). This is the good news. Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini

Saint Pope John Paul II

[Sacred Scripture] is truly divine, because it belongs to God truly and genuinely: God himself inspired it, God confirmed it, God spoke it through the sacred writers – Moses, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Apostles – and, above all, through his Son, our only Lord, in both the Old and the New Testament.Apostolic Letter Patres Ecclesiae

Pope Leo XIII

Among the reasons for which the Holy Scripture is so worthy of commendation – in addition to its own excellence and to the homage which we owe to God’s Word – the chief of all is, the innumerable benefits of which it is the source; according to the infallible testimony of the Holy Ghost Himself, who says: “All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.”Encyclical on the Study of Holy Scripture

Indulgences attached to Scripture reading

TeachingConditionsIndulgenced work

An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment for sins, whose guilt is forgiven, which a properly disposed member of the Christian faithful obtains under certain and clearly defined conditions through the intervention of the Church, which, as the minister of Redemption, dispenses and applies authoritatively the treasury of the expiatory works of Christ and the Saints.

An indulgence is partial or plenary according to whether it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.

To gain indulgences, whether plenary or partial, it is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed.

Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.

To gain plenary indulgence, in addition to excluding all attachment to sin, even venial sin, it is necessary to perform indulgenced work and fulfil following three conditions:

Sacramental Confession
Eucharistic Communion
Prayer for intentions of Sovereign Pontiff (one Our Father and one Hail Mary suffice, though choice of prayer is left to faithful).

Single Confession suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences; but Holy Communion and the prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father are needed to gain each plenary indulgence.

Three conditions may be fulfilled several days before of after indulgenced work, though it is fitted to receive Holy Communion and pray for Holy Father on the same day the indulgenced work is performed.

If any of the conditions of gaining plenary indulgence is not met, then partial indulgence is obtained.

Under general conditions a plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who read the Sacred Scriptures as spiritual reading, from a text approved by competent authority and with the reverence due to the Divine Word, for at least a half an hour; if the time is less, the indulgence will be partial.
To check approved versions of Sacred Scriptures in England and Wales go to website