In these 40 sermons on the Gospel, Gregory the Great can be seen as both pastor and preacher. He pays attention to the historical details of Scripture, seeks out its moral application to daily Christian life, and through it reflects on the hidden reality of God. He believed that the Christian study of the Scripture entailed a personal engagement with mystery and openness to transformation, as an attempt to achieve individual perception of the divine while one is still bound by earthly and bodily ties.
