This is simply to say that it makes human flourishing or the life of virtue possible. Ignorance, not to mention mental disequilibrium, is an enemy of true freedom. We can only have a good practical judgment, i.e., be able to make good decisions and act well, when we are able to see things as they really are, the way God designed them and wants them to be. Study should help us to do this. But the virtuous life that study is meant to foster is not simply a life of prudence, justice, temperance and all that constitutes human flourishing.
Study is meant to foster the theological life, a living of the divine life.
It is a fruitful preparation for lectio divina in a variety of ways, not the least of which is the fact that it trains us to ask questions of what we are reading. And the right questions. In other words, study helps us to read the Scriptures within the context of the Catholic tradition and it helps to make lectio the intelligent dialogue that it is supposed to be. Study and Contemplation Study also nourishes contemplation. In other words, study is not simply a remote preparation for our goal of Trinitarian communion by making us morally good persons, although it should do this.