Catholic Read the Bible in a Year
There are a lot of Cosmic stereotypes that don't brand a lot of sense to me. I've never understood the concept of Catholic guilt when Catholics have a corner on absolution. Nor take I seen whatever Catholic worship an idol. But the accusation that Catholics don't read the Bible rings rather more true.
Oh, nosotros hear the Bible, certainly — four readings every Sunday, and more throughout the liturgy. And we recite the Bible, though we may not realize that's what we're doing when we say our Hail Marys and Our Fathers. In fact, most everything we do as Catholics is shot through with Scripture. But when it comes to reading the Bible, really sitting down with God's Word and letting information technology speak to u.s.a. — well, the vast majority of united states of america leave that to our Protestant brothers and sisters.
But what a difference information technology makes! Reading past the end of the chapter to encounter how it all connects, or stopping at a verse that strikes y'all or actually — gasp — memorizing Scripture so that what runs through your head is a fiddling more Baruch and a little less Beyoncé. It'south life changing.
Aside from daily Mass and a delivery to silent prayer, the near of import spiritual practice I've adopted as a Christian has been spending time in Scripture every day. Last week I finished my 14thursday time through the Bible. The adjacent day I began again, pencil in paw. Information technology seems that the author of Hebrews wasn't exaggerating when he said "the Word of God is living and effective." I'one thousand always finding new insights, being shown new connections and falling more in dearest with the Lord as I come to know him better. For me, it'southward not plenty just to read the books that I enjoy or the readings offered me past the liturgy — I demand to wrestle with the difficult stuff and find meaning in the tedious stuff. And I demand to know it all — not but so I can argue with information technology merely so I tin alive and breathe and honey it. The merely fashion that's going to happen is if I'1000 in the Word every day. So that'due south what I practice.
The starting time time I read through the whole Bible, I started at Genesis and read until Revelation. It took me five years. Every subsequent time, I've managed information technology in a year. The problem with my cover-to-cover approach (among others) was that I'd get bogged down in Leviticus or Ezekiel and it was difficult to motivate myself to keep going. You may have tried this yourself. Nigh anybody I know who'south picked upwards the Bible at Genesis has put it downwardly before Joshua. You lot need something to break up the cubits and begats, something to continue you going when Ezekiel's watching wheels in wheels or when prophets continue spouting oracles against various nations you don't know. Not that it's not all inspired; I'm just not in a place where I can ever find it inspiring. What I need is a schedule, something that mixes in some of the easier books while still leading me through the harder ones.
This schedule does simply that. Information technology takes you lot through the whole Bible in a yr (and the Gospels twice), going chronologically through the Quondam Testament (more or less) with New Attestation books, with fun books like Ruth and Jonah interspersed throughout to mix things upwards. It also gives yous a chapter of some poetic stuff every day along with half a chapter of a Gospel.
Click here for printable schedule.
I will warn yous: I didn't showtime with the easy stuff. I tin ease you into the Bible by giving (relatively) simple, pleasant stuff first. My arroyo here wasn't to get out the hard stuff for the end but to put it in an guild that made sense. So if you've never read the Bible before at all, y'all could have ii days for each solar day on the schedule or start with just the Psalms and the Gospels. The important thing is to start.
I know we're a fiddling late for New Year'south resolutions, but now's as good a time every bit any to defy this stereotype. St. Jerome says, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." This yr, resolve to know him improve by reading the dearest letters he wrote you. Whether information technology's your first fourth dimension through the whole Bible or your 50th, you'll detect the Lord speaks love and mercy and confidence and glory every time you lot open up this book. Scripture is, every bit Pope St. Gregory I tells us, "a river, broad and deep, shallow plenty here for the lamb to go wading just deep enough there for the elephant to swim." Let'southward swoop in.
(If you print this schedule double-sided, you tin fold it up to fit in your Bible. And when you lot impress it, practice yourself a favor and print out my Bible timeline as well. It's one slice of paper that I proceed in my Bible at all times — a quick caption of how everything in the Old Testament connects to everything else. So when you lot're reading Hosea, you can take a quick look and meet that Hosea was prophesying to Israel before the Assyrian Exile. And you tin fifty-fifty run across that there are two kingdoms in the Old Testament, a fact that I missed until my third time through the Bible.)
Meg Hunter-Kilmer writes for her web log "Held past His Pierced Easily" and travels around the country speaking to youth and adults, leading retreats and parish missions.
Source: https://aleteia.org/2016/01/10/a-catholics-guide-to-reading-the-bible-in-a-year/
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