Catholic Readers discussion

What do you like to read every day to grow your faith? Is it Scripture itself, reflections by a saint, or some other book of reflections? Do you change this depending on the time of year? Do you read in the morning or some other time of the day?

Also: Do any of you use the Bible app from Youversion? Their new version offers sharing verses and discussion with friends and I'd love to have some people to share with me.

Ready, go! :D

Because of my journey back from the desert, and because of my admiration for Anglican priest John Polkinghorne and his efforts to merge science & religion, AND because of Fr. Dwight Longenecker's transformation from married man to Anglican priest to Catholic priest, I follow his blog daily (admittedly, because he's still a bit of an angry rebel, which we need in these troubled times when our government is marginalizing people of faith):

http://dwightlongenecker.com

1. Scripture - starting with Readings for the day.
2. Meditation for the day from the Magnificent
3. Excerpt from St. Escriva -->The Way, Furrow, The Forge

I start my day by praying the Divine Mercy chaplet on my rosary twice. Then my morning prayers and prayers for all the people on my prayer list. Then I read my Saint Paul Sunday Missal. I read through it like a book, several pages every day, all the way to the end and then start over. I also keep my personal prayers and prayer list in it. After that I read scripture. At the moment I'm reading the Book of Ezekiel. The books of the prophets in the Old Testament are my favs.

I have to admit that I have been lax in reading the Bible. However, i do read the scriptures from the Daily Missal in Reading God's Word 2014-2015 - Daily Mass Readings for Year B and will begin the new edition, Reading God's Word 2016, next Sunday on the first Sunday of Advent.

Although it is not a daily reader, I have been reading Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Frances de Sales at night before going to bed.

Coco wrote: "What do you like to read every day to grow your faith? Is it Scripture itself, reflections by a saint, or some other book of reflections? Do you change this depending on the time of year? Do you re..."

Where do you get this Youversion? I searched for it on the Google Play Store and it was not available.

I read the daily Mass readings and the 2 readings from the Office of Readings of the Divine Office. I am thinking about elaborating on my routine on my blog site New Walden. Org. I am thinking that I might share my program with others and invite them to participate beginning with the new liturgical year, the first SUNDAY of Advent.

I decided that I need to get on with reading the Bible to contradict the "Catholics don't know their Bible" stereotype. So for about a year now, maybe a little less, I read a bolded heading of the Bible every night. Sometimes that's a paragraph, sometimes a whole chapter! I'm on the book of Numbers right now.

I don't know how much it's helping to make me "grow in faith." Right now, I can see why people put down their Bibles. Leviticus and Numbers are not the most exciting things in the world.

It is most definitely helping you grow in faith! As a Christian I firmly believe that. On certain days, certain events will make you look back on that passage and go "Ah ha!"

Emily, you can't fully understand the Mass liturgy or the Daily Office or the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" unless you know the Bible. When you've read every word in the Old and New Testament, Mass will never be the same again. You'll see much of what we say comes from Isaiah or the New Testament. Every time the Responsorial Psalm is read, you'll go, "I know that one!" It makes your entire faith come alive because you'll realize the Church is built on the Word. And you'll understand much more about the passion of Jesus and why it had to happen that way. You'll know this because as you read the Old Testament you'll see all the covenants (Laws of Operation) God put in place to give us a safety net. Those covenants are still in operation, which will finally explain to you why certain things happen in life the way they do. So keep at it. You will be thoroughly blessed by your commitment to read the Bible!

Emily wrote: "I decided that I need to get on with reading the Bible to contradict the "Catholics don't know their Bible" stereotype. So for about a year now, maybe a little less, I read a bolded heading of the ..."
Hi Emily,
I started a Bible reading program a number of years ago and managed to get through the entire thing. But if I had started with the Old Testament, I am not sure I would have been successful. For Christians, the New Testament is the key to understanding the whole Bible, so it is good to begin there. By reading and studying the New Testament first, your reading of the Old will bear more fruit.

Also, I did not begin with the Gospels because I felt that the stories and parables they contained had become worn out or stale in my mind from overexposure. (Homilies tend to emphasize them and neglect other parts of Scripture.)

I thought that if I started with the Epistles, they would give me fresh eyes with which I could become reintroduced to the Gospels. And I didn't start with St. Paul either—especially not Romans. All too complicated to start out with. Even St. Peter agreed that Paul's letters were complicated!

I think that an excellent starting place for a fruitful Bible study is the Catholic Epistles: the ones by James, Peter, John, and Jude. These are shorter, and they amount to authoritative summaries of the Gospel message—Apostolic book reports on the Gospels, if you will. Sort of a Cliff Notes to the Bible written by the Apostles themselves!

This approach worked for me. The Epistles gave me a fresh perspective on the Gospels and a deeper appreciation of their rich content and wisdom, which forty years of bad homilies almost managed to efface completely.

I am actually starting an online Bible Study group for Advent at my website: http://newwalden.org/2015/12/04/the-r...

Good luck with your Bible study!

John

Emily wrote: "I decided that I need to get on with reading the Bible to contradict the "Catholics don't know their Bible" stereotype. So for about a year now, maybe a little less, I read a bolded heading of the ..."

I do not know if you have access to any bible studies where you are, but Jeff Cavins' Bible Timeline study absolutely opened up the Bible to me. I went online to his website and found one 50 miles from me. (That was the closest at the time.) I was able to travel that distance and completed the study. Since there were no bible studies in my area, and I think it's important to get together with people for discussion, I continued my studies through that church. I'm now getting ready to start a bible study in my own parish using the Jeff Cavins materials. It has been absolutely worth it.

I read the Bible every morning and it is such a blessing to open myself to what the Holy Spirit wants me to see each day.

Barbara wrote: "I read the Bible every morning and it is such a blessing to open myself to what the Holy Spirit wants me to see each day."

I agree

Tina wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I read the Bible every morning and it is such a blessing to open myself to what the Holy Spirit wants me to see each day."

I agree"

Thanks for sharing, Tina. Do you have a favorite bible passage?

Psalm 4: 4-5
Be angry and do not sin. Mediate within your heart on your bed and be still. Off the sacrifices of rightousness , and put your trust in the Lord.

I keep this by my desk.

Tina wrote: "Psalm 4: 4-5
Be angry and do not sin. Mediate within your heart on your bed and be still. Off the sacrifices of rightousness , and put your trust in the Lord.

I keep this by my desk."

Thanks for sharing. Psalm 4 is a great one. My favorite is "I am the Vine and you are the branches...apart from me you can do nothing." John 15%

Which is indeed so true.

See, I went to a Catholic high school and had a really great theology teacher who outlined why the Old Testament is important (types and antitypes and the series of covenants and stuff like that). So I get why I'm reading Scripture and the general gist of how to read scripture. Still, that doesn't make the description of the offerings of the princes of Israel (all the same, by the way) any more exciting to read.

Emily wrote: "See, I went to a Catholic high school and had a really great theology teacher who outlined why the Old Testament is important (types and antitypes and the series of covenants and stuff like that). ..."

Thanks for sharing, Emily. Some scripture passages can be pretty dry, but we never know when the Spirit will speak to us. I remember waking up at 3 am once and not being able to go back to sleep. I opened my bible to 1st Chronicles "Duties of the temple workers" and I thought, "This is good; it will put me back to sleep." Instead, I was reminded that St. Paul told us we are temples of the Holy Spirit and I started reading the temple workers jobs and seeing how they relate to how we can take care of ourselves in the here and now. I ended up designing a Day of Reflection around it (I am an author/speaker/retreat facilitator)The insights God can give us are amazing. Praise God.

I am always an early riser, and my first thought are words from Psalm 19: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart (and my words on the page) be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." Of course the words in parentheses are inserted by me. :)

I usually daily read the daily readings of the Bible because I believe every Christian should know the holy Bible very well as nourish our soul and I admit to fight the stereotype that Catholics don't know the Bible and to know to how to defend the faith by holy scripture.

I usually daily read the daily readings of the Bible because I believe every Christian should know the holy Bible very well as nourish our soul and I admit to fight the stereotype that Catholics don't know the Bible and to know to how to defend the faith by holy scripture.

I usually daily read the daily readings of the Bible because I believe every Christian should know the holy Bible very well as nourish our soul and I admit to fight the stereotype that Catholics don't know the Bible and to know to how to defend the faith by holy scripture.

I usually daily read the daily readings of the Bible because I believe every Christian should know the holy Bible very well as nourish our soul and I admit to fight the stereotype that Catholics don't know the Bible and to know to how to defend the faith by holy scripture.

Just bear in mind that not everything the church teaches is in the Bible. There is much that is taught from sacred Tradition such as Mary's immaculate conception, her assumption into heaven and her crowning as Queen of heaven. Things like this you need to be able to show where the early church fathers believed and taught what became sacred Tradition from the very beginnings of the church. While I am keeping up with my daily readings and Bible study, the early church fathers is where my focus is right now.

I know this Jeffrey...I also have a copy of the Catechism, the didache and a book on the church fathers.

I know this Jeffrey...I also have a copy of the Catechism, the didache and a book on the church fathers.

I would recommend "Magnificat" to anyone :)

I like Give Us This Day. There is everything in it from daily readings, scripture meditation, prayers, life of saints. I feel God speaking to me through it.

Sarah wrote: "I like Give Us This Day. There is everything in it from daily readings, scripture meditation, prayers, life of saints. I feel God speaking to me through it."

I personally think you have put your finger on the most important thing-the reader we often prefer is the one that most connects us with God.I haven't yet seen "This is the Day"but it sounds as if it gives you a 'balanced spiritual diet!' :)

Magnificat is excellent. I, too, have gone through some of Jeff Cavins' Bible studies and found them to be greatly beneficial. I do have another daily reference book that comes every month. Can't remember the name of it. I recently purchased a Didache Bible that is fantastic because at the bottom of the page there are references to the Catechism and sometimes things the saints of the popes have said about a particular passage. Really handy and helpful.