Read the Bible

The late Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to read at least a few verses of the Bible every day (related Vatican News article HERE). This Pope even suggested you take a pocket Bible with you wherever you go. The entire New Testament can be found in this pint size. And both Testaments are as close as your smart phone since there are Bibles online as well, such as in the version offered by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops HERE: The New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). Even though Bible passages are read at every mass, the repeating cycle of the liturgy doesn’t cover all of the book. It makes a difference to read the Bible in sequence, and even more so when there are study notes.

I just finished reading through the whole Bible, New and Old Testaments, for the second time. The first time was very long ago and I didn’t use study notes. There are different versions of the Bible, such as the King James (KJV) and New International (NIV). This time, using the NABRE, I read all the notes along with the Bible verses.

It is humbling to realize the extent of Biblical expertise that the writers of the study notes have. However, scholars can disagree, change their minds, and sometimes be wrong. Therefore the notes are not on the same level as the Bible itself, and if they disagree with the reader's faith understanding, they can be investigated further by means of the many books and commentaries that deeply explore aspects of the Bible. In general, though, the notes help the reader learn about the Lord, the persons described, the relationship between New and Old Testaments, etc. The study Bibles often have maps of the  background settings. It’s worthwhile to have these, although you can look up maps on the internet if you don’t have them in your particular Bible. 

The Bible is a long book, and with the study notes it seems twice as long. But it is incomparable in delving into the most intriguing aspects of reality – the truth and yet mystery of God and how He relates to us humans.

Image link HERE.

Cardinal Consistory

Pope Leo XIV called an “Extraordinary Consistory” of Catholic Cardinals from all over the world for January 7-8 (link to the article with photo is HERE). This event was held for support and guidance for Leo for the direction of the Church. At first, there were four possible topics presented, summarized as Evangelization, Liturgy, Synodality, and the Roman Curia service to the local churches. Due to time constraints, these were reduced to two, as reported in the article:

By a “clear majority,” the roughly 170 cardinals gathered for the Extraordinary Consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV—the first of his pontificate—voted for “Synod and synodality” and “Evangelization and mission in the Church in the light of Evangelii gaudium” as the themes on which to reflect during these two days of work.

I was glad to see the focus starts with Evangelization and Synodality. Though the other topics are important, the method to gain cooperation between conflicting ideas and opinions comes before them. And Evangelization is of utmost importance to the Church. It’s encouraging to see Catholic Cardinals from around the world agreeing on these matters.

Another Vatican News webpage describes some thoughts shared by Pope Leo to the Cardinals during the Consistory Mass HERE.