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. 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.