Helpful Bible Study Hints

While reading Fr. Mark Carr's "A Holy Rule for Internet Communicators," I came across some suggestions to help us in our Scripture reading and sharing.  Actually he is discussing how Catholic Bloggers should conduct themselves.  For more on Catholic Bloggers, you can link to the real article, above, or my other blog, for my spin.

Use the three color pen method taught by Mons. Jonas Abib. (Monsignor Jonas learned that Pope John Paul II used the same method.)

This means:

a.) Underline any command forms directed to the reader in red. (i.e. Phillipians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord Always”)

b.) Underline any principles in black (i.e. 1John 4:8 “Who does not love does not know God, because God is love”)

c.) Underline any promises in green (i.e. Romans 8:11 “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”)

Actually I've seen Bibles that come with all the passages where Jesus is speaking, highlighted in yellow.  

My Bible is going to be pretty colorful.

GO!

Arise starts this week. If you're not assigned to a group or haven't heard from your leader, call Joe DePalo: 508 528-6609 DEPALO@comcast.net

To get ready, read Luke 24:13-35. This is what your group will be sharing.

Ten points for fruitful Scripture Reading.*

1. Catholics can read the Bible. They should read the Bible. The Church encourages Catholics to make reading the Bible part of their daily prayer lives.

2. Pray at the beginning and the end. Reading the Bible is not a novel. Begin with a prayer to open your mind to understanding.

3. Use a Catholic Bible. The King James Bible is missing 5 books that are in the Catholic Bible. Get the entire Catholic edition. A Catholic edition will have an imprimatur notice on the back of the title page. An imprimatur indicates that it is Catholic.

4. The Bible isn't a book. It's a library. The Bible is a collection of 73 books written over many centuries. The books include history, prophecy, poetry, songs, letters, accounts, and geneology.

5. What the Bible is and what it isn't. The Bible is the story of God's relationship with His people. It is not history, science or a political manifesto.

6. The sum is greater than the parts. Read the Bible in context. What happens before and after helps us understand better.

7. The Old relates to the New. The Old Testament shed lights on the New.

8. You aren't alone. By reading and reflecting on Sacred Scripture, Catholics join others who have put Bible reading in their lives. We read the Bible within the tradition of the Church to benefit from the holiness and wisdom of all the faithful.

9. What is God saying to me? The Bible is addressed to each one of us in our own unique situations. Ask, "What is God saying to me?"

10. Reading isn't enough. You need to meditate on the message and put it into action in your life.

* United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Bible

There's an an article in USCCB web site, by Mary Elizabeth Sperry on reading the Bible. She gives ten ways to read Scripture. These are very useful for all in the Arise program.

The two that my Arise group used were the praying at the beginning and end of the meeting, and discussing what God was saying to each of us.

That's what's so great about the Bible. It speaks to us individually. We each hear individually just what we need. That's why it's so neat to have the habit of reading Scripture.

And don't let anyone ever tell you that Catholics don't do that. Or that the Church discouraged private reading of the Bible before Vatican II. That is not the truth.

When the early church was just starting most people were illiterate, so the Bible had to be read and explained by the church. Also, books were expensive and had to be treasured, so they were protected from theft, not the people. The Bible was in Latin as was the custom of the times. You have to judge history by the culture and society of the times--not with our twentieth century eyes.

As the Mass was developed, so were the Scripture readings. Through the centuries we have the form of One Reading is Old Testament, then one of the Psalms, and then Readings from the New Testament. Through the ages, Mass goers would have heard this. And over the Church's three year liturgical cycle, the people hear almost all of the Bible.

Catholics may use the Bible differently than Protestants, but that doesn't mean that our knowledge of the Bible is less, or inferior. We weren't taught to memorize chapters and verses in Sunday School because our use of the Bible is different than most Protestants. Catholics use the Bible in worship, meditation, and study. Most Protestants use the Bible for knowledge in study and inspiration.

Catholics can tell the parable, the meaning, and faith share with the best. But we may not be able to give you the chapter and the verse number. That would be nice, even impressive, but we concentrate on the instruction, as instructed. (Rom 2: 28-29)

What Faith Sharing is Not

Today, I went to another training session for Arise, Season II. Someone asked a question, which I didn't hear, but I certainly heard the answer. Faith Sharing does not have a response. It is one person talking. No one else expands, corrects, or reaffirms. It is different from bible study, and discussion.

Bible Study involves study. Learning background, and reading, and more importantly, right answers from wrong answers.

Discussion involves two are more people talking about a certain subject.

Faith sharing is simply one person stating how Jesus has affected them. No one else says anything. It's their story.

Arise Together in Christ is "faith sharing."