How to Read the Bible – A Three Step Plan (written for Catholics

How do you read the Bible? Today is the feast day of Saint Jerome, who once quipped, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” – Saint Jerome

It’s a running joke that if you want to find a Bible verse, you ought to ask a Protestant and not a Catholic. Protestants read the Bible. Catholics not so much.

This raises the question:

Why Don’t More Catholics Read the Bible?

I think the answer lies in the fact that we Catholics go to Mass. The Holy Mass has at least two Bible readings every time. If you pray the Breviary or Liturgy of Hours, multiply that several times.

Joe Catholic says to himself, “Why should I study the Bible? I go to Mass. I hear it there. Check and check.”

There is something beautiful in this. For Catholics, Bible reading is liturgical. Hence, Bible reading remains chiefly a community experience.

Three Step Plan to Kick It Up a Notch

It’s good to listen to the readings from the Bible at Holy Mass. However, we also need a personal (even private) encounter with God in the pages of Sacred Scripture. All of the saints breathed Sacred Scripture. Scripture served as the grammar for their souls. They couldn’t communicate without it.

Here are some basic spiritual needs that you have every single day of your life:

Praise – Voicing your delight in God and His provision for your life. Gratitude destroys discouragement.
Wisdom – You need practical advice to navigate the complexities of life.
Challenge – You need to be lifted higher. You need to grow in your faith. You need to be inspired. You must be an intentional Christian.

So when you wake up tomorrow, do the following:

Read a Psalm. Start with Psalm 1. Make it your anthem of praise for that day.
Read at least one Proverb. Proverbs are the wisdom morsels of your day. There are 31 chapters. Why not read one chapter every day during the month. Oct 1 is Provers 1. October 31 is Proverbs 31. You get the idea.
Read a chapter of the one of the Gospels. This is your challenge. Your Savior challenges you in the four Gospels. He calls you to be not merely a nominal Catholic but a disciple. You cannot seriously read the Gospels and stay lukewarm. Christ speaks in a way that cannot be ignored.

“But I’m so busy. I don’t have the time!”

What? You’re too busy. Sorry, you just got served a yellow card:

That’s a yellow card. You’ve been warned…

Doing these three readings will take you only 3-5 minutes. That’s the time of a commercial break. It will change your life for good. I promise. It takes 21 days to make a habit, so give it 21 days and see if you aren’t hooked. Put the Bible on your night stand and read it in the mornings. Start fresh.

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” – Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Church

According to your lamebrain graft there are no Catholics in the US military. Show me on the graft were the word Catholic is mentioned.

I did - at 1508

1,621 posted on 10/10/2013 4:18:15 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

And you certainly know I meant largest Christian denomination.

Sorry; but NO ONE can know what you 'mean'; but ONLY what you type.

I'm a SOLA type of guy; not having access to a MAGISTERIUM group to analyze what you REALLY meant.

1,622 posted on 10/10/2013 4:21:00 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

I am saying when the Bible was compiled the only Christians were Catholic. Therefore, Catholics COMPILED THE BIBLE.

Sorry, but projecting backward in history is NOT allowed (other than in the catholic mind).

The FACTS are that the Catholic Church did NOT start when the Catholic Church now CLAIMS that the Catholic Church started.

1,623 posted on 10/10/2013 4:23:15 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

Every Church father mentioned in the development of the Bible was Catholic.

Every pope mentioned in this list was CATHOLIC:

Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber.^[1]
Pope John XII (955–964), who gave land to a mistress, murdered several people, and was killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife.
Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048), who "sold" the Papacy
Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), who is lampooned in Dante's Divine Comedy
Pope Urban VI (1378–1389), who complained that he did not hear enough screaming when Cardinals who had conspired against him were tortured.^[2]
Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), a Borgia, who was guilty of nepotism and whose unattended corpse swelled until it could barely fit in a coffin.^[3]
Pope Leo X (1513–1521), a spendthrift member of the Medici family who once spent 1/7 of his predecessors' reserves on a single ceremony^[4]
Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), also a Medici, whose power-politicking with France, Spain, and Germany got Rome sacked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Popes

1,624 posted on 10/10/2013 4:25:43 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

And the truth is if Martin Luther had not lived and there had been no break up of God’s Church, you my friend would be a Catholic.

HA ha!

If the above list hadn't lived; then Luther would NOT have need to prod the 'church' into the COUNTER reformation!

1,625 posted on 10/10/2013 4:26:59 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

To: Revolting cat!

Why don’t you ask them instead of speculating?

1,626 posted on 10/10/2013 4:27:46 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

The bottom 3 had in the address p2; p3; p4 and I had assumed that the FIRST page was then called p1.

It wasn’t.

I had to go back to the source and then found it was called page1.

go figger!

1,627 posted on 10/10/2013 4:30:01 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

yeah, but protestants aren't centered anywhere

Oh, but they ARE!

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

He said, "Like what?"

I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"

He said, "Religious."

I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

He said, "Christian."

I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

He said, "Protestant."

I said, "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

He said, "Baptist!"

I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of GOD or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He said, "Baptist Church of GOD!"

I said, "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of GOD, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD?"

He said,"Reformed Baptist Church of GOD!"

I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915!"

I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

-- Emo Phillips

1,628 posted on 10/10/2013 4:32:05 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

I realize that there are a zillion misinterpretations of these ...

You SO right!!

Is Peter the 'rock'?

NIV Matthew 4:18-19
18. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

NIV Matthew 8:14
When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

NIV Matthew 10:1-2
1. He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

NIV Matthew 14:28-31
28. "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29. "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

NIV Matthew 15:13-16
13. He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.
14. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
15. Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
16. "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.

As you can see, Simon was already known as 'Peter'

BEFORE the following verses came along.....

NIV Matthew 16:13-18
13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14. They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15. "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16. Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17. Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
18. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

19. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

NIV 1 Corinthians 10:4
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

NIV Luke 6:48
He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

NIV Romans 9:33
As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

NIV 1 Peter 2:4-8
4. As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--
5. you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
7. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, "
8. and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.

But, since there WAS no NT at the time Christ spoke to Peter, just what DID Peter and the rest of the Disciples know about ROCKS???

NIV Genesis 49:24-25
24. But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25. because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb.

NIV Numbers 20:8
"Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."

NIV Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

NIV Deuteronomy 32:15
Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior.

NIV Deuteronomy 32:18
You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

NIV Deuteronomy 32:30-31
30. How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
31. For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.

NIV 1 Samuel 2:2
"There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

NIV 2 Samuel 22:2-3
2. He said: "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
3. my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-- from violent men you save me.

NIV 2 Samuel 22:32
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

NIV 2 Samuel 22:47
"The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!

NIV 2 Samuel 23:3-4
3. The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: `When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God,
4. he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'

NIV Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

NIV Psalms 18:31
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

NIV Psalms 18:46
The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!

NIV Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

NIV Psalms 28:1

To you I call, O LORD my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.

NIV Psalms 31:2-3
2. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
3. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

NIV Psalms 42:9
I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?"

NIV Psalms 62:2
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

NIV Psalms 62:6
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

NIV Psalms 62:7
My salvation and my honor depend on God ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

NIV Psalms 71:3
Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

NIV Psalms 78:35
They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

NIV Psalms 89:26
He will call out to me, `You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.'

NIV Psalms 92:14-15
14. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,
15. proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

NIV Psalms 95:1
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

NIV Psalms 144:1
Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

NIV Isaiah 17:10
You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.

NIV Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

NIV Isaiah 30:29
And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people go up with flutes to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

NIV Isaiah 44:8
Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

NIV Habakkuk 1:12
O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.

.....No other rock.............

And now you know the Biblical position!

1,629 posted on 10/10/2013 4:34:02 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

It's not meant as derogatory, no reason to get ones feelings hurt.

The victim class will ALWAYS find something!

1,630 posted on 10/10/2013 4:35:10 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

...It's not meant as derogatory, no reason to get ones feelings hurt.

And now they are Mormon!

1,631 posted on 10/10/2013 4:36:08 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

He lived in a sinful world for 333 years after His birth.

You're in trouble now!

1,632 posted on 10/10/2013 4:37:54 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

...Elsie, who should have been courtesy pinged since you mentioned his name.

ELSIE (the Great) can sniff out when people mention him. He thrives on the attention.

It means that perhaps - just perhaps - some of his enormous store of vast knowledge will be absorbed by the uninformed, as well as the mis-informed.

1,633 posted on 10/10/2013 4:41:19 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

Perhaps the math reveals a deeper offness.

1,634 posted on 10/10/2013 4:42:13 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

No, I don’t think you do.

Aw... shucks...

1,635 posted on 10/10/2013 4:45:18 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

She returned her soul to God two millennia ago, certainly.

Another MORMON teaching?

Pre-earth Life

Mormonism teaches that humans exist first as spirit babies: the offspring of God the Father and his wife(s). Spirit babies are sent down to earth and given a body through the conception of human parents.

1,636 posted on 10/10/2013 4:46:56 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

I’m more than okay with that. If it’s happening, I’d like to see it.

Well; this is NOT a 'broad' example, but Tery says that just ONE example should be sufficient...

To: metmom

“Why do I have a hard time believing you?”

Because hatred clouds your mind.

1,388 posted on Tuesday, October 08, 2013 4:56:25 PM by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)

1,637 posted on 10/10/2013 4:51:32 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

To: dsc; metmom; boatbums; caww; presently no screen name; smvoice; Greetings_Puny_Humans; HarleyD; ...

“I suppose the solution would be to ping you every time Prots are broadly maligned as you see being done to Catholics.” I’m more than okay with that. If it’s happening, I’d like to see it. Perhaps, though, we should agree in advance on a neutral arbiter who would decide whether comments made were indicative of bigotry.

I could give you links to the threads for all those examples (as well as false charges against me), but i doubt if anything would suffice, or it would result in keeping scorecards, and charges of bias towards the judge, and what "bigot" means. . And as we just saw here again, we are expected to believe the word of a Catholic over substantiated documentation, while RCs are even protesting the use of RCC! Leading metmom to say, "the church of the perpetually offended." Like liberals.

And in any case, what you protest is not against forum rules, which Catholics also violate on the RF, and the real issue is whether or how much the things you protest are warranted. But as the RF rules state (in part),

Posters may argue for or against beliefs, deities, religious authorities, etc. They may tear down other’s beliefs. They may ridicule. “Open” RF debate is often contentious.

It requires thick skin. A poster must be able to make his points while standing his ground, suffering adverse remarks about his beliefs - or letting them roll off his back.

Members of religions which are as much culture as belief sometimes take religious debate personally. If you keep getting your feelings hurt because other posters ridicule or disapprove or hate what you hold dear, then you are too thin-skinned to be involved in “open” RF debate. You should IGNORE “open” RF threads altogether and instead post to RF threads labeled “prayer” “devotional” “caucus” or “ecumenical.”

It is within the bounds of “open” Religion Forum town square style debate for a Freeper to express his hatred of a belief.

"Protestants are heretics" is not making it personal. "You are a heretic" is making it personal. "Catholics worship Mary" is not making it personal. "You worship Mary" is making it personal.

calling a group of Freepers "anti-Mormon" attributes motive to them as a group which is not technically "making it personal" - but saying that another Freeper, personally, is anti-Mormon instead of anti-MormonISM is an ad hominem. It is "making it personal."

1,638 posted on 10/10/2013 5:29:08 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)

Now THAT's funny, coming from a Catholic, considering the RCC's history of dealing with those who dare to disagree with it.

Indeed. And by how they protest words, what could we expect if they had the power of the sword of men. How easily that is forgotten.

1,639 posted on 10/10/2013 5:37:04 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)

About 37 posts in 11.5 minutes. You sure type faster than me!

1,640 posted on 10/10/2013 5:50:45 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)

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