The Bible in a Year

with Fr. Mike Schmitz and Jeff Cavins, reading The Great Adventure Bible


Contents


The Bible Timeline

  1. ▬▬▬▬▬ Early World: Genesis 1-11 (color of creation)
  2. ▬▬▬▬▬ Patriarchs: Genesis 12-50 (God's blood covenant with Abraham)
  3. ▬▬▬▬▬ Egypt and Exodus: Exodus (the Red Sea)
  4. ▬▬▬▬▬ Desert Wanderings: Numbers (color of the desert)
  5. ▬▬▬▬▬ Conquest & Judges: Joshua, Judges, 1 Samual 1-8 (green hills of Canaan)
  6. ▬▬▬▬▬ Royal Kingdom: 1 Samuel 9-31, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11 (the color of royalty)
  7. ▬▬▬▬▬ Divided Kingdom: 1 Kings 12-22, 2 Kings 1-16 (Israel's darkest period)
  8. ▬▬▬▬▬ Exile: 2 Kings 17-25 (Judah "singing the blues" in Babylon)
  9. ▬▬▬▬▬ Return: Ezra, Nehemiah (Judah returning home to brighter days)
  10. ▬▬▬▬▬ Maccabean Revolt: 1 Maccabees (fire in the oil lamps in the purified Temple)
  11. ▬▬▬▬▬ Messianic Fulfillment: Luke (the gifts of the Magi)
  12. ▬▬▬▬▬ The Church: Acts (the spotless bride of Christ)

Resources

Some Themes and Take-aways

  • Give the Lord your firstfruits, especially the firstfruits of your time
  • "You shall be my people and I shall be your God"
  • We are always tempted to idolatry (usually making good things ultimate things)
  • Be faithful to the Lord, always

Progress

Just for fun, the chart below shows my progress in 2022. I started listening to the Bible in a Year podcast late in February (see Inspiration for "Bible in a Year"), so I was already 35 days behind. The straight segments are stretches of not listening, which were especially bad from May to July. I kicked it into high gear in October to finish by the the end of the year.

Notes

Early World

  • Turquoise for the earth from space
  • Genesis 1-11: Hebrew poetry

Day 1: 2022-02-05-Sat - Gn-01, Gn-02, Ps-19

  • all of human rights is founded in Genesis 1, God created the world out of love rather than violence and domination

Day 2: 2022-02-06-Sun - Gn-03, Gn-04, Ps-104

Day 3: 2022-02-07-Mon - Gn-05, Gn-06, Ps-136

  • Cain's line (daughters of men) and Seth's line (son's of God) split
    • Seth walks in the way of the Lord but Cain did not
    • Seth's line is in God's image and likeness, but not Cain's line which produces murders and polygamists
    • from Walking with God book
  • Marrying someone determines so much of the trajectory of your life, and their intermarrying had huge consequences
  • Even if the culture around us is broken, we can still walk with God like Noah did

Day 4: 2022-02-07-Mon - Gn-07, Gn-08, Gn-09, Ps-01

  • "The covenant between God and mankind is interwoven with reminders of God's gift of human life and man's murderous violence" (CCC 2260)
  • Ham sings against Noah by laying with his wife (an act of domination over him), leading to the breaking of that family (Gn-09): families are consistently broken

Day 5: 2022-02-07-Mon - Gn-10, Gn-11, Ps-02

  • Pursue excellence, not for our own sake (Tower of Babel) but for God (like St. Maximilian Kolbe who's prayer before ordination was to be a saint, and a great saint)

The Patriarchs

  • Burgundy for blood
  • Genesis 12-50
  • Toledote (sp?) is the Hebrew literary mechanism to zoom in from the big picture to an individual person as demonstrated in the biblical genealogies
  • The brokenness of the Bible reflects the brokenness in our lives
  • The Hebrew writers don't always tell you what happens or what the consequences are, but shows us, so we need to look for patterns
  • Letter to you individually, Fulfillment in Heaven
  • Prayer of St. Ephraim: take in what we can and don't be overwhelmed!
  • Listen to scripture: "faith comes by hearing" (Rom-10)

Day 6: 2022-02-08-Tue - Gn-12, Gn-13, Jb-01, Jb-02, Prv-01

  • Even Abram, the father of faith, is broken (shown here in passing off his wife as his sister so Pharaoh can take her as his wife)
  • Gn-13: But Abram shows his faithfulness in taking the opposite of whatever land Lot wants so there is no strife between them, trusting in the Lord to provide
  • Jb-01-Jb-01: Job's first response to suffering is to worship the Lord

Day 7: 2022-02-08-Tue - Gn-14, Gn-15, Jb-03, Jb-04, Prv-01

  • Gn-14: Melchizedek the priest offers sacrifice of bread and wine, prefiguring Christ
  • God passed though the pieces of dead animals (signifying the covenant) even though Abram did not: he is taking our failings on him as he did in the person of Jesus

Day 8: 2022-02-09-Wed - Gn-16, Gn-17, Jb-05, Jb-06, Prv-01

  • Circumcision is the sign of surrender to the Lord God
  • Job just wants God to be with him in his suffering

Day 9: 2022-02-09-Wed - Gn-18, Gn-19, Jb-07, Jb-08, Prv-02

  • Gn-19: The story of Lot’s daughters getting him drunk and then lying with him to beget offspring: the Bible tends to show us something is wrong rather than telling us, here in the degeneracy of the Moabites and Ammonites

Day 10: 2022-02-10-Thu - Gn-20, Gn-21, Jb-09, Jb-10, Prv-02

  • Gn-20: Abraham again tried to pass off Sarah as merely his sister, but God came to Abimelech in a dream and thus preserved him from sin. How many times does God protect us from sin without our even knowing it?
  • And yet sometimes he allows us to fail to teach us to trust him and so we can learn what it is to be loved even when we fail.

Day 11: 2022-02-11-Fri - Gn-22, Gn-23, Jb-11, Jb-12, Prv-02

  • Isaac cooperated with his father in the sacrifice, just as Christ did in his sacrifice. This is a story about how the father and son cooperate together to bring about salvation.
  • Abraham is the father of faith because when it came down to it he was willing to trust God.

Day 12: 2022-02-12-Sat - Gn-24, Jb-13, Jb-14, Prv-02

  • The story of Abraham’s servant finding Rebecca for Isaac’s wife is all about God’s Providence: it’s always there even when we’re walking in the darkness

Day 13: 2022-02-13-Sun - Gn-25, Gn-26, Jb-15, Jb-16, Prv-02

  • Isaac does the exact same thing with the same person trying to pass off his wife as his sister: we fall into the same traps again and again
  • Esau trades his birth right to Jacob for a bowl of porridge: if we say yes to anything other than God we are trading in our inheritance

Day 14: 2022-02-15-Tue - Gn-27, Gn-28, Jb-17, Jb-18, Prv-03

  • Isaac didn’t take the blessing back after he was deceived: you can’t undo the sacraments
  • parents: give your children the gift of harmony and unity by making them know that you love them and don't have preferences among them

Day 15: 2022-02-17-Thu - Gn-29, Gn-30, Jb-19, Jb-20, Prv-03

  • Jacob and Rachel and Leah: God uses our brokenness to bring about his plans

Day 16: 2022-02-18-Fri - Gn-31, Gn-32, Jb-21, Jb-22, Prv-03

  • Elaphaz’s understanding of suffering: you reap what you sow. This is a true but partial understanding of suffering.
  • God’s perfect call permissive will. Don’t offer our explanations for others suffering but just be with them.

Day 17: 2022-02-19-Sat - Gn-33, Gn-34, Jb-23, Jb-24, Prv-03

  • Jacob’s life had been one of theft and deceit, but it’s the love of God that blesses Jacob
  • Jacob returns the “blessing” to Esau as an act of restoration and forgiveness

Day 18: 2022-02-19-Sat - Gn-35, Gn-36, Jb-25, Jb-26, Prv-03

  • God still blesses Esau (through his descendants), as he is of Abraham

Day 19: 2022-02-20-Sun - Gn-37, Jb-27, Jb-28, Prv-03

  • story of Joseph and his brothers: often our sense of justice can be twisted to jealousy, envy, and resentment…but the cure is gratitude
  • these stories reveal our hearts to us in their brokenness

Day 20: 2022-03-07-Mon - Gn-38, Jb-29, Jb-30, Prv-03

  • Judah means praise, and praise always goes first
  • Tamar is in Jesus family line, the brokenness is there

Day 21: 2022-03-07-Mon - Gn-39, Gn-40, Jb-31, Jb-32, Prv-03

  • Joseph is righteous, and God is with him. He lives like a righteous person and not like a victim

Day 22: 2022-03-08-Tue - Gn-41, Gn-42, Jb-33, Jb-34, Prv-04

Day 23: 2022-03-11-Fri - Gn-43, Gn-44, Jb-35, Jb-36, Prv-04

  • We are broken, but we can change: see the brothers of Joseph, and Judah placing his life on the like for his father and brother

Day 24: 2022-03-12-Sat - Gn-45, Gn-46, Jb-37, Jb-38, Prv-04

  • Joseph reveals himself to his brothers
  • We weep in joy because we know what could have happened otherwise

Day 25: 2022-03-13-Sun - Gn-47, Gn-48, Jb-39, Jb-40, Ps-16

  • God reveals to Job that there is a bigger story happening and even if you can’t understand it, this moment has meaning
  • Some suffering helps us repent, grow in wisdom, grow more compassionate, but some suffering is redemptive suffering
  • The mystery of the Cross: God knows the full story even when we cannot possibly see it

Day 26: 2022-03-13-Sun - Gn-49, Gn-50, Jb-41, Jb-42, Ps-17

  • Gn-50: “Be not afraid!”
  • God’s permissive will: you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good
  • Israel’s blessing of Judah is a prophecy of Jesus
  • Job: the answer for pain and suffering is God himself
  • God’s answer to the question of suffering and evil is himself, the broken and bloodied face of Jesus

Egypt and Exodus

  • Exodus is after 400 years of being in Egypt after Joseph
  • At Sinai Israel receives the tabernacle and the law
  • In Jesus' day, children started their study with Leviticus because it talks about holiness: “be holy as I am holy”; imitation is the foundation of discipleship

Day 27: 2022-03-13-Sun - Ex-01, Ex-02, Lv-01, Ps-44

  • The Old Testament shows us how deeply God loves his people
  • Leviticus in many ways prefigures the mass

Day 28: 2022-03-13-Sun - Ex-03, Lv-02, Lv-03, Ps-45

  • Exodus: God sets us free so we can worship him
  • Leviticus: God has created us and given us everything we need to worship him properly

Day 29: 2022-03-13-Sun - Ex-04, Ex-05, Lv-04, Ps-46

Day 30: 2022-03-14-Mon - Ex-06, Ex-07, Lv-05, Ps-47

  • Exodus: God continually reminds us that he is the Lord our God
  • Leviticus: When we sin, it hurts the whole church, but God will “go down in price” and do whatever he needs to give us his mercy; offer what you have to him even if only a little

Day 31: 2022-03-14-Mon - Ex-08, Lv-06, Ps-48

  • The Bible (and healthy community) can be a flashlight, a mirror, or sandpaper to ourselves ^30b73d

Day 32: 2022-03-14-Mon - Ex-09, Lv-07, Ps-49

  • God hardening pharaohs heart is not taking his Free Will. Think of the sun which either melts wax or hardens clay, each according to its disposition

Day 33: 2022-03-15-Tue - Ex-10, Ex-11, Lv-08, Ps-50

  • The plagues demonstrate God’s power over the false gods of Egypt
  • God tells us how to worship him, which I why Moses needs to take everything with him to be prepared for how he will ask to be worshiped
  • Leviticus and Hebrews together show the priesthood

Day 34: 2022-03-16-Wed - Ex-12, Lv-09, Ps-114

  • The Passover lamb prefigures Christ (is a type for Christ)
  • Egyptian homes had stone doorposts they inscribed their names on so they were covering their names with the blood of the lamb

Day 35: 2022-03-18-Fri - Ex-13, Ex-14, Lv-10, Ps-53

  • Holiness means to be set apart
  • Our fear of the Lord means we are taking God seriously
  • Exodus Ex-14: "The Lord will fight for you; you have only to keep still."

Day 36: 2022-03-19-Sat - Ex-15, Ex-16, Lv-11, Ps-71

  • Leviticus Lv-11: "you shall be holy, because I am holy."
  • Exodus: God trains his people, the food will spoil but not if you honor the sabat

Day 37: 2022-03-19-Sat - Ex-17, Ex-18, Lv-12, Ps-73

  • Exodus: the scriptures attest to the miraculous
  • Leviticus: unclean is not morally bad

Day 38: 2022-03-20-Sun - Ex-19, Ex-20, Lv-13, Ps-74

  • God’s covenant is an exchange of persons, with no conditions
  • God establishes covenant prior to commandment; relationship prior to rules

Day 39: 2022-03-21-Mon - Ex-21, Lv-14, Ps-75

  • Discussion of slavery is concerning: but God has to start somewhere and lead Israel to salvation

Day 40: 2022-03-21-Mon - Ex-22, Lv-15, Ps-76

  • The laws of restitution are laws of justice, moderating vengeance
  • Leviticus' laws of bodily emissions are important because of life and relationships and we need to be careful with these thing and exercise restraint

Day 41: 2022-03-22-Tue - Ex-23, Lv-16, Ps-77

  • Ps-77: I am so troubled I can barely speak
  • Preferential option for the poor: neither commit injustice against the poor or for the poor: balance
  • Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy all foreshadow the sacrifice of the mass

Day 42: 2022-03-26-Sat - Ex-24, Lv-17, Lv-18, Ps-78

  • We participate in Exodus in the mass
  • Leviticus laws on sexuality: some parts of the law are temporary, but some are permanent and not conditional

Day 43: 2022-03-26-Sat - Ex-25, Ex-26, Lv-19, Ps-79

  • Lv-19: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
  • Refrain: I am the Lord your God

Day 44: 2022-03-27-Sun - Ex-27, Ex-28, Lv-20, Ps-119

  • Ps-119: Give me life O Lord according to your word
  • Exodus: the vestments are meant to obscure the identity of the priest and glorify God

Day 45: 2022-03-27-Sun - Ex-29, Lv-21, Ps-119

  • Ps-119: I have gone astray like a lost sheep, Lord seek me out

Day 46: 2022-03-28-Mon - Ex-30, Ex-31, Lv-22, Ps-115

  • The priesthood is set apart, available to all but tied to none
  • ex-31: “I have filled him with the spirit of God” - God fills us with his spirit to do our labor; when you do work with the spirit of God, even ordinary work becomes extraordinary

Day 47: 2022-03-28-Mon - Ex-32, Lv-23, Ps-80

  • The golden calf: our hearts are ready to make idols out of anything
  • Here is the establishment of the Leviticus priesthood

Day 48: 2022-03-28-Mon - Ex-33, Ex-34, Lv-24, Ps-81

  • Moses is a mediator between God and man, prefiguring the perfect mediator in the human person of Jesus
  • Exodus vs 15-16: what makes the people distinct is nothing about them but the fact that God is with them, If God were to leave us we would be extinct
  • The proper response to God’s presence is that we live differently by living the commandments

Day 49: 2022-03-30-Wed - Ex-35, Ex-36, Lv-25, Ps-82

  • The worship God instructs us to offer him does something for us
  • When we invent worship, we are doing it wrong

Day 50: 2022-03-30-Wed - Ex-37, Ex-38, Lv-26, Ps-83

  • Offerings: what if we gave to God not out of obligation but out of our free will?
  • God as a good father allows punishments to come upon our disobedience because he wants more for us

Day 51: 2022-04-01-Fri - Ex-39, Ex-40, Lv-27, Ps-84

  • End of Exodus: God makes the ordinary holy
  • Leviticus: the things we give to the Lord (ie the first fruits of our time) we should not take back
  • Nothing given to the Lord is ever wasted

Desert Wanderings

  • Tan for desert
  • How do you live your life when you’re in a country opposed to God: 1) love God above everything and 2) diligently teach your children
  • Numbers 6 is the priestly blessing
  • Numbers 33 is a summary of Israel’s journey
  • Dt-06 is the most famous verse in the entire Hebrew Bible

Day 52: 2022-04-02-Sat - Nm-01, Dt-01, Ps-85

  • Deuteronomy: Moses gives God’s law knowing that the people will be unfaithful but so that may know that and return to God

Day 53: 2022-04-02-Sat - Nm-02, Dt-02, Ps-87

  • Numbers: God gives us order and identity

Day 54: 2022-04-02-Sat - Nm-03, Dt-03, Ps-88

  • We just want to be done, to be home, but sometimes the Lord says to wait
  • Example of Moses: we can be faithful for many years but our actions still have consequences
  • Ps-89: Every other Psalm ends with hope, except psalm 88; Jesus prayed this in prison when abandoned by all his friends

Day 55: 2022-04-03-Sun - Nm-04, Nm-04, Ps-89

  • John Henry Newman in Meditations and Devotions (link) #wishlist
  • >God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his—if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

Day 56: 2022-04-05-Tue - Nm-05, Dt-05, Ps-90

  • "Plus 1" theory of education; the Lord leads his people

Day 57: 2022-04-06-Wed - Nm-06, Dt-06, Ps-91

  • the Nazarite vow: dedicating yourself to the Lord for a time (I.e. Sampson and John the Baptist)
  • Nm-06 the Aaronic blessing in numbers is a wonderful prayer to pray over your children
  • Dt-06 the shamat: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!"; the rules are empty without the relationship with God

Day 58: 2022-04-07-Thu - Nm-07, Dt-07, Ps-92

  • Deuteronomy: instructed to destroy the people of Canaan not out of vengeance but because Israel is a people set apart that needs to be not like the world

Day 59: 2022-04-07-Thu - Nm-08, Nm-09, Dt-08, Ps-93

  • Numbers: we can’t except ourselves from Mass, if we do so we are cutting ourselves off from God

Day 60: 2022-04-07-Thu - Nm-10, Dt-09, Ps-10

  • Numbers is the narrative book into the wilderness; we go when God says to go and stay when he says to stay
  • Numbers: wilderness of Sinai, wilderness of Hannan, wilderness of Moab

Day 61: 2022-04-09-Sat - Nm-11, Dt-10, Ps-33

  • God has set his heart in love upon us

Day 62: 2022-04-10-Sun - Nm-12, Nm-13, Dt-11, Ps-94

  • We have crosses, crucifixes, icons, all to remind us of what God has done for us

Day 63: 2022-04-10-Sun - Nm-14, Dt-12, Ps-95

  • Nm-14: "Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even until now.” (cf Ps-51)

Day 64: 2022-04-10-Sun - Nm-15, Dt-13, Ps-96

  • Numbers: Your children will have to fight because you are unwilling to fight: we need to take up arms against whatever enslaves us so our children can fight the battles they are meant to fight, not our battles we were unwilling to fight
  • God gives the law, despite sounding harsh, so that Israel may be set apart and not of the world

Day 65: 2022-04-14-Thu -

  • Israel was addicted to their past and to comfort; we need to be cured from this addiction

Day 66: 2022-04-16-Sat -

  • The witnesses must be the first to throw a stone

Day 67: 2022-04-16-Sat -

  • The tribe of Levi received the tithe from the people, but must also tithe from that to the Lord
  • The cities of refuge for people who accidentally murder

Day 68: 2022-04-16-Sat -

  • Hyssop always reminds us of Christ because he was offered wine on a sprig of hyssop
  • Moses’ anger loses him the ability to see the promised land: leaders are held to a higher standard
  • Gal-03 shows us how Christ redeemed us from the law (hanging on a tree): Jesus took the curse that belongs to us and took it upon himself to turn it into a blessing

Day 69: 2022-04-16-Sat -

  • Saved by bronze serpent lifted up just as we are saved by Christ lifted up on the cross

Day 70: 2022-04-16-Sat -

  • The talking donkey!
  • Ps-105#v21 is the St. Joseph prayer: "he made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions"

Day 71: 2022-04-18-Mon -

  • God’s law gives us not what we expect, but what we need

Day 72: 2022-04-24-Sun -

  • Phinehas kills the couple having sex in the holy tent
  • We should give our tithe: our first fruits to the care of the poor

Day 73: 2022-04-24-Sun -

  • Numbered at the end of Numbers to prepare for battle
  • Land is given by lot, not by preference

Day 74: 2022-05-01-Sun -

  • Joshua is anointed to replace Moses

Day 75: 2022-05-01-Sun -

  • The law is given to us I’m our imperfection to meet us where we are
  • Israel: you can’t be like everyone else: not because you’re special, but because you’re God's

Day 76: 2022-05-01-Sun -

  • Dt-30#v19: "Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live”
  • Nm-31:  it is because of the people's weakness that Moses commands the total destruction of the Midianites…we also need to remove the things from our lives that rob our hearts from the Lord

Day 77: 2022-05-01-Sun -

  • Joshua comes with Moses into the tent of meeting: “be strong and of good courage”
  • before entering the promised land God knows we will be unfaithful and yet he still fights for us

Day 78: 2022-05-02-Mon -

  • Moses entreats them to the law in Dt-32#v36-Dt-32#v37 (memorize Moses’ song): “for it is not trifle for you but it is your life” to follow the law
  • God says: when you are faithless I will let you have what you have chosen so that you may learn that I love you

Day 79: 2022-05-02-Mon -

  • The boundaries of the promised land remind us that this is a historical reality
  • Ps-120 starts the psalms of ascent

Day 80: 2022-05-06-Fri -

  • End of numbers: wisdom of keeping property within the family (tribe)

Conquest & Judges

  • Green for entry into the promised land
  • Remember that this story is about you
  • Judges: sin leads to servitude leads to supplication leads to salvation seven times

Day 81: 2022-05-07-Sat -

  • Joshua 1: “be strong and of good courage"
  • Jos-02#v21: "Let it be as you say," echoes Mary's fiat in Lk-01#v38

Day 82: 2022-05-07-Sat -

  • “Is God on our side?”: wrong question, we need it ask if we’re on God’s side

Day 83: 2022-11-01-Tue -

  • Honor the bad covenant in which they are tricked by the Gibionites, but impose some consequences (hewers of wood)

Day 84: 2022-05-15-Sun -

  • Truth science and true religion are never opposed: they both seek truth
  • Joshua has a lot of violence in it, but this is not God's original plan

Day 85: 2022-05-16-Mon -

  • two things to keep in mind as Joshua destroys the canaanites: 1) moral corruption of the canaanites (sexual and child sacrifice), 2) “destroy everyone” is hyperbole because it also says to not intermarry

Day 86: 2022-05-21-Sat -

  • Ours is a historical religion: all these names are real people and real places where God acted, just like how he acts today

Day 87: 2022-05-21-Sat -

  • Ps-131 is one of his favorite psalms and he gives it for penance frequently

Day 88: 2022-05-22-Sun -

  • Jos-24#v15: "If it is displeasing to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.""

Day 89: 2022-05-22-Sun -

  • Israel was unfaithful but the women they married were faithful (like Ruth)

Day 90: 2022-05-22-Sun -

  • Ruth ch 2 is the first day of blessing for Ruth in a very long time since her husband died
  • Crushing the head of (name) is a mono fulfillment of genesis and foreshadowing of the crushing of the head of Satan

Day 91: 2022-05-22-Sun -

  • Story of Gideon shows us how we are all tempted to idolatry

Day 92: 2022-05-23-Mon -

  • Jephtha sacrificing the first person out of the tent to God is rash foolishness and reminds me of the Solzhenitsyn quote about the line between good and evil running through the human heart

Day 93: 2022-06-08-Wed -

  • Sampson shows us how we need to entrust our weaknesses to the Lord

Day 94: 2022-06-09-Thu -

  • We can be so fickle and pretend to not know what is right, but we can’t fall into this self-deception

Day 95: 2022-06-11-Sat -

  • We see some of the greatest evil of the entire Bible at the end of the book of Judges , and it comes out of not respecting the relationships of family
  • The last line of the book of Judges perfectly shows the brokenness of the relativism we are living in today; Jgs-21#v25: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own sight."

Day 96: 2022-06-11-Sat -

  • Hannah reminds us how everything (especially a child) is a gift from God

Day 97: 2022-06-11-Sat -

  • God is not a weapon for us, and God can fight his own battles (he does not need us)

Day 98: 2022-06-12-Sun -

  • Israel asks God for a king and by doing so is rejecting God as their king

Messianic Checkpoint - John

  • John Paul II did lectio divina on John every month of its pontificate; take a Gospel and make it your own and memorize the theme of each chapter
  • Jn 10-30 caps it all of: my father and I are one
  • 153 fish; 153 in Hebrew means “I am God”

Day 99: 2022-06-12-Sun -

  • "Behold the lamb of God" echoes Abraham and Isaac

Day 100: 2022-06-13-Mon -

  • Bread of life discourse: Jesus is given plenty of opportunity to downplay his teaching but affirms it, he reiterates it 5 times 
  • Peter: “to who would we go”: i.e. I have no idea what’s going on but I trust in you

Day 101: 2022-06-15-Wed -

  • miracles in John are called “signs and wonders” because they show us that Jesus is who he really says he is. “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

Day 102: 2022-06-16-Thu -

  • In Jewish thought the soul stays with the body for 3 days, so Lazarus being dead for 4 days shows that he is really dead and Jesus really has power over death

Day 103: 2022-06-16-Thu -

  • Judas shows us how we can’t go it alone
  • If the Holy Spirit is another comforter, then Jesus is the first. The two arms of God the father reaching out to comfort us are Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Day 104: 2022-06-16-Thu -

  • Jesus makes very clear that we will have trouble and tribulation by following him, but we will have his peace
  • Jesus prays for us, because we came to know him though the teaching of the apostles
  • Parenting: Jn-17#v9: “I am praying for those you have given me because they are yours”

Day 105: 2022-06-18-Sat -

  • Jesus is the true lamb and sacrificed while the lambs were being sacrificed in the temple: Jesus is the priest and the sacrifice and the altar
  • When Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, Jesus uses agape while Peter uses filia, but Jesus meets is where we are

Royal Kingdom

  • purple for kings

Day 106: 2022-06-19-Sun -

  • Saul looks like a king but is overly concerned about what others think of him; God equipped him with the gifts he needed (prophecy)

Day 107: 2022-07-07-Thu -

  • Ps-55#v23: “cast your burdens on the Lord and he will sustain you”

Day 108: 2022-07-09-Sat -

  • Saul's weakness is his vanity
  • David: “a man after my own heart”

Day 109: 2022-07-09-Sat -

  • 1 Sm-15#v22: “to obey is better than sacrifice”
  • The heart of holiness is obedience: do whatever God asks, not something else you want to that you think is hard or good
  • Samuel anoints David: “the Lord looks on the heart”

Day 110: 2022-07-10-Sun -

  • David and Goliath: when we do the task at hand we are being prepared for the battle we will face in the future (David protecting sheep from wild beasts prepares him to defeat Goliath)
  • David races up to the battle line

Day 111: 2022-07-10-Sun -

  • 2013-10-21-The Four Loves|The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis - we are friends because we both love something bigger
  • We escape care of others opinions of us by focusing on what God sees in us

Day 112: 2022-07-13-Wed -

  • Philia between David and Jonathan
  • Agape was an idea for the Greeks but became a reality for Christians
  • Benedict: Reading Notes/~Deus Caritas Est: God has Eros for us as well, a love of desire

Day 113: 2022-07-14-Thu -

  • Doeg’s betrayal: like the pit of Hell in Dante Alighieri|Dante’s imagination
  • hold up the bread: “behold the love of God for you”

Day 114: 2022-07-14-Thu -

  • like David, we’ll never know all the times God stepped in and saved us

Day 115: 2022-07-14-Thu -

  • David spares Saul, demonstrating his deep trust in the Lord and recognition of his sovereignty to appoint the king
  • David trusts the Lord and only fights the battles he is called to; we don’t need to fight every battle (even important ones), just those God calls us to

Day 116: 2022-07-14-Thu -

  • Be grateful for the people in our life who speak reason to us, like Abigail who prevents David from doing evil; listen to the voice of God in those people

Day 117: 2022-07-14-Thu -

  • David spares Saul for a second time, prefiguring Our Father|the Lord’s Prayer by asking the Lord to spare him as he spares others

Day 118: 2022-07-15-Fri -

  • Saul is desperate and turns to necromancy despite forbidding it; we need to give up unhealthy curiosity about the future, divination and magic (CCC 2115, 2116)

Day 119: 2022-07-16-Sat -

  • with Saul’s death, David shows the elders that he has the heart of a king

Day 120: 2022-07-16-Sat -

  • The list of names at the beginning of Chronicles does not mention God, but we recognize that God is behind all those names

Day 121: 2022-07-16-Sat -

  • The genealogy in Chronicles is the same as that given in Matthew’s gospel
  • Violence begets violence, it never ends of itself but must be ended; Jesus ends it by taking it upon himself

Day 122: 2022-07-16-Sat -

  • David publicly mourns the death of his enemy Abner, which unites the people and shows his wisdom

Day 123: 2022-07-17-Sun -

  • David’s character is consistent and he brings order and justice back to the kingdom of Israel

Day 124: 2022-07-18-Mon -

  • David becomes king of all Israel
  • David always asks the Lord what he should do

Day 125: 2022-07-18-Mon -

  • Ps-89: you lifted me up and now I’m down but blessed be the name of the Lord
  • Guy killed after touching the arc: he is killed for his disobedience; sin is when we know what God wants but we do what we want, and it is spiritual death
  • Wherever God is present there is a lot of life!
  • 2 Sm-07#v18 David: who am I that my Lord should come to me…points to the Visitation
  • “Judah was carried away to exile because of their unfaithfulness”: Chronicles was written as a history after the fact

Day 126: 2022-07-26-Tue -

  • David is establishing not only himself as a king, but Israel as a kingdom

Day 127: 2022-07-26-Tue -

  • David honors Saul’s grandson (Jonathan’s son) who was dropped in the escape and crippled

Day 128: 2022-07-26-Tue -

  • David sends emissaries who are embarrassed by cutting their beards and garments, and he responds in compassion by letting them recuperate apart from the people
  • David wants to bring the ark into the city, but yet again it is transported with disobedience on a card and a man is struck down after touching it

Day 129: 2022-07-26-Tue -

  • David’s sin of adultery starts with him not doing his duty (going to battle as king) and his giving into comfort (rising from his siesta).
  • Indulging in Comfortable|comfort can steer us down the path of much greater sin

Day 130: 2022-07-26-Tue -

  • David shows us how we can have hope as sinners to be saved, and how that process can be painful but necessary

Day 131: 2022-07-28-Thu -

  • God intends great things for David: he brought him from a lowly shepherd to the king of all Israel
  • Amnon lusts after and rapes his half-sister Tamar; the mystery of sin where we get what we list after but then hate it; but Jesus restores us
  • David is angry but he does nothing

Day 132: 2022-07-29-Fri -

  • David is not a good model of forgiveness with Absalom. But got both gives us full forgiveness and calls us to full repentance

Day 133: 2022-07-30-Sat -

  • As Absalom attacks Jerusalem, David stands by as everyone escapes but also stands in shame before his people

Day 134: 2022-07-30-Sat -

  • David is cursed but recognizes that his deserves it for his sin
  • Absalom takes his father’s concubines in front of the people to shame David

Day 135: 2022-07-30-Sat -

  • David pays for the materials for his sacrifice because he has intuition that real religion must cost us something

Day 136: 2022-07-30-Sat -

  • David reorganized the tribe of Levi to deal with a permanent temple
  • Joab disobeys David and kills Absalom
  • ☐ #listen Eric Whittaker song: “When David Heard”
  • David waits until Absalom is dead to claim him as his son: pray about this. God claims us as his sons and daughters

Day 137: 2022-07-31-Sun -

  • Joab speaks sense into David, who by mourning Absalom insults the 20,000 who died for him against Absalom to preserve his kingdom
  • There is good and evil in all of us, and we all need God’s grace

Day 138: 2022-07-31-Sun -

  • The 10 concubines raped by Absalom and put away by David illustrate the suffering of others from sin. Who has suffered as a result of my sin?

Day 139: 2022-07-31-Sun -

  • The able men ("bouncers") of the temple remind us that every job, no matter how menial, can glorify the Lord if done well; think of St. Andre or Blessed Casey
  • David exhibits his wisdom in asking the Gibeonites what retribution they want rather than deciding for them
  • David is faithful in continuing to battle as an old man, and humble in listening to his men and not being in the middle of it

Day 140: 2022-08-02-Tue -

  • 2 Sm-22#v21+: “He delivered me because he delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness…for I have kept the ways of the Lord”
    • echoes Ps-18#v25
  • David looks back at his life, including all his failures, and gives God praise
  • “Your help/gentleness made me great”

Day 141: 2022-08-03-Wed -

  • David gives three of the thirty great men praise St. the end of his life; give God praise always, and recognize those around us

Day 142: 2022-08-04-Thu -

  • David taking the census is sinful because he is taking ownership of the people rather than stewardship of them
  • David gives freely with his whole heart to God for the temple. Solomon is installed as king, but he will have a divided heart

Day 143: 2022-08-06-Sat -

  • David is massively talented and excels at everything,  except at his family and being a dad; he doesn’t know what is happening in his own home
  • Solomon disobeys Deuteronomy by importing horses: you can be wise while still being disobedient

Day 144: 2022-08-06-Sat -

  • Children pay more attention to our example than our advice: same is true for David and Solomon
  • In ancient times the queen is the mother of the king (not the wife of the king because he has many wives); this is why Mary is our queen

Day 145: 2022-08-07-Sun -

  • Solomon's height is building the temple, but we see the seeds of his downfall in his decision to marry the daughter of pharaoh

Day 146: 2022-08-08-Mon -

  • Solomon subtly unites Israel by taxing them according to geography rather than tribe

Day 147: 2022-08-08-Mon -

  • We love God by being obedient and loving our neighbor. Solomon is not obedient in marrying pharaoh’s daughter and building up an army

Day 148: 2022-08-08-Mon -

  • Solomon is the great builder of Israel, and he amassed great wealth for Israel
  • The stones are finished offsite so they could be placed in the temple with sacred silence

Day 149: 2022-08-09-Tue -

  • Vanity of vanities: the human heart always wants more
  • Life matters because our choices have eternal consequences

Day 150: 2022-08-10-Wed -

  • end of Eccl-03: “there is nothing better than that man should enjoy his work”

Day 151: 2022-08-10-Wed -

  • Begin with the end in mind: recognize our death and then live with purpose
  • We have to take joy in the situation of our life that is given to us

Day 152: 2022-08-11-Thu -

  • A key message of Ecclesiastes is that if this world is all there is it is meaningless. We will soon be completely forgotten. We need to be at peace with this, because this life is not all there is.

Day 153: 2022-08-11-Thu -

  • Eccl-12#v13 epilogue: “Fear God and keep his commandments”
  • The point of Ecclesiastes is not to make us lose hope, but to make us humble
  • Solomon and his many wives shows us how we go wrong when we give our hearts to something other than the Lord

Messianic Checkpoint: Mark

  • Mark focuses on Jesus’ identity (son of Mary, carpenter) and mission
  • He uses the word “immediately” 41 times…it must be Henry’s favorite gospel

Day 154: 2022-08-11-Thu -

  • Mark’s gospel is the gospel of Peter since mark traveled with him and heard his stories
  • Jesus didn’t need baptism, but he leads us where we should go; Jesus sanctifies the water for us
  • The verb is the same for the sky being torn open at the baptism, and the veil being torn at the crucifixion
  • A king is anointed to fight for his people: Jesus is baptized (anointed) and then goes to fight for his people in the desert and by driving out demons
  • The faith of the four friends who lowered their friend to Jesus to be healed is like the faith of the parents and godparents that speak for the infant to be baptized
  • This is also one of Jesus’ first claims of divinity: “the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins on earth”

Day 155: 2022-08-11-Thu -

  • Jesus performs signs on the sabbath to reveal his identity and the true purpose of the sabbath
  • The sin against the Holy Spirit is sin that we don’t allow God to forgive

Day 156: 2022-08-16-Tue -

  • “Fear and trembling”: the women who touched his garment
  • The biblical worldview shows us that there is more to this world than we can see, it is ruled by principalities and powers
  • The multiplication of loaves is a model for us; the apostles say they have nothing to give, but Jesus just asks them to offer what they do have, which he blesses and multiplies and returns to them

Day 157: 2022-08-13-Sat -

  • The making of all food clean shows us that our exterior actions don’t cover up the lack of change in our hearts; we can’t substitute something, even if good, that we’re not called to do for something we are called to do
  • The foreign woman approached Jesus not with entitlement but with humility and is a model for how we should approach him
  • Jesus says that if we are ashamed of Him, he will be ashamed of us

Day 158: 2022-08-16-Tue -

  • Millstones: we need to not only teach the truth, but model the truth with according to the grace the Lord gives us
  • We can't ignore Jesus' teaching about the reality of Hell: get rid of whatever is causing you to sin
  • God will never call us to something that he won't also provide the grace for us to accomplish

Day 159: 2022-08-16-Tue -

  • The parables of the fig tree and the tenants at the field show the importance of our discipleship bearing fruit
  • The widow and the two coins: how can we give God both our first fruits and our final fruits

Day 160: 2022-08-18-Thu -

  • The historian Josephus tells the story of the horrible things the Romans did to the Jews in 70 AD when they destroyed the temple. Jesus' prophecy in Mk-14 was how Christians knew to flee.
  • Jesus' prayer in the garden has two characteristics:
    • It is honest: "let this cup pass"
    • It is trusting: "but let your will be done"

Day 161: 2022-08-20-Sat -

  • The crucifix reminds us of the price of sun and the depths of God’s love for us
  • Ps-22 is an incredible prophecy of the crucifixion

Divided Kingdom

  • “If you make up your own religion you will deal with the results of that: chaos”
  • Understanding the rest of the OT hinges on the division of the kingdom, north (Israel/Ephram) and south (Judah)
  • The kings in the north are not faithful to the Lord

Day 162: 2022-08-20-Sat -

  • Song of Songs can be read as allegory for the love of Christ and his church, or as human love poetry showing the beauty of human love

Day 163: 2022-08-20-Sat -

  • God loves us first: we didn’t choose him from he chose us
  • When we know what we are called to do; just do it!

Day 164: 2022-08-20-Sat -

  • Israel had to cut down the new idols: what idols exist in my life that I need to cut down so that my heart is not divided from God at all?
  • Giving a portion of our “spoils” back to the Lord acknowledges that he is God and everything comes from him, is a way of thanking him, and is a way of demonstrating our trust in him (rather than in the security they offer)

Day 165: 2022-08-20-Sat -

  • John Paul II reminds us in the Theology of the Body that we approach our spouse first as brother or sister, loved for their own sake, and only then as spouse

Day 166: 2022-08-21-Sun -

  • Elijah defeats the 400 priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel; the Lord is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to him

Day 167: 2022-08-23-Tue -

  • Elijah: viaticum is food for the journey
  • The Lord fights for you; all you have to do is be still

Day 168: 2022-08-28-Sun -

  • The story of Jezebel shows us how el triumphs when good men do nothing and don’t stand in its way

Day 169: 2022-08-30-Tue -

  • God is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to him

Day 170: 2022-08-31-Wed -

  • Lewis: Reflections & Reviews
  • Ps-69 is an honest prayer; our prayers need to be honest too
  • Joash was a good king until his mentor dies: shows us the importance of surrounding ourselves with good people

Day 171: 2022-08-31-Wed -

  • Elisha asks for “double” Elijah
  • “small boys” can also be translated as ruffians, this is not a story about respecting your elders but of right worship of God

Day 172: 2022-08-31-Wed -

  • The kinda remind us that we need to remain faithful to the Lord our whole lives, to the end

Day 173: 2022-09-01-Thu -

  • Elisha with the oil reminds us that we don’t know the end of the story but we need to have faith
  • The woman who loses her son (who Elisha restores to life) reminds us that death is not the end of the story

Day 174: 2022-09-01-Thu -

  • Nahman washing 7 times in the Jordan to cleanse his leprosy is an allusion to baptism: we can’t be deceived about it’s power because of how “easy” it is for us
  • God sometimes puts up barriers against us to keep us from wandering too far from him

Day 175: 2022-09-01-Thu -

  • Hos-04#v6: “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”: we read scripture to come to truly know the Lord in intimacy with him

Day 176: 2022-09-02-Fri -

  • The prophets remind us that despite God unending faithfulness at some point our lives end and he gives us the eternity we have chosen for ourselves

Day 177: 2022-09-03-Sat -

  • Hosea: God gives us what we choose, but the prophets remind us that it is not over, and “return o Israel to the Lord your God”

Day 178: 2022-09-08-Thu -

  • Jehu lures all the worshipers into the temple and has them killed; he eliminates false worship but doesn’t restore true worship in the temple in Jerusalem
  • Amos: “for there transgressions and four”: heaping sin on top of sin

Day 179: 2022-09-09-Fri -

  • Amos calls us out for our extravagant and comfortable living, while others live without justice

Day 180: 2022-09-10-Sat -

  • return to the Lord with our whole heart

Day 181: 2022-09-10-Sat -

  • Jonah is sent to Nineveh (the enemy) to call them repentance, he doesn’t want to go because he wants them to suffer, but God shows how his mercy is extended to all

Day 182: 2022-09-10-Sat -

  • Jesus extends the promises of the prophets to the whole world

Day 183: 2022-09-11-Sun -

  • Israel is sent into exile
  • Micah: what does God ask of me? To walk humbly with him
  • Micah prophesies the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem

Exile

Baby Blue

  • Assyrians send ten northern tribes into exile and settle their land with 5 other conquered tribes ~700 BC, forming the basis of the Samaritans
  • John 4 woman at the well: 5 husbands are analogous to the 5 countries settled there
  • Exile is being taken physically to where you are spiritually. God uses his peoples enemies to discipline them (all the way up to today)
  • three waves of Babylonian exile, culminating with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 587 BC
  • the central role of the prophets is not to predict the future but to proclaim the word of God and exhort the people to return to God

Day 184: 2022-09-11-Sun -

  • Hezekiah is one of the best kings of Judah, and yet it is under his reign that Assyria conquers them

Day 185: 2022-09-14-Wed -

  • Hezekiah: God, you are the only one who can do this, this will only happen if it is your will

Day 186: 2022-09-14-Wed -

  • Hezekiah is the good king, but still selfish at the end of his life. We don’t put our trust in princes

Day 187: 2022-09-14-Wed -

  • Hezekiah didn’t become better in the 15 years after his healing: we need to pray for God’s will and that we may die rather than commit a mortal sin (cf St. Dominic Savio)

Day 188: 2022-09-15-Thu -

  • Proverbs uses sexual sin as a metaphor for all sin
  • Every king was to have a copy of the book of the law and read from it every single day

Day 189: 2022-09-16-Fri -

  • Regardless of what the kings or “important people” do, we need to be faithful to God ourselves

Day 190: 2022-09-17-Sat -

  • The Babylonian exile begins with the removal of everyone of power and skill, leaving the poor behind

Day 191: 2022-09-17-Sat -

  • King Zedekiah has his sons killed in front of him and then his eyes are put out, fulfilling the prophecy that he would be in exile but not see it
  • Chronicles ends with hope: one day you will come back from exile

Day 192: 2022-09-17-Sat -

  • Isaiah starts with the book of condemnation, but even here there is consolation
  • Tb-01-2 remind us that no matter what is going on around us we need to do what we are supposed to do

Day 193: 2022-09-17-Sat -

  • Discussed the Deuterocanonical Books (included in the canon the whole history of the Church until Luther)

Day 194: 2022-09-18-Sun -

  • Sanctus: !Is-06#v3

Day 195: 2022-09-18-Sun -

  • Is-08#v17: I will wait for the Lord and hope in him
  • Tb-07#v12 on Marriage: Take her and bring her safely to your father.
  • It didn't happen to me as I expected: !Tb-08#v16
  • JP2: the whole battle between good and evil takes place between husband and wife…QUOTE?

Day 196: 2022-09-18-Sun -

  • Tb-12#v7: Raphael: "Do good, and evil will not overtake you."
  • Raphael says to pray with good worlds, not lots of prayer with sinfulness
  • The twelve apostles symbolize the reconstituted twelve tribes hat were destroyed in the exile
  • Prayer can’t just be on my lips, it must be accompanied by fasting and alms giving and righteousness: these four together are what make up the spiritual life
  • Tobit 12:9-10: those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives

Day 197: 2022-09-21-Wed -

  • “A shoot will com from the stump of Jesse”: yes it’s bad, but it’s not over yet
  • Tobit 13 canticle: the context is that Tobit is still in exile, we need to make God known among the nations

Day 198: 2022-09-22-Thu -

  • Isaiah prophecy about the eventual fall of the king of Babylon is spiritually a prophecy about the fall of Satan
  • Joel: whenever God allows tragedy to befall his people it is meant to bring his people back to him
  • Jl-02#v13: "Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God"

Day 199: 2022-09-22-Thu -

  • swords into plowshares
  • C. S. Lewis quote “pain is a loudspeaker”

Day 200: 2022-09-22-Thu -

  • God prove his love for us in dying for us while we were still sinners, he died for his enemies to make them his friends
  • Nahum: there will be God’s judgement on those who use violence to dominate

Day 201: 2022-09-23-Fri -

  • As Christians, we are called to stand on the watch tower and call out the dangers in our culture, church, family, etc
  • Is-22: the prime minister of the kingdom with the keys is the background of Mt-16 when Jesus makes Peter the rock upon which the church is built

Day 202: 2022-09-23-Fri -
-Habakkuk: five woes: unjust economics. Using neighbors, Unjust leaderships idolatry; these woes ultimately come to every nation

Day 203: 2022-09-23-Fri -

  • Is-25#v8: "The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces"
  • HK 3v18:” yet I will rejoice in the Lord” (even while everything is falling apart)

Day 204: 2022-09-23-Fri -

  • Is-28#v6: "And strength for those who turn back the battle at the gate"
  • People who don’t drink|Drunkenness emphasizes the three consequences of the fall ( darkening of the intellect, weakening of the will, attraction to sin; plus death and separation from the Lord)

Day 205: 2022-09-23-Fri -

  • Zep-03#v11: "on that day you will not be put to shame": only God can redeem our shame

Day 206: 2022-09-23-Fri -

  • Baruch was a contemporary of Jeremiah

Day 207: 2022-09-23-Fri -

  • Do we dread or are we excited for the coming of the Lord?

Day 208: 2022-09-23-Fri -

  • Isaiah gives the third telling of the story of Hezekiah
  • Baruch: do not worship, be captivated by, or fear idols

Day 209: 2022-09-24-Sat -

  • Isaiah 40 begins the book of consolation
  • Chariots of Fire Films to Watch, quotes Is-40: “he gives power to the faint…mount up with wings like eagles”
  • Ezekiel was a priest of the restoration before the exile and then taken into exile, but God goes with his people in exile

Day 210: 2022-09-24-Sat -

  • The three major prophets in some ways represent the three persons of the trinity: Isaiah the son, Jeremiah the Father, Ezekiel the Spirit
  • Ezekiel eats the scroll and God’s word is sweet as honey

Day 211: 2022-09-25-Sun -

  • Is-43: “you burdened me with your sin”
  • Is-44#v13 quote about Woodworking
  • The Lord God is with his people, even in the midst of the suffering he allows them

Day 212: 2022-09-25-Sun -

  • Isaiah’s warnings about idols are not just to avoid idols, but to not treat the real God like an idol
  • Ezekiel is not able to worship in the temple as a priest, but he is able to fulfill his priesthood in taking upon him the atonement for sins

Day 213: 2022-09-27-Tue -

  • God brings his judgement upon his people because they have been unfaithful, but he is also their redeemer if they will turn back
  • God calls Ezekiel the “son of man”, which here just means he’s a human being; it takes on a new meaning in Dn-07 and it is from here that Jesus claims it

Day 214: 2022-09-28-Wed -

  • Is-50#v4: “sustain with a word him who is weary”e

Day 215: 2022-09-29-Thu -

  • Proverbs: “a prudent man conceals his knowledge”
  • Isaiah: awake Jerusalem to both your judgement and your redemption

Day 216: 2022-09-29-Thu -

  • Ez-11#v19: "I will remove the hearts of stone, and give them hearts of flesh...they will be my people, and I will be their God"
  • idolatry is whenever we allow something to have a claim on our hearts other than God

Day 217: 2022-09-30-Fri -

  • !Prv-31#v1 “like mother like daughter”
  • Is-56#v7: house of prayers for all people
  • Idolatry is worse than being a harlot: at least you get paid for the latter but an idol will never love you back

Day 218: 2022-09-30-Fri -

  • Taking a good think and making it the ultimate thing is idolatry
  • God doesn’t have grandchildren: we don’t inherit holiness from our parents but have to choose to follow him ourselves

Day 219: 2022-10-01-Sat -

  • Prv-13#v11: "Wealth won quickly dwindles away, but gathered little by little, it grows."

Day 220: 2022-10-02-Sun -

  • the sabbath is the sign of the covenant
  • Ez-20#v7: “Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on”

Day 221: 2022-10-02-Sun -

  • Prv-13#v20: "Walk with the wise and you become wise, but the companion of fools fares badly."
  • Preachers are meant to be God’s mailman, not his editors
  • We have to come before the Lord to interfere for our children, stand in the breech for them

Day 222: 2022-10-05-Wed -

  • Is-65#v12: “you chose what I do not delight in”…we need to choose that which delights the Lord
  • Is-65#v22: "My children shall long enjoy the work of their hands"
  • Prv-28#24: he who loves his child disciplines him
  • Ezekiel: idolatry is like adultery; bath God and a spouse permit no rivals
  • Ezekiel not mourning his wife calls attention to the lack of mourning over the coming destruction of the temple

Day 223: 2022-10-06-Thu -

  • End of Isaiah: "help me to love what you love and hate what you hate, Lord"

Day 224: 2022-10-06-Thu -

  • Jer-01#v5: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you"

Day 225: 2022-10-06-Thu -

  • We need to both belong to God, and point to God

Day 226: 2022-10-08-Sat -

  • Proverbs “throw off restraints” teaches us how freedom is not license to do what we want but what we ought
  • Exile: God uses even the evil nations to correct his people

Day 227: 2022-10-08-Sat -

  • Jeremiah is the longest book in the entire Bible. The message is less “repent” and more “brace for the judgment of God”

Day 228: 2022-10-10-Mon -

  • Ez-33 finally brings the destruction of Jerusalem, and the watchman’s duty (cf Jas-03#v1: “teachers called to a higher duty and judgment")
  • Prv-14#v23: "In all labor there is profit, but mere talk tends only to loss."

Day 229: 2022-10-12-Wed -

  • GET QUOTE: Ezekiel: shepherd of Israel
  • St. Augustine|Augustine has a beautiful reflection on priests as the shepherds of the Lord (link1, link2)
    • -

Day 230: 2022-10-13-Thu -

  • Ez-36#v26: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."
  • !Ez-36#v28
  • Jer-07: Just because we have the Eucharist doesn’t excuse us from not worshiping and serving the Lord properly; we cannot presume of the Lord’s mercy

Day 231: 2022-10-13-Thu -

  • Idols make us slaves

Day 232: 2022-10-13-Thu -

  • Jeremiah: glory in understanding and knowing the Lord

Day 233: 2022-10-14-Fri -

  • Jeremiah is very much an image of Jesus because he speaks the truth but is hated by his people
  • St. Gregory the Great|Gregory the Great sermons on Ezekiel: talks about the four directions of the inner gages; always read the Old Testament in light of the New

Day 234: 2022-10-14-Fri -

  • Jer-13: image: if we don’t listen to God we become like ruined underwear
  • When listening to the prophets, we shouldn’t judge the people of God who don’t listen to them, but ask how we ourselves need to return to the Lord

Day 235: 2022-10-15-Sat -

  • Jer-14: if we are not faithful to the Lord there will not be fruit to find
  • C. S. Lewis: "the only reason to believe anything is because it is true"

Day 236: 2022-10-15-Sat -

  • Proverbs: better to be poor with love than rich without
  • Jeremiah: when we rest on the sabbath then the messiah will come
  • Ezekiel says that if you enter the temple from the north you must exit from the south: if we worship God well we will never leave the same as we came

Day 237: 2022-10-17-Mon -

  • Ezekiel: water of life flowing from the right side of the temple is a prophecy of the water flowing from Christ’s side

Day 238: 2022-10-18-Tue -

  • Dn-01: eat vegetables!
  • First half of Daniel are stories, the second half is revelation

Day 239: 2022-10-19-Wed -

  • Daniel: their Hebrew names all refer to the true God, but the Babylonian names they are given all refer to false gods, but they refused to belong to those false gods

Day 240: 2022-10-20-Thu -

  • Prv-16#v3: "Entrust your works to the LORD, and your plans will succeed."
  • Dn-05#v27: "you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting"

Day 241: 2022-10-22-Sat -

  • Jeremiah: the “good” figs are those sent to Babylon because the Lord uses the exile to purify his people and remove idolatry from them

Day 242: 2022-10-23-Sun -

  • Jeremiah is threatened with death for telling the truth
  • God can use even wicked people to accomplish his will: Nebuchadnezzar like Judas in this regard

Day 243: 2022-10-23-Sun -

  • Hananiah is a false prophet against Jeremiah saying that Nebuchadnezzar would be defeated in only two years; if we don’t submit to God’s yoke in his mercy (the wooden yoke) we will be unwillingly submitted to the iron yoke
  • Jeremiah writes how to live as exiles who know they are destined to go home; it’s a long time but not forever
  • Jer-29#v11: "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you--oracle of the LORD--plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.
  • Daniel’s revelation shows us both the reality of the spiritual battle, and how God hears us when we pray
  • The prophecy in Dn-11 is incredibly detailed and accurate. “Those who know their God will stand firm and take action…”

Day 244: 2022-10-23-Sun -

  • Daniel rescues Susanna from false accusation of adultery through the false testimony of the elders who listed after her
  • This story shows us how when we turn our desire away from the Lord our hearts become deformed

Day 245: 2022-10-23-Sun -

  • Jer-30: God will bring us through the storm
  • Daniel ends with him being thrown into the lion's den again! And the angel of God brings Habakkuk to come feed him; it is possible to live in exile and be faithful

Day 246: 2022-10-23-Sun -

  • Jeremiah knows that Babylon will conquer Israel, but he buys land as a sign of God's promise that they will eventually return
  • God takes delight in caring for us: Jer-32#v41: "I will take delight in doing good to them"
  • started Judith

Day 247: 2022-10-24-Mon -

  • Jer-33#v3: "Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you great things beyond the reach of your knowledge."
  • Jer-33#v11: "the Lord is good; God's love endures forever."

Day 248: 2022-10-26-Wed -

  • Prv-17#v3: "The crucible for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the tester of hearts is the Lord."
    • We all have sufferings—do we allow this to purify us?
  • Jeremiah used the Rechabites as an image of faithfulness (they refuse wine according to the command of their fathers)

Day 249: 2022-10-26-Wed -

  • Jeremiah is lowered into the cistern and "sinks into the mire"—just like Christ entered into our mire to save us
  • We are introduced to Judith—quite the brave badass
  • Judith is wise not because she knows a lot, but because her "heart's disposition is right" (Jdt-08#v29)
  • Judith's prayer in Jdt-09 is an incredible prayer of trust and praise

Day 250: 2022-10-27-Thu -

  • Judith meets with Holofernes and tells him to wait until the people are not faithful to the Lord

Day 251: 2022-10-27-Thu -

  • Jer-41–Jer-42 is the destruction of Jerusalem. Ishmael eats with Gedaliah and then murders him
  • Jeremiah prays for 10 days and tells them that if they stay and trust in the Lord they will be saved, but they do not listen
  • Judith beheads Holofernes and returns with the plan to defeat the Assyrians

Day 252: 2022-10-27-Thu -

  • Jeremiah: the Jews who survive the exile are not as prone to idolatry as before
  • The “Queen of Heaven”: recall that Mary is the queen because she is the king’s mother

Day 253: 2022-10-28-Fri -

  • Jeremiah: disaster will still come upon us, but even in the midst of the disaster the Lord will bless us
  • Lamentations: Jeremiah uses an alphabetical acrostic to contain his great grief at the loss of Jerusalem

Day 254: 2022-10-27-Thu -

  • Jer-48#v10: "Cursed are they who do the LORD's work carelessly"
  • In Jeremiah we hear the judgement of the nations, Moab today. Remember that God loves perfectly, AND calls us (me) to repentance

Day 255: 2022-10-27-Thu -

  • Lam-03#v17: My life is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is

Day 256: 2022-10-27-Thu -

  • Lam-04 is awful: women cook their infants, children cry for food and get none: pray that we may be spared from this
  • Lam-05#v16: "woe to us that we sinned!"
  • Prv-18#v9: "Those slack in their work are kin to the destroyer."

Day 257: 2022-10-27-Thu -

  • The end of Jeremiah: the temple is destroyed, its gold and silver and bronze is carted off to Babylon, and when it is eventually rebuilt it is only a shadow of its former self
  • Edom (Esau's line) does not come to the aid of Israel (Jacob's line), and is punished.

Messianic Checkpoint: Matthew

  • They both said that Matthew is one of their favorite books of the Bible
  • Matthew is written to the Jews; as such it is dependent on you knowing the Old Testament
  • Benedict is big on this type of history in ~Jesus of Nazareth|Jesus of Nazareth where Jesus is shown as the fulfillment of the Old Testament
  • Mt-16 is the introduction to the papacy, Mt-19 on Marriage, Mt-24 on the end times

Day 258: 2022-10-28-Fri -

  • Gifts of the wise men recognize Jesus as king, priest, and sacrificial victim
  • The twelve tribes of Israel are brought together as the Apostles under the new king

Day 259: 2022-10-28-Fri -

  • The sermon on the mount: Jesus, as the new Moses, goes up the mountain and gives them the new law
  • Our Father: remember who we are addressing when we pray, and that we already have his attention

Day 260: 2022-10-28-Fri -

  • Jesus heals physical illness, mental illness, and sets people free from demons
  • When we were born Satan had a claim on us, but Christ makes his claim

Day 261: 2022-10-28-Fri -

  • John the Baptist is the new Elijah, and yet by our baptism we are greater than he
  • Return of the unclean spirit: Msgr. Charles Pope talks about this and shows how when removing evil we need to fill that void with God, and we need to choose good over appearing good
  • create note: Parables in the Bible
  • We don’t get to choose what kind of seed we will receive but we do get to choose what kind of soil we will be

Day 262: 2022-10-29-Sat -

  • Jesus walking on the water: sometimes we are tempted to resent God: the disciples were only in the boat in the storm in the first place because Jesus told them to be there. But Peter walking on the water shows us that when we do God’s will he will help us to do things we would not be able to do otherwise
  • Simon, you are rock, and upon this rock I will build my church: in Caesarea Philippi there are huge rock cliffs where this takes place

Day 263: 2022-10-29-Sat -

  • “Cut it off”: sometime we need to adjust or remove things from our lives if they lead us to sin
  • Rich man and heaven: “impossible for men, but nothing impossible for God”

Day 264: 2022-10-29-Sat -

  • Mt-23#v17: "which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?"
  • The Sadducees only accepted the 5 books of the Torah

Day 265: 2022-10-30-Sun -

  • In the Parables in the Bible|parable of the ten virgins, the oil represents relationship with and preparedness for Christ, which isn’t something we can give to others
  • The withered fig tree shows how we must produce fruits with the gifts we have been given

Day 266: 2022-10-31-Mon -

  • The early Christians didn’t see themselves as starting a new religion, but as Jews who had seen the fulfillment of the Covenant
  • Jesus entered onto the depths of our despair on cross, cf Ps-22, but it ends with a note of hope

Introduction to the Return

  • Yellow
  • This period is the rise of the synagogue and the rise of the class of Pharisees, development of kosher rules
  • Three returns from exile: first rebuilds the temple, second Ezra teaches the word of God, third Nehemiah rebuilds the walls
  • The temple, word, and walls show us the three things we need to rebuild from disaster: a sacramental life, the Word of God, and the Church
  • The prodigal son in Luke is really an icon of the exile and return
  • He really likes Malachi because this sets the stage for the messiah to come

Day 267: 2022-11-01-Tue -

  • Haggai: we need to put the Lord first: “because my house lies in ruins while you busy yourselves with your own house”
  • Ezra is the fulfillment of Jeremiah

Day 268: 2022-11-01-Tue -

  • Cyrus (influenced by the samaritans) halts work on the rebuilding of Jerusalem because of its past rebelliousness
  • the people who have seen the old temple weep when they see the lesser new temple, but there’s an element of them being stuck in the past and not able to see what God is doing now
  • the temple building is stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius, which is when Haggai and Zechariah are writing
  • Zechariah: “I come and will dwell on the midst of you days the lord”
  • Zechariah: “I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day”
  • Zechariah’s vision of Joshua and the accuser: he is not worthy to offer sacrifice but go and sin no more

Day 269: 2022-11-01-Tue -

  • Ezra: the building of the temple is restarted by finding the original records from Cyrus in which he instructs the temple to be rebuilt and paid for: this is bureaucracy at its finest
  • Zechariah keeps having his visions: don’t despise the day of small things, they are important. Jeshua is crowned high priest and king, a type of Christ.

Day 270: 2022-11-01-Tue -

  • 60 years between Ez-06 and Ez-07, now we're introduced to Ezra
  • Zec-08#v8: "They will be my people, and I will be their God"
  • Zec-08#v19: "So love truth and peace!"

Day 271: 2022-11-02-Wed -

  • Ezra: the Israelites who had married foreign wives put them and their children away as a means of returning to God. Recall how God warned them against intermarriage when they settled the promised land. “Holy” means separate.
  • Ezra: “our iniquities have risen higher than our heads”; we are drowning in our sin
  • Zechariah 10: “I am the Lord their God's and I shall answer them”
  • Zechariah 10:”I will make them strong in the Lord and they shall glory in his name”
  • There are two kinds of shepherds: those that care for their sheep and those who don’t: prophecy of Jesus

Day 272: 2022-11-02-Wed -

  • Nehemiah (second part of Ezra): “come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem”
  • Nehemiah is scared, and before asking the king for what he wants he prays (2:4)
  • Nehemiah 2:10: whenever you do the work of God you should expect opposition
  • Nehemiah 2:11: before you get started you need to get the lay of the land: he goes in the night and inspects the walls
  • Nehemiah is a master class in leadership
  • the pierced one in Zechariah 13 is a prophecy of Jesus pierced on the cross
  • end of Zechariah 13 about silver and gold, “they are my people, the Lord is my God”

Day 273: 2022-11-02-Wed -

  • Zechariah 14:8: living water flow from Jerusalem
  • Nehemiah shows us how much teamwork went into rebuilding the walls and how everyone rolled up their sleeves, including the priests. There is no work beneath us, all work can be a participation in God’s creation

Day 274: 2022-11-02-Wed -

  • Nehemiah: “our God will fight for us”
  • Nehemiah's first move when finding opposition to doing God’s work is to pray to God. He trusts fully in God and he also makes good practical decisions
  • Nehemiah doesn’t repeat the mistake of Rehaboam (Solomon’s son) who was even harder on the people and caused the kingdom to split, rather he does not oppress the people with taxes as the former governors in his place did
  • Esther 11-12 are the first two books of the narrative, but Jerome placed them at the end because he didn’t regard them as canonical. He was obedient to Pope Dismas and the tradition of the New Testament writers who 80% of the time referenced the Greek Septuagint which included those chapters

Day 275: 2022-11-02-Wed -

  • Nehemiah 6: plots against Nehemiah: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down”; don’t let people stop us from doing God’s will, in whatever talk he has given us!
  • Esther is brought into this broken system so that God can do something great

Day 276: 2022-11-02-Wed -

  • The King's letter in Esther 13 about the Jews almost sounds like it could be written by a repressive government about Christians today

Day 277: 2022-11-03-Thu -

  • Nehemiah: Ezra retells the story of Israel. When things go wrong the first place we should look is in ourselves. God please hear our prayer not because we are good, but because you are faithful.
  • Est-11: Mordechai’s prayer is beautiful, humble, asks for God’s will, worships God, and then makes a request
  • Esther’s prayer (Est-14): we have to remember that we are only stewards of our lives and everything may be asked of us at any time

Day 278: 2022-11-03-Thu -

  • Esther was terrified, but God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness
  • God allows Esther the weakness that will bring about his will; God wants to work with our weakness

Day 279: 2022-11-04-Fri -

  • Neh-11 shows the importance of pedigree: where we come from is important

Day 280: 2022-11-04-Fri -

  • Esther has been a point of hope for Jews facing persecution throughout history

Day 281: 2022-11-05-Sat -

  • Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is the predominant religion of today
  • Nehemiah: “spare me in accordance with your mercy”
  • Malachi 1: “from the riding of the sun to its setting”
  • Malachi: “for I hate divorce says the God of Israel”
  • Malachi: “return to me, and I shall return to you”

Day 282: 2022-11-05-Sat -

  • beginning of 1 Maccabees: Antiochus Epiphanes has hard totalitarianism, but Sodt totalitarian too where life is just easier if you go along with it
  • Sirach 1-3 is awesome!
  • Sir-01: “the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom”
  • the fear of the lord is taking God seriously as God himself
  • Sirach 2:1+ in NAB translation is his favorite

Day 283: 2022-11-05-Sat -

  • Sir-04#v5: "From the needy do not turn your eyes"
  • Sir-06 on Friendship:

Day 284: 2022-11-05-Sat -

  • Prv-22#v6 on Parenting

Revolt

  • eat a big purple grape for the enemies for Jerusalem: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece
  • Alexander the Great had the goal of Hellenizing the world
  • Hanukkah is the feast of lights, and comes from Maccabees
  • the mother of the 7 sons who are martyred is a powerful figure of Mary who watches her son suffer

Day 285: 2022-11-06-Sun -

  • 1 Mc: soldiers “ready to live or to die nobly”
  • Judas Maccabaeus and his faithful Jews fight against the Greeks and defeats them, this is the story of Hanukah
  • This is just before Christ, and reminds us that God works even now
  • Sirach 10:9: “how can he who is dust and ashes be proud?”
  • Sirach: “my son do not busy yourself with many matters”

Day 286: 2022-11-06-Sun -

  • 1 Mac 5: Judas Maccabaeus frees Galilee
  • Sirach: the responsible use of riches
  • Sirach: “my son, treat yourself well according to your means and present worthy offerings to the Lord”
  • Sirach: before man is good and evil: what ever we choose will be given to us

Day 287: 2022-11-08-Tue -

  • Sir-18#v32: "Do not revel in great luxury, lest you become impoverished by its great expense."

Day 288: 2022-11-09-Wed -

  • Sir-19#v12: "Like an arrow stuck in a fool's thigh, so is gossip in the belly of a fool."
  • Always assume the goodwill of your family members

Day 289: 2022-11-09-Wed -

  • Sir-22#v3: "An undisciplined child is a disgrace to its father"
  • 1 Maccabees: Rome takes over from Greece
  • We need to be aware of who we surround ourselves with and who we listen to: fill your mind with the Word of God instead!

Day 290: 2022-11-09-Wed -

  • Judas Maccabeaus dies, and Jonathan takes over
  • Sirach: “happy is he who lives with an intelligent wife”
  • Sirach: “I would rather dwell with a Lion and a dragon than dwell with an evil wife”

Day 291: 2022-11-12-Sat -

  • 1 Mc 10: Dimitrius shows us that if someone if offering you a sweet steal but has not been trustworthy in the past you should not trust them
  • Sirach: “a good wife is a great blessing…” “ a sensible and silent wife is a gift”
  • Sirach: “if a man is not steadfast and zealous so his house will be quickly overthrown”
  • “the test of just men is in tribulation”: suffering reveals the value of our hearts

Day 292: 2022-11-13-Sun -

  • 1 Maccabees: the author is just telling us the story with few editorial comments

Day 293: 2022-11-13-Sun -

  • Sirach shows us the importance of disciplining our children (Parenting)

Day 294: 2022-11-13-Sun -

  • 1 Maccabees: Israel was a sovereign state for about 100 years between the Greeks and Romans
  • Sir-34: remember that the people around you matter: recognize and defer to them

Day 295: 2022-11-12-Sat -

  • 1 Mc-10: : Dimitrius shows us that if someone if offering you a sweet steal but has not been trustworthy in the past you should not trust them
  • Sirach: “a good wife is a great blessing…” “ a sensible and silent wife is a gift”
  • Sirach: “if a man is not steadfast and zealous so his house will be quickly overthrown”
  • “the test of just men is in tribulation”: suffering reveals the value of our hearts
  • 1 Mac: the music have through the next step would be a king and growing the kingdom, o one could have guessed more subjugation and God becoming flesh
  • Sirach: give to God freely and be on guard against a mercenary heart

Day 296: 2022-11-14-Mon -

  • Sirach: know your heart:  “establish the counsel of your own heart” …”man’s soul keeps him better informed than a watchtower”…”but in all this pray to the Lord”

Day 297: 2022-11-14-Mon -

  • Sirach and Proverbs both warn us against the dangers of wine, but remember that Sir-39#v33: "The works of God are all of them good"

Day 298: 2022-11-15-Tue -

  • 2 Mc: Nehemiah recovers the fire which had become a liquid but ignited under the sun for the offering
  • Every day with those we love is a gift that we don’t deserve but have been given

Day 299: 2022-11-15-Tue -

  • 2 Mc we hear the last thing about the arc of the covenant when it is hidden away before the exile
  • Sirach: “he looks into the signs of the age” cf Vatican II
    • ? !Sir-42#v19

Day 300: 2022-11-16-Wed -

  • 1 Maccabees tells the story with just the facts, whereas 2 Maccabees tells the story with recognition of God's role in it: we need to look for and see God's action in our own lives
  • St. Mary of Egypt: was a prostitute and the Lord prevented her from entering the church of the Holy Sepulchre, asked Mary to pray for her, and then spent the rest of her life doing penance in the desert

Day 301: 2022-11-16-Wed -

  • Phrases to use: 2 Mc-04#v40: "a man advanced in years and no less advanced in folly. "
  • 2 Mc: Hellenization is an attempt to divorce Jewish children from their heritage

Day 302: 2022-11-17-Thu -

  • Concluded Sirach: remember the pursuit of wisdom as the way we are called to live

Day 303: 2022-11-17-Thu -

  • 2 Mc 6:12-13 about punishment being merciful
  • 2 Mc-06#v23 "worthy of his years and the dignity of his old age" (cf. the "advanced in folly" in 2 Mc-04#v40

Day 304: 2022-11-19-Sat -

  • 2 Mc-07 is beautiful because of their faithfulness
  • Wis-03 is his favorite reading for funerals because of it’s talk about purification and our hope for eternal life
  • 2 Mc and Wisdom give us a revelation of the resurrection of the dead

Day 305: 2022-11-19-Sat -

  • God will sometimes allow his justice to discipline us, but we should always look to our situation with trust in the Lord
  • Wisdom: “the wise see clearly because they live clearly”

Day 306: 2022-11-19-Sat -

  • 2 Mc: God is involved in our lives and all the craziness we see around us. We are not guaranteed to be spared suffering, but we are guaranteed that is is with us

Day 307: 2022-11-19-Sat -

  • 2 Mc: “bread of the presence”
  • 2 Mc: a theme of Maccabees is that our courage comes from our faith in the Lord

Day 308: 2022-11-20-Sun -

  • 2 Mc-12: shows why we pray for the dead, which only makes sense if Purgatory exists and our prayers are useful

Day 309: 2022-11-20-Sun -

  • 2 Mc: “punished by the very things by which we sin”: God corrects us little by little and is patient in his punishment and drawing us closer

Day 310: 2022-11-20-Sun -

  • Proverbs: “if you have found honey eat only enough for you”…taking rich things in slowly
  • Story about the guy who scored the winning hockey goal but was more excited to receive the Eucharist

Day 311: 2022-11-20-Sun -

  • Wis-18#v14-15: "For while gentle silence enveloped all things…all-powerful word leaped from heaven…" is a prophecy of Christmas

Day 312: 2022-11-20-Sun -

  • Finished the Old Testament!
  • God is always present, even in the midst of our brokenness

Messianic Checkpoint: Luke

  • Originally Luke and Acts were one book
  • Luke was a companion of Paul
  • Luke focused on Jesus the ideal man (human)
  • Luke shows a major role for women in Jesus’ ministry

Day 313: 2022-11-21-Mon -

  • Zechariah is silenced but Mary is not: asking a question with or without belief
  • Mary is the new ark of the covenant and goes to the hill country of Judea as David did

Day 314: 2022-11-21-Mon -

  • Proverbs today talks about fasting: !Prv-25#v27
  • The place Jesus was baptized is the same place that Joshua led Israel across the river into the holy land

Day 315: 2022-11-21-Mon -

  • Jesus raises mercy to a virtue which is was not in the ancient world

Day 316: 2022-11-22-Tue -

  • “Deny yourself” is renouncing your claim on yourself and recognizing God’s claim on us
  • Jesus claims to be God based on the demands he places on those who follow him
  • Martha and Mary: Martha is like the seed down amongst the thorns where the cares of the world choke it out

Day 317: 2022-11-22-Tue -

  • “Ask and you will receive”: it is a shameless refusal to quit in seeking the Lord
  • Parables in the Bible|parable of the return of the unclean spirit, Msgr Pope: we need to replace sin with virtue
  • Jesus said he would be a cause of division in our families. We should take reassurance in his words

Day 318: 2022-11-23-Wed -

  • Don’t worry about others in heaven or hell, but you strive
  • We are relentlessly pursued by God

Day 319: 2022-11-29-Tue -

  • Millstones: don’t lead others into sin

Day 320: 2022-11-29-Tue -

  • The widow offering coins: active cash passive mortifications
  • Satan desires all of us, but Jesus prays for Peter individually

Day 321: 2022-11-29-Tue -

  • Jesus prays to be close to the Father. His prayer is honest and trusting
  • Christmas tree image: green and red for apples (tree of knowledge) and sugar cookies (Eucharist)

Introduction to the Church

  • Paul’s prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon
  • This is the era of the Holy Spirit
  • St. Ephrem: the word of God will exhaust you, you will not exhaust it

Day 322: 2022-11-29-Tue -

  • Acts-01: Jesus says that the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, will be the ones to restore the kingdom
  • witness = martyr
  • Rom-01: when we turn away from God our intellect is darkened

Day 323: 2022-11-30-Wed -

  • Acts-02: after receiving the Holy Spirit, the apostles don’t cling to it, but rather go out and bring it to others
  • Acts-02#v42: four marks of the early church: stay close to the apostles, fellowship, breaking of the bread (mass), prayer
  • Romans is St. Paul’s masterpiece, he talks about the natural law “written on their hearts”
  • Rom-03#v21: our striving is never enough, but faith in Christ Jesus is the justification for all

Day 324: 2022-12-02-Fri -

  • We glorify the Lord when we use the gifts he has given us
  • Rom-05#v8: "God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."

Day 325: 2022-12-03-Sat -

  • The apostles are filled with a boldness that was not theirs; they were different because they had been with Jesus
  • Don’t pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to face life

Day 326: 2022-12-03-Sat -

  • Gamaliel's advice from Acts-05#v38-39: "I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!""
  • Acts-05#v41: "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name."

Day 327: 2022-12-04-Sun -

  • The apostles initiate the diaconate; Stephen is ordained to serve but ends up preaching and healing (and eventually becoming the first martyr)
  • We are saved by grace though faith working itself out in love
  • Rom-10: "faith comes from what is heard"; the power of hearing God’s word proclaimed (instead of just reading it)

Day 328: 2022-12-05-Mon -

  • Stephen's martyrdom, and Saul consents to this
  • Rom-12#v1 "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." about the acceptable sacrifice is included in the Eucharistic prayers, asking God to make us an acceptable sacrifice

Day 329: 2022-12-05-Mon -

  • Acts-08 shows how sometimes when we are doing God's will we will be persecuted and experience difficulties
  • Acts-08 - the sin of Simony (buying things of God) is named after Simon when he tried to do it
  • Acts-08: The story of the Ethiopian eunuch shows how the Church guides the our interpretation of scripture
  • Rom-13#v12: "the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light"

Day 330: 2022-12-06-Tue -

  • Acts-09#v4: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" shows us how the Church that Saul is persecuting is the body of Christ
  • The Church continues to grow primarily through friendships and family

Day 331: 2022-12-07-Wed -

  • Acts-10: Peter brings the spirit to the Gentiles, and God ends the kosher laws
  • 1 Cor-01#v23: "we preach Christ crucified": leave our factions and focus on Jesus and his cross

Day 332: 2022-12-07-Wed -

  • 1 Cor-04#v7: "What have you that you did not receive?"

Day 333: 2022-12-07-Wed -

  • 1 Cor-06#v20: "You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
  • Excommunication merely recognizes how your actions have already separated you from the church

Day 334: 2022-12-08-Thu -

  • Acts-13: Paul and burns as show us how Prayer and fasting go together
  • 1 Cor-07: on marriage: be faithful, and don’t trick yourself onto thinking that holiness is Just around the corner (the grass is greener where you water it)
  • 1 Cor-08: our actions are important not just for virtue, but also to lead others to virtue and not scandal

Day 335: 2022-12-10-Sat -

  • Acts: men are fickle: they want to worship Paul one day and stone him the next
  • Acts: Coming persecution: "We must endure many trials before entering the God's kingdom", or "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts-14#v22, RSVCE)
  • Acts/1 Cor-10#v13: "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
  • 1 Corinthians: perishable wreaths: "champions don’t practice moderation"”"…if someone is working harder for a gold medal than we are for heaven, then something is off

Day 336: 2022-12-10-Sat -

  • [Acts-15: council of Jerusalem to determine that gentiles do not need to be circumcised
  • 1 Cor-12#v31: I will show you a still more excellent way

Day 337: 2022-12-10-Sat -

  • 1 Cor-14#v22: "tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers"

Day 338: 2022-12-10-Sat -

  • 1 Corinthians: you are your body (and your soul)
  • 1 Cor-15#v17: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."

Day 339: 2022-12-11-Sun -

  • Acquila and Prescila remind us of Joseph Ratzinger|Pope Benedict XVI’s words that Christianity is an encounter with a person

Day 340: 2022-12-13-Tue -

  • Acts-19: the people turn away from magic to Christ, and demonstrate so by burning their (very valuable) books

Day 341: 2022-12-14-Wed -

  • 2 Cor-03#v18: "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another"
  • 2 Cor-05#v21: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (cf. Ps-51–LOTH)
  • 2 Cor-04#v17 "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison"
  • Prv-28#v27: "He who gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse."

Day 342: 2022-12-14-Wed -

  • 2 Cor-06: our whole goal is to be like Jesus

Day 343: 2022-12-14-Wed -

  • 2 Cor-09: God uses our stumbles to prepare us for his work
  • 2 Cor-09: If you are going to give, be a cheerful giver
  • 2 Cor-10#v5: "take every thought captive to obey Christ": what do I feed my mind?

Day 344: 2022-12-14-Wed -

  • 2 Cor-12#v9: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Day 345: 2022-12-14-Wed -

  • Gal-02#v20: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me"

Day 346: 2022-12-14-Wed -

  • Gal-05#v1: "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
  • Gal-06#v3: "or if any one thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself."
  • Gal-06#v18: "Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit"
  • Rom-12#v1: "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

Day 347: 2022-12-15-Thu -

  • Acts-26 Paul in front of Agrippa shows us how God can make good out of any situation
  • Eph-01#v5: "He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ"

Day 348: 2022-12-15-Thu -

  • Eph-04#v15: "speaking the truth in love"
  • Eph-04#v25: "let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another."
  • Eph-04#v26: "Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger"
  • Eph-05#v21: "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ."

Day 349: 2022-12-15-Thu -

  • Acts-28: Paul getting bit by the viper while stoking the fire: as a Christian you have to have the attitude of a servant
  • Phil-02#v6: "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped"

Day 350: 2022-12-16-Fri -

  • Jas-01#v22: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only"
  • Jas-02#v26: "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead."
  • Jeff Cavins has a Bible study on James: James: Pearls for Wise Living – Ascension
  • Phil-04#v4: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."
  • Phil-04#v13: "I can do all things in him who strengthens me."

Day 351: 2022-12-17-Sat -

  • Prv-30#v8: "Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me"
    • First movement of conversion is distrust of self and trust of the lord
  • Jas-04#v7: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
    • Don’t be a person of two minds
  • “Incomplete suffering of Christ”: when we suffer with Christ we participate in the redemption of the world

Day 352: 2022-12-18-Sun -

  • I'm a "spiritual infant" (cf. 1 Pt-02#v2)
  • 1 Pt-02#v15: "For it is God's will that by doing right you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men."
  • Col-03#v2: "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
  • Col-03#v15: "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts"
  • Col-03#v23: "Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men"

Day 353: 2022-12-19-Mon -

  • 1 Pt-03#v15: "Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you"
  • 1 Pt-05#v8: "Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith"

Day 354: 2022-12-20-Tue -

  • 2 Pt-01#v4: "become partakers of the divine nature"
  • 2 Pt-02#v19: "for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved."
  • 1 Thes-05#v10: "who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him."
  • 1 Thes-05#v21: "but test everything; hold fast what is good"

Day 355: 2022-12-21-Wed -

  • 1 Jn-01#v5: "God is light and in him is no darkness at all."
  • 2 Thes-03#v10: "If any one will not work, let him not eat."

Day 356: 2022-12-22-Thu -

  • 1 Jn-04#v18: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."
  • 1 Jn-04#v19: "We love, because he first loved us."
  • 1 Jn-05#v2: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments."
  • What is the source of Truth? The Bible? Well the Bible says that the Church is the "pillar and bulwark of truth": 1 Tm-03#v15: "the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth."

Day 357: 2022-12-23-Fri -

  • 1 Tm-04#v4: "For everything created by God is good"
  • 1 Tm-04#v7-8: "Train yourself in godliness; kfor while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. "
  • Provide both for your family and for your relatives: 1 Tm-05#v8: "If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
  • Coming persecution/self-competence|self-sufficiency: 1 Tm-06#v8: "if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content."
  • 1 Tm-06#v12: "Fight the good fight of the faith"

Day 358: 2022-12-24-Sat -

  • 2 Tm-02#v11-12: "The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;"
  • 2 Tm-02#v23: "Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels."

Day 359: 2022-12-25-Sun -

  • Rv-01#v8: ""I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
  • Rv-03#v19: "Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent."
  • 2 Tm-03#v12: "Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,"
  • 2 Tm-03#v16: "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,"
  • Our world today! and Confirmation Bias 2 Tm-04#v3: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings"
  • 2 Tm-04#v7: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Day 360: 2022-12-26-Mon -

  • Rv-04#v11: "Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created."
  • Rv-07#v14: "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
  • Titus: Christians should live differently than non-Christians

Day 361: 2022-12-27-Tue -

  • Philemon: Paul is sending back the runaway slave, but as a brother now that he is a Christian
    • Modern employers/employees, students/teachers, parents/children could use this view
  • Revelation: God's patience doesn't run out, but at some point time runs out and we get what we have chosen

Day 362: 2022-12-28-Wed -

  • Rv-12#v10: "the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb"
  • Heb-02#v1: "Therefore we must pay the closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it."
  • Fr. Mike gave a reflection on the ~The Lord of the Rings|The Lord of the Rings and how Gandalf, Aragorn, and Frodo are all Christ-figures in different respects
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars (Rv-12#v1)
  • "Hebrews and Revelation are the two most complicated books of the Bible"

Day 363: 2022-12-29-Thu -

  • Heb-05#v12: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of God's word. You need milk, not solid food;"
  • Heb-07#v17: "You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchiz′edek."

Day 364: 2022-12-30-Fri -

  • Fr. Mike recommends ~The Ignatius Study Bible|The Ignatius Study Bible: it has a long note on Rv-18 about what Babylon is referring to
  • Rv-19#v1: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants."
  • Heb-09#v12: "he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."
  • Heb-10#v14: "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."
  • Heb-10#v16: "I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds"
  • We must turn away from sin!
    • "For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?" (Heb-10#v26-Heb-10#v29)

Day 365: 2022-12-31-Sat -

  • Rv-21#v5: "And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.""
  • Rv-21#v7: "I will be his God and he shall be my son."
  • Rv-22#v4: "they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads."
  • Rv-22#v5: "And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever."
  • Don't water down God's Word!: "and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." (Rv-22#v19)
  • Rv-22#v20: "Come, Lord Jesus!"
  • Heb-12#v1: "we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses"
  • Heb-13#v14: "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come."

Inspiration for "Bible in a Year"

Source: 2022-01-23 Holy Family Bulletin

The Bible in a year podcast was mentioned at the end of this article in the bulletin, and I loved the story of the priest who had been reading the Bible every year for 24 years.

Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has given particular attention to how Catholics celebrate the Mass. The Mass is not only, as the Vatican II|Second Vatican Council clearly taught, the “source and summit of the Christian life,” but also a school. Because the faith of believers is profoundly influenced by the way the Church prays (lex orandi, lex credendi), Pope Francis has sought in various ways to strengthen the liturgical curriculum.

He has buttressed the Marian piety of the Mass, establishing the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, on the day after Pentecost and extending the memorial of Our Lady of Loreto to the universal Church. He has bolstered devotion to St. Joseph as the guardian of the Church by requiring his intercession to be invoked in every Eucharistic Prayer. He has underlined the necessary connection between liturgy and charity in establishing in 2017 the World Day of the Poor on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time.

On January 26, 2020 the Church celebrated for the first time an important new annual feast, the Sunday of the Word of God, which Pope Francis established to accentuate the importance that Sacred Scripture is meant to have in the faith, prayer and lives of believers.

He announced it intentionally September 2019, on the feast of St. Jerome, the famous translator of the Bible from the Greek and Hebrew into Latin, then the common language of the people. In 2020 the Church marked the 1,600th anniversary of St. Jerome’s death. He is famous for emphasizing, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ” - that unless we are familiar with what Jesus said and did in the Gospel, how He fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament, and how the apostles proclaimed Him, we really do not know Him.

St. Jerome learned this lesson the hard way. As a brilliant young student traveling to study from the great masters of his day, he got deathly ill with something that took the life of his companions. He had been up until this point a lukewarm Christian, far more passionate about Greco-Roman literature than the faith.

During his sickness he had a dream in which he was appearing before the judgment seat of Christ. When he professed he was a Christian, Jesus replied that he was, rather, a Ciceronian, because he knew far more about Cicero and his writings than he did about Christ and His teachings. It struck Jerome to the core. He didn’t know Christ because he didn’t know the Scriptures! After he awoke and recovered, he resolved to pour his mind, heart and time into the study and diffusion of the Word of God. Pope Francis is hoping that St. Jerome’s example of converted zeal will be contagious.

In his decree establishing the feast, Aperuit Illis, taken from the words in the Emmaus scene describing how Jesus “opened to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27), Pope Francis said he hopes that this feast will help believers “grow in religious and intimate familiarity with the Sacred Scriptures,” “appreciate the inexhaustible riches contained in that constant dialogue between the Lord and His people,” “experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of His Word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world,” and “marked by this decisive relationship with the living Word ..., grow in love and faithful
witness.”

Desiring the feast to be dedicated to the “celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God,” he made various practical suggestions. He asked that the Sacred Scriptures be “enthroned” during Mass, to focus on the permanent, normative value of God’s Word. He suggested that the installation of lectors or commissioning of readers take place, showing the importance of proclaiming God’s Word and giving extra attention to readers’ formation to proclaim it faithfully and beautifully. He asked priests in a particular way to focus on their preaching, so that the Word of God may be better understood and come more alive in the heads of hearts of believers. He encouraged training in lectio divina (prayerful reading of Scripture), so that people may prayerfully assimilate the content of Scripture. And he expressed hope that since the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time either will each year fall within or at the end of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Sunday of the Word of God might bear great ecumenical fruit, “since the Scriptures point out, for those who listen, the path to authentic and firm unity.” I would like to underline two points.

The first is about celebrating the word of God as the great treasure it is. During the 2008 Synod on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, Bishop Antons Justs of Jelgava, Latvia, gave an unforgettable intervention (talk). He described a priest, Father Viktors, who was arrested by the Soviets for possessing the Bible and commanded him to step on it. Instead, he knelt and kissed it, for which he was condemned to 10 years of hard labor in Siberia. When he returned a decade later as an emaciated witness to Scripture’s inestimable value, he celebrated Mass with his people. After proclaiming the Gospel, he kissed once more the Word of God, and he and the people cried profusely with gratitude to God.

Father Viktors wasn’t alone in his testimony, “In Latvia, during the Soviet era,” Bishop Justs continued, “no religious books, no Holy Scriptures, no catechisms were allowed to be printed. The reasoning was: If there is no printed Word of God, there will be no religion. So our Latvian people did what the first-century Christians did: They learnt the passages of the Holy Scriptures by heart.” (cf. Memorize Scripture, 2021-10-30-Live Not By Lies|Live Not By Lies)

And specifically with regard to celebration, he recounted, “Still today in Latvia there is an oral tradition alive. We stand on the shoulders of our martyrs to proclaim the Word of God. Our grandchildren remember their grandfathers and grandmothers, who died for their faith; they want to be in their turn, heroes of faith. In Latvia, we proclaim the living Word of God! We go in the processions and on the pilgrimages; we sing songs, and we pray and say: ‘This is the Word of God, for which our grandparents died.”’

A people learning Sacred Scripture by heart, taking the Bible on pilgrimages, proudly proclaiming the Word of God, and seeking to be heroes in witness to it—this is what the Catholic Church is meant to be. This is the type of faith and celebration Pope Francis, by establishing this feast, is trying to catalyze.

The second point is about learning Sacred Scripture. About a decade ago, I happened to meet a priest from Cleveland at Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island. I invited him to lunch. When the cashier asked if there would be one check or two, I said one and gave my credit card. Father Bob immediately interjected, “Sirach says we should go Dutch!” I stared at him quizzically, but retorted, “Jesus calls us to love one another as He loves us and the Last Supper wasn’t Dutch. I’m paying!”

When we got to the table, immediately after grace, I asked whether he had invented the quotation from Sirach. “Not at all,” he enthusiastically replied, as he pulled a worn Bible from his backpack and amazingly opened it to the exact page in the Book of Sirach where it says not to be ashamed to “share the expenses of a business or journey” (Sir-42#v3).

Blown away, and frankly filled with holy envy by his command of Scripture, I asked how he had come to know the Word of God so well. He told me he had made a promise the day of his diaconal ordination to read the entire Bible once a year and that he had been faithful to that promise. “After 24 years,” he said with a smile, “you get to know what Sirach says about restaurant bills!”

I asked him how long it takes to read the whole Bible in a year. He replied that it takes cumulatively only 75 hours, or 12—15 minutes a day.

Since that encounter, I’ve tried to emulate Father Bob’s commitment to reading the Bible each year and have encouraged many others to join us. Twelve to 15 minutes a day can change your life. There are so many books and smartphone applications that make reading the Bible in a year easier, intelligently varying the passages to help one understand it better than if one just read from cover to cover. I’d encourage you to consult them.

If ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ, intimate familiarity with the Word of God will help you to know not only the inspired words, but the Word made flesh so much better.

  • Fr. Roger Landry National Catholic Register Blogs January 21, 2020
    Priest of the Diocese of Fall River and is National Chaplain for Catholic Voices USA

Created: 2022-02-06-Sun
Updated: 2023-01-18-Wed