Ever Started Reading the Bible...Then Quit?

By Brent Billman

Although I’m a cradle Catholic, I opened the Bible only occasionally in my younger years. Every attempt to dig into the scriptures ended after a few days. Too many verses were difficult or impossible to understand. Some books were especially mind-numbingly boring; Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy come to mind. It didn’t help that I had no knowledge of ancient cultures or the Hebrew and Greek languages in which the Bible was originally written. I was a lost ball in tall weeds.

Admittedly, some of my frustration was of my own making. If I had read the Bible as often as I read the Wall Street Journal you’d probably think I was a saint. But even so, I needed guidance and encouragement.

Several years ago, I joined a Bible study class here at St Max; it has made all the difference.

I can’t say that I’m now a biblical scholar, but I know enough to look for certain themes, words, word patterns, word repetition, or the meaning and significance of some key words in their original Hebrew and Greek languages. (I’ll never be proficient in either language; it’s all Greek to me.)

At some point, the more I began to understand what I was reading, the more I wanted to learn. It’s almost as if I discovered a great treasure buried in my backyard. Reading the Bible helps me focus more on things that are eternal, to which we should all aspire, rather than be distracted by all that comes at us in our busy, hectic world.

I’ve become more aware of the presence of God in my life, and my moral obligation to be more generous. My favorite parable about Lazarus and the rich man (Lk 6: 19-31), and Mt 25: 31-46, are wake-up calls for me.

We have an abundance of great Catholic sources to nurture our biblical literacy. A few of the authors I especially I like include Scott Hahn, Brant Pitre, John Bergsma, Bishop Robert Barron and Jeff Cavins. We also have the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series, Little Rock Catholic Study Bible, Word on Fire Bible, Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, the multi-volume Navarre Bible, and The Great Adventure Catholic Bible.

Now is the time to take up the Bible and read. You don’t want to wait as long as I did.