Living Catholicism: Reading the Bible as a Family

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October 18, 2004

Reading the Bible as a Family

How are we, as Catholic families, to understand the Bible? Is it important to read the Bible? Let us begin by looking at what the Church teaches us about Sacred Scripture:

102 Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely:
"You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time."
103 For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body.
104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, "but as what it really is, the word of God." In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, pg. 30-31

Here we see the great reverence and devotion the Catholic Church has always had for Sacred Scripture. So how do we incorporate the reading of Sacred Scripture in our family's daily life?

1) Take your family to Mass. At each Mass there is an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a New Testament reading, and a reading from one of the four Gospels. As parents we need to teach our children to be attentive during the Liturgy of the Word, just as we should teach them to be attentive and reverent during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, for as the Catechism clearly said we are nourished both by the Word of God and by Christ's Body in the Eucharist.

2) Read the Bible as a family An excellent way to do this is by selecting one or more of the Mass readings for that day. I highly recommend alternating who reads each night aloud. This does two things, it teaches your children to read the Bible and it teaches those not reading to listen to God's Word being proclaimed.

3) Read the Bible personally and teach your children to do the same. I think a great idea is to read a chapter of the Bible each day.

4) Read various books about the Bible and how it is understood in the Catholic Church. Below are several books that are fantastic resources.

We need to understand that the Bible came to us from the Church and finds it complete meaning and fulfillment in the Catholic Church. As Catholic parents we have to understand this and be able to hand it on to our children.

May the Holy Family bless and guide you and your family always. Amen.