Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

I praise you, my God, with all people.
May they thank and adore you!
You have written your greatness in creation,
your Law in consciences,
your eternal promises in the Bible.
You are eternally faithful and always lovable!
As I read Sacred Scripture today, open my mind to hear your voice and understand your loving message.
Amen.

Today's three chapters are Genesis 13-15.

In Chapter 14 of Genesis we are introduced to a very mysterious person. He is a priest and a king: In fact, his name, Melchizedek, means King of Righteousness (or of Justice) and he is described as the King of Salem, that is, King of Peace. As a priest, Melchizedek offers a sacrifice of bread and wine. Hmmm. Who does that make you think of? The Letter to the Hebrews explains that Melchizedek is a "type" or prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, the true Prince of Peace and High Priest before God. This is another example of how the New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is manifest in the New (hat tip: St Augustine!). 

Chapter 15 describes the foundational covenant God makes with Abram, swearing to be faithful to him and to his progeny forever.  Although Abram was childless, "he believed God" becoming the father not only of the Jewish people who would be born of his line, but (as Paul will say) the father of all who believe (see Romans 4:16). The covenant ceremony may seem bizarre to us, but it would have been very familiar to Abraham. This is an example of the divine condescension: God using ordinary, human cultural forms to communicate with people in ways that make sense to them. That divine condescension (and the covenant with Abraham) will reach its extreme expression in the Incarnation, when, in Jesus, God was born into Abraham's family and "worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart" (Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes, 22).

Start reading Genesis here.

In a supper conversation about the best books to recommend for people who are getting started with reading the Bible, one of the sisters mentioned Scott Hahn's overview, A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture. She said that whenever someone buys a Bible, she recommends that they get this as a companion volume. Since we will be hearing a lot about covenants from here on in (it's the major theme in Scripture!), you might want to take her recommendation!