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: 

God of my fathers, Lord of mercy,
who have made all things by your word
and in your wisdom have created people 
to rule this world that you have made,
and to render judgment in integrity of heart:
Give me Wisdom, the attendant at your throne, 
and reject me not from among your children;
for I am your servant, the child of your handmaid, 
a weak human being,  
and lacking in comprehension of your Word and your will.

Send your Wisdom from the holy heavens,
from your glorious throne,
to be with me, to guide me,
to enlighten me, to lead me to you.
(Based on Wis 9)

Today's chapters are Songs 4-6.

Much in the Song of Songs will be applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially the lines we find in today's first chapter about the Bride as "a garden enclosed" (hortus conclusus). This garden is seen as the virginal Paradise where the new Adam will come to dwell.

The next chapter gives us words that will be applied to Mary Magdalene in a different garden: the garden of the Easter tomb. (In fact, the passage is one of the options for the Feast of St Mary Magdalen, who, we know from the Gospel of John, was at the Lord's tomb on Easter morning, seeking the one whom her heart loved.)

These two loving women give us a picture of the loving relationship God desired with his people Israel. We'll see it spelled out in matrimonial terms when we come to the prophetic books, but right now we have it in an image. A long Jewish tradition interpreted the Song of Songs in just this way: as an allegory of God's love for his people. It was natural for Christian theologians to take the next step and interpret the book in terms of Christ and his Bride, the Church. That same approach inspires the personal mysticism interpretation in which the Bridegroom is Christ and the Bride, the individual soul responding to his grace. This is what is behind the Commentaries on the Song of Songs by abbots (like St Bernard of Clairvaux) and other religious like St Teresa of Avila.

Start reading here.

If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by John Bergsma and Brant Pitre. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts, and how each book of the Bible has been understood by the Church Fathers and used in Liturgy.