Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! We've been reading the Bible clear through this year. We are finishing the New Testament, so read along with me. But first, let us pray:
Father,
When the fullness of time had come, you sent your Word in the One who said, “Whoever sees me, sees the Father.” No revelation can surpass this until Jesus comes again. By your gift, the Church continues to receive unfathomable riches from the inheritance handed on from the Apostles and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.
Let the Spirit who inspired the writing of today's pages "guide me in the truth and teach me" to follow Jesus ever more closely, until he calls me to follow him to the Kingdom where he lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Today's chapters are James 3-5 and (because it is Sunday) Psalm 148.
James, the wise man, guides us like a wise spiritual director. He has given us the foundation, and now he comes down to very realistic matters: the words we speak, the way we set our priorities, the never-ending struggle to resist the pull of riches. He also encourages us to believe in the power of intercessory prayer.
It is the Letter of James which, along with the Gospel of Mark, gives us strong Scriptural teaching on the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
Psalm 148 beautifully calls upon all creation to praise God. Starting from the farthest reaches of the sky (a total of 7 heavenly choirs) to the deepest, darkest parts of the sea, and then various categories of animals, and different social classes (21 or 3 times 7 earthly choirs): all are conscripted to acknowledge the Lord, "for he alone is exalted."
We are almost at the end of the Bible (and of the Psalter!). Psalm 149 is scheduled for next Sunday, and then Psalm 150 is the grand finale when we finish our Bible reading project!
Read James here and the Psalm here.
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