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 Leviticus 17-19 and (because it is Sunday) Psalms 11 and 12.
The repeated prohibitions in chapter 18 against sacrifices to Moloch may be a sign that the people were strongly tempted to follow their neighbors' example of human sacrifice.
In this series of regulations, God explicitly forbids specific sexual and social practices that were generally taken for granted (some had even been practiced by the patriarchs). In between, the Book of Leviticus enjoins standards of social justice which we would do well to take to heart today. Indeed, Jesus himself will say that Lev. 19:18 is the "second greatest commandment" in the entire Law of God (right after, "You shall love the Lord your God"; see Matthew 22:38-39).
I invite you to pay special attention to Leviticus 19:9-18.
Start reading Leviticus here and the Psalms 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 Brant Pitre and John Bergsma. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts.
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