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: 

My God, I adore and thank your loving and wise Providence, manifested on every page of Sacred Scripture. You have always been close to sinful and erring humanity, and have indicated the way and given hope. Amid the shadows of error and corruption, you kindled the light of your truth; amid universal corruption, you are the Just One; amid so much idolatry, humanity in every corner of the earth has cultivated a sincere worship of you.
Let my reading today increase my trust in your goodness, your mercy, and your unfailing faithfulness.

Today's chapters are 1 Samuel 5-7 and since today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, we are also beginning the daily Psalm for Lent. (That is the only way we will cover all 150 Psalms in a year!) So today's Psalm is Psalm 25.

The restoration of the Ark of the Covenant, with precious gifts of atonement by the sinful Philistines, is a fitting reading for Ash Wednesday. 

Psalm 25 is a wonderful starter for Lent (I confess it's one of my favorites, too!), because it has this amazing verse: Guide me by your fidelity and teach me, for you are God my savior, for you I wait all the day long. Isn't that what our Lenten observance is about?

Start reading here  and Psalm 25 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.