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 Joshua 22-24.

How has the Book of Joshua been going for you? For me the last number of chapters have been a bit of a slog. Kind of like reading the minutes of a state zoning board marking out boundaries for new districts (and even then, the listings for the last seven tribes seemed to be rather perfunctory compared with the first group). But centuries later, Isaiah will write "the Lord delights in you and makes your land his spouse" (Is 62:4). It is as if every last detail, every stone, every brook, is precious in God's sight, and he wants us to know it.

In the closing chapter of the Book of Joshua, the great leader shows himself a worthy successor of Moses. In a stirring exhortation, he speaks in God's name recounting all that God has done for the people from the time of Abraham onward. Now that God has fulfilled his promise to Abraham, and led the patriarch's numerous descendants into a fruitful land of their own, it is decision time.

Will the people remain allied with the God of their ancestors, the God who proved so faithful and loving toward them, or will they follow their own preferences or the example of the neighboring cultures? 

In words that can be found on inspirational plaques in homes around the world, Joshua offers his own example, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!" (24:15).

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.