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 Kings 19-21 and (for Lent) Psalm 51.

Alone in the cave of Horeb (another name for Mount Sinai), Elijah is able to discern the small whisper of the divine presence. This is the inspiration behind the Carmelite Order and its austere but magnificent spirituality, personified (after Elijah!) in its greatest witnesses: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Thérèse of Lisieux, Elizabeth of the Trinity and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). The Carmelites celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Prophet Elijah on July 20.

Some years ago I read about a big university laboratory (or perhaps it was a corporation) that patented the genome for a certain variety of cacao from the Ivory Coast. The farmers whose ancestors had cultivated the plant for generations, breeding it to perfect its special qualities, are now obliged to pay royalties to this foreign institute for their crops! Their ancestral heritage has been co-opted. It reminds me of the story in Chapter 21 of poor Naboth, who had the misfortune of inheriting the vineyard next door to Ahab.

Every Friday the Morning Prayer of the Church includes Psalm 51, the classic psalm of repentance: David's Miserere. And possibly the most stunning musical setting of it is that of Gregorio Allegri, which was once reserved to the Sistine Choir (but is now available on YouTube).

Start reading 1 Kings here and Psalm 51 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.