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 Esther 4-6.

Start reading here.

Arthur Szyk, from Le Livre d’Esther (The Book of Esther). Paris, 1925.

Chromolithographic print. Location of original artwork unknown. 

Image courtesy of Irvin Ungar.

When Haman’s secret plan was first revealed to her, Esther had been reluctant to act. No one in the palace, least of all the King, knew she was Jewish. Though Queen, she is little more than a slave herself: She may only enter the King’s presence if summoned. Her foster-father Mordecai presses the case: Esther’s unlikely royal status is a sign of Divine Providence over all Israel. She had been born for this (see 4:14). Esther accepts her calling after securing a promise of three days’ fasting and prayer on her behalf by the entire Jewish community of the Persian capital. The Queen and her handmaids also retire for three days of penance with fasting and intense prayer, knowing that only God can save the Jewish people from the King’s irrevocable decree (8:8). In the image, Esther approaches the King, depending not on her feminine charms but on the faithfulness of the God of the Covenant in whom she has put all her trust. Moved by that grace, the King extends the royal sceptre.

About the artist:

Born in Poland in 1894, Arthur Szyk had pursued a career in art that took him to Paris and Kracow and even the Middle East. In 1925, Le Livre d’Esther was published in Paris. Antisemitism was on the rise throughout Europe, yet the sumptuous art gives only a few courteous nods to Judaism. Soon the events of the ancient book began to play out in a new and dreadful way on the world stage. Things would be very different the next time Szyk put pen and brush to paper for The Book of Esther.

By 1940, the artist had emigrated to the United States where he was a sought-after illustrator, creating cover art for the leading magazines of the time and political art for the United States government. Szyk’s art critiqued not only Hitler’s notions of racial purity, but its peculiarly American forms. The story of Esther bracketed Szyk’s most prolific years, but its theme of a people marked for destruction seared itself into Szyk’s conscience. He remained committed to racial justice, using his skills not to stir up outrage or indignation, but to provoke reflection especially in his beloved adopted homeland. Arthur Szyk died in 1951.