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: 

Everlasting Father,

All time belongs to you, and all the ages. In signs, in songs, in words of promise, you reassured your chosen ones, “I am with you; fear not.” You taught them through the prophets to trust that your saving deeds were not limited to the past.

When Jesus came, he fulfilled “all that was written in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

The Church has found him everywhere in these same holy books.

Help me to find Jesus in my reading today, to listen to him, and to follow him with all my heart.

Amen.

Today's chapters are Ezekiel 41-43.

Ezekiel continues describing his vision of a mysterious and grandiose Temple, including the return of "the glory of God...coming from the east" to fill the Temple forever. This language of God coming back "from the east," like the rising sun (oriens), contributes much to our Advent language, and has had a powerful influence on the liturgy as well. When the Mass is celebrated "ad orientem," priest and people are all facing a symbolic "east," from which we expect Christ to come again in the most definitive way possible.

There are several mentions of priests descended from Zadok (among whom was Ezekiel himself!): The original Zadok was a descendant of Aaron's grandson Phinehas (the model of zeal for the Lord); he was a member of David's cabinet and the first High Priest of the Solomonic Temple.

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.