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 Daniel 4-6 and (because it is Sunday) Psalms 120-121.

"He saw the writing on the wall..." That expression indicating imminent misfortune comes to us from Daniel 5. In the next chapter, we find Daniel (where else?) "in the Lion's Den" (don't worry). Even here, he is determined to continue his obligations as a pious Jew, praying three times a day. 

Psalm 120 is the beginning of a series of Psalms with the heading "a Psalm of Ascents" (in the Latin tradition, they are called the "Gradual Psalms" or "step" psalms). The fifteen short prayers may have been part of a series used for the journey "up" to Jerusalem, definitely an uphill climb. In Psalm 120, the psalmist seeks peace amidst strife.

Psalm 121 is a wonderful affirmation of trust in God. 

Start reading Daniel here and the Psalms here.

Here's Mendelssohn's version of key verses of Psalm 121 from his oratorio Elijah, performed by The Choir of Canterbury Cathedral:

 

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.