nunblog: Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! We've been reading the Bible clear through this year. We've reached the New Testament, so read along with me. But first, let us pray:

Father,

When the fullness of time had come, you sent your Word in the One who said, “Whoever sees me, sees the Father.” No revelation can surpass this, until Jesus comes again in glory.

Open my mind today to the gift of life and truth your Word offers me through the Church. By your Holy Spirit, grant me wisdom and strength to put this Word into practice and to become, myself, a presence of Jesus for people who are looking for you.

Jesus, eternal Word and Son of the Father, live in me with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Today's chapters are Matthew 13-15.

Almost the whole of Chapter 13 consists of parables about the Kingdom of God. God's kingdom does not match our grandiose human expectations. Matthew already indicated as much when "the newborn king of the Jews" could not be found in the royal palace of Jerusalem, but in a manger in Bethlehem. (What does this suggest to us about the earthly manifestation of the Kingdom of God in the Church? in ourselves?) The "seed" of the Kingdom of God is the Word: Christ himself and the message he "planted" in the world through his life, preaching, miracles and ultimately his death and resurrection.

You might consider reading Chapter 13 and then 15, to see the kinds of response the Word of God received when Jesus Christ himself preached. But don't skip Chapter 14 with its drama! The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure in a field: John the Baptist was someone who found that treasure, and knew its worth.

Also in Chapter 14: the multiplication of loaves and fish for 5,000 (remember 2 Kings 4:42-44 when Elisha fed 100 with 20 loaves and had some left?). Yes, there are two accounts of multiplication of loaves and fish: note the differences between them. And then the storm at sea, with Jesus' calm reassurance (using words that echo the Divine Name in Exodus 3), "It is I; take heart. Do not be afraid."

Start reading here.

For additional background

On Matthew

We have barely a week and a half with the Gospel of Matthew, and there's just too much wealth there for me to even hint at in my little introductions (to three chapters a day!). So Dr Edward Sri's companion to the Gospel of Matthew is a good study guide: it even has reflection questions and space for you to write your answers!

For all Four Gospels

I am happy to recommend this volume of The Four Gospels in an edition directed to young readers and their parents. The text of all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in the New Revised Standard Translation is accompanied by FAQs that a middle-school reader might ask (or, to be honest, anybody reading the Gospels for the first time). The footnotes were prepared by a team of Scripture scholars for parents and guardians, making the book ideal for family Bible reading.