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 Luke 17-19.

There are only a few more parables left in Luke's Gospel, and an abundance of images in his teachings as he approaches Jerusalem. We see flashes of apocalyptic language, but Jesus very clearly tells his followers not to chase after every rumor. There will be no mistaking his return. (And no escaping it.)

The healing of the Ten Lepers reads like a parable, but it is one of the final miracle stories, and (as is typical with Luke) highlights the virtue of an outsider, the Samaritan who came back to give thanks "in a loud voice."

Just before his royal procession into Jerusalem, we see some very kingly behavior from Jesus. But after he crosses to the other side of the valley, he looks back and weeps over its future destruction by the Romans. Even if the people did "not recognize the time of their visitation," he will spend the remaining hours of his earthly life going back into the city every day to teach whomever will listen to him.

And us?

Start reading here.

For additional background

We can go far astray in grasping Jesus' point if we interpret his parables from the individualistic standpoint of the 21st century. As we read some of the most beloved parables of Luke, you might find this double volume extremely enlightening, as I did. The author of Poet & Peasant lived and taught in the Middle East for decades, and brings his intimate awareness of traditional cultural expectations to bear specifically on the parables of Luke. Granted, the degree of literary analysis is meant for doctoral students, the cultural parts are very graspable. Please note that the author is not Catholic, so sometimes his comments reflect an approach to the Bible or Church life that is disconnected from the continuous tradition we know in the Catholic and also Orthodox Churches.

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.