Experiments in Catholicism: Reading the Bible? That’s so fetch!

If you were to look on your bookshelf, do you see a Bible? If you took it off the shelf now, would you cough on the cloud of dust released from its pages? Or is it at the very bottom of the stack of your “To Be Read” pile next to your bookshelf, functioning as the foundation to the pile of books instead of the foundation to your life? Now that we are thinking about it — do you even know where your Bible is? Do you have one?

If the answers to these questions are an uncomfortable “I’m not sure” or “It’s been a while” or “I didn’t think Catholics read the Bible!” don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place!

For a long time, I knew that I should read the Bible, but I didn’t really know how. Now, I am the first person to crack open Scripture during Adoration or a Frassati meeting. My phone background is a Bible verse, and when I write these columns, I find many ideas in Scripture. So how did this change happen? I can thank my Protestant friends for that!

When I was in college, I was part of a small Christian fellowship on my campus. Each week, we’d gather to pray, reflect on Scripture and be a support system for each other. The group consisted of about half non-denominational Christians and half Catholics. We’d have great discussions about our lives, and it would usually lead back to Jesus. I noticed that my non-denominational friends could spout off Bible verses like I could spout off quotes from the movie “Mean Girls.” When I tried to reference Scripture, I’d give some butchered recollection of a verse, usually ending in me just looking up the verse on my phone.

When I brought up their Bible knowledge one Monday evening, my friends spoke about the importance of weaving Scripture into your life. When times were tough, you’d have something solid to fall back on. By reading the words of Jesus, they really got to know who He is, instead of just relying on feelings or what they had been told about Him.

I knew that I wanted to build my life on a solid foundation, but I didn’t even have a Bible with me at college. Instead, I downloaded a Bible app on my phone. I was easily able to look up verses whenever I felt anxious, nervous, or unsure about life. These little bits of Biblical wisdom gave me enough peace to continue on with my day.

Eventually, I bought a Bible and started to read longer passages. I used sticky tabs to mark the books and usually read with a pen in my hand for notes. I felt more comfortable leading our Bible study with stories from Scripture and referencing different lines.

After a time, I still didn’t feel like I knew enough, so I participated in an “Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible” course at St. Rose of Lima in North Syracuse. The course focused on salvation history — the reason why and how we are saved by Jesus — which is really the whole big story of the Bible. As I travelled through the Old Testament with my fellow parishioners, this big, old book started to make a lot of sense.

So now you’re sitting in your armchair or at your kitchen table, with your Bible in front of you. Or maybe you’ve ventured to the app store to download the app. What now? Flip to Colossians 3:16, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

By reading the Bible, you can feel the presence of Christ dwell more richly and more alive in you. As you start to build your life upon the Word, you’ll find that it’s a pretty solid foundation.

Experiment of the Week: Find your Bible or get one (downloading counts, too!) and read it! If you don’t know where to start — try the Gospels (The Books marked Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the story of Jesus. Get to know that, then everything else will fall into place.