Penitential Bible Reading
When I first emtered RCIA, I was fascinated, amused and appalled at the anual Catholic cry, “It’s Lent. Time for a Bible study group.” When you come from a sola scriptura. very conservative background, Bible study is something you do before you even understand the words. A friend of mine used to “teach” the Baptist nursery babies, the little ones who didn’t talk or walk yet; besides keeping them changed and happy, she was supposed to tell them Bible verses; and a lesson plan was provided for her just as it was for the teachers of the K-adult Sunday school classes. And yes, you read that right. The faithful of the church, the serious believers, were expected to attend Sunday School as well as worship service every Sunday.
So a special short-term BIble study, not an add-on, but as the main event, seems a little odd. But I’ve gotten used to it. Mostly.
Still, there are parts of the Bible that are harder to get through than others. Like many people whose hope springs up annually in spite of prior experience, I’ve embarked on reading the Bible through this year, using My daily Catholic Bible. I’ve only tried this particular enterprise a few times since becoming Catholic. I especially like the way this version rearranges the New Testamanet readings so that the Gospels are not read successively.
There’s one pitfall they didn’t av0id, though. And that’s the Leviticus hurdle. When the days are short, when your enthusiasm for new projects is starting to wane in the grey light of February, one runs smack into the tabernacle plans in Exodus, Leviticus and the opening chapters of Numbers.
It’s not my place to question the wisdom of God in ensuring these detailed “technical specs” in the Scriptures. But I do question reading plans that lead us right into the quagmire at the dark of the year.
