What Is Bible Study?

Bringing people together around the written Word invites a deeper response to the intentions of God for human life. Bible study is not like any other study one would engage in, for it invites personal response in the midst of community, a sharing of meaning and personal experience, and the movement of the Holy Spirit that enlivens every page of Holy Scripture.

You don't have to be a biblical scholar to engage the bible, simply to have an inquiring mind and an open heart. As you participate with others you build community around the heart of your life's response to our Lord in faith. As people discuss various verses of Scripture they soon realize that it is only in community that truth is discovered. One does not circle the bible intending to listen to the priest unfold the divine mysteries, but to open the self, being vulnerable to others and the Holy Spirit, and through that vulnerability to discover fresh nurture for your souls.

What a wonderful thing it would be if everyone engaged the Scriptures to discover the truth about God and themselves.

Mystagogia #4

Through the meditation of God's holy Word, we hear the voice of the One who knows us each by name and in faith follow where he leads; in fidelity we seek to avoid those things that may cause us to wander; boldly proclaiming the catholic faith against all opposition; by persevering in faith, our Lord's marvelous acts will be fulfilled within us; deepening our devotion we may glorify our Lord's holy Name in life and in death.

Twenty-Eight Day of Easter

God of infinite mercy, you renew the faith of your people by the yearly celebration of these fifty days: Stir up in us the gifts of your grace, that we may know more deeply that Baptism has cleansed us, the Spirit has quickened us, and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

Prologue

Having our loins girded, therefore,
with faith and the performance of good works (Eph. 6:14),
let us walk in His paths
by the guidance of the Gospel,
that we may deserve to see Him
who has called us to His kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12).

For if we wish to dwell in the tent of that kingdom,
we must run to it by good deeds
or we shall never reach it.

But let us ask the Lord, with the Prophet,
"Lord, who shall dwell in Your tent,
or who shall rest upon Your holy mountain" (Ps. 14:1)?

After this question,
let us listen to the Lord
as He answers and shows us the way to that tent, saying,
"The one Who walks without stain and practices justice;
who speaks truth from his heart;
who has not used his tongue for deceit;
who has done no evil to his neighbor;
who has given no place to slander against his neighbor."

This is the one who,
under any temptation from the malicious devil,
has brought him to naught (Ps. 14:4)
by casting him and his temptation from the sight of his heart;
and who has laid hold of his thoughts
while they were still young
and dashed them against Christ (Ps. 136:9).

It is they who,
fearing the Lord (Ps. 14:4),
do not pride themselves on their good observance;
but,
convinced that the good which is in them
cannot come from themselves and must be from the Lord,
glorify the Lord's work in them (Ps. 14:4),
using the words of the Prophet,
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to Your name give the glory" (Ps. 113, 2nd part:1).
Thus also the Apostle Paul
attributed nothing of the success of his preaching to himself,
but said,
"By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).
And again he says,
"He who glories, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Cor. 10:17).