Catholic Bible Study Made Simple

Sometimes we find God’s truth and His ways unbelievable. We ask, “Why did He do that? Why did He choose me or that person?” God’s ways are not ours. His surpass ours in their perfection. One of the ways He expresses His perfection is in the way He deals with us, the way of love.  His love is selfless, for our benefit, not His. Like God, our way of dealing with others, especially those we find difficult, should be for their benefit, not ours. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

Sometimes we are like the people in the first reading who hear God’s word and realize how far we are from the mark. Hopefully, we have encouragers in our lives as they did. Sometimes we are excited as were those in the gospel reading. However, as we shall see next week, their excitement turned to anger when they heard the full message.  Regardless of what we see the other members of the Body of Christ doing, we are to do our part in the Body and encourage others to do theirs. This is an essential part of the gospel. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

“Do whatever he tells you” are Mary’s last words recorded in the scriptures. She speaks these words to us as well. If we obey what Jesus tells us to do, we can expect results as the servants at the wedding feast did—perhaps not as spectacular as the servants at the wedding feast did, but life-changing results in our lives and the lives of those around us. God loves us and wants to demonstrate His love for us. Sometimes that means doing things that don’t make sense to us. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

What we fail to realize at times is that, when we were baptized, the Spirit of God not only fell on us but also came to dwell in us; and God the Father said to us and those around us, “This is my beloved Son, Daughter”. These readings are an invitation to us to recall these facts and to thank the Father for loving us so much that we were baptized and that His Only-Begotten Son was sent, baptized, and lived out His mission so that we might join Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

It is one thing to say that Jesus is Lord. It is another to acknowledge Him as Lord and King in the sense that the scriptures were written. Our modern minds reject the notion of anyone with absolute authority and power. Yet this is who the Savior is. We are more like the Jewish leaders than the magi. We are so busy with daily life that we fail to recognize the One who is in our midst and treat Him as He deserves. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

The Church uses the readings to teach us God’s standards for family life—even among the messier things of family life: how one honors father and mother, how one treats spouse and children, how to love. Even if these readings do not describe your family of origin, you are still expected to live up to these standards. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

“Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved”, the responsorial psalm proclaims. The face of God is the face of Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world. In that light we can see our lives and the world around us from God’s perspective. Then we are enabled to do whatever it is that God desires us to do. That is what Mary did in the Gospel. Though she had received shocking news that could have turned her focus inward, she turned her focus toward Elizabeth. She is an example not only of how we should live but also that such a life is possible. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

Happy Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is Latin for rejoice. The second reading tells us to rejoice always—even when one doesn’t think the circumstances call for rejoicing. From a biblical perspective, joy, like peace, is something only found internally, not externally. There can be seeming peace and joy all around us, and we can still not be peaceful and joyful. Let us pray for God’s peace and joy. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

God desires to take us from where we are, with whatever miseries and bondages we are experiencing, into the midst of His Kingdom. He is our deliverer, our redeemer. That is why He has throughout the ages sent human messengers to proclaim His desire for us, and He still does that today. During Advent John the Baptist is the messenger that we hear about most. What many of us fail to comprehend is that we need to accept our deliverance and become John the Baptist to others The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post

The First Sunday of Advent begins a new liturgical year—the year in which the primary source for the gospels is Luke. The Church ended its liturgical year by urging us to be prepared for Christ’s second coming, to live our lives each day, each moment, as if it were our last. In preparing to celebrate His first coming, the Church uses readings that deal with the second coming to remind us to begin with the end in mind—our earthly death and entry into eternal life. The Mass readings can be found here: Scripture Readings The blog post can be found here: Blog Post