Paul Thigpen - My Daily Catholic Bible: Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 20-Minute Daily Readings

My Daily Catholic Bible

20-MINUTE DAILY READINGS

New American Bible, Revised Edition

Translated From the Original Languages

With Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources

Authorized by the Board of Trustees of the

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine

And Approved by the Administrative Committee

of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, Revised Edition 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

OLD TESTAMENT

In accord with canon 825 1 of the Code of Canon Law, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops hereby approves for publication the New American Bible, Revised Old Testament, a translation of the Sacred Scriptures authorized by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc.

The translation was approved by the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 2008 and September 2010. It is permitted by the undersigned for private use and study.

Given in the city of Washington, the District of Columbia, on the Feast of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church, the 30th day of September, in the year of our Lord 2010.

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
President, USCCB

The aforementioned information regarding the nihil obstat, imprimatures, and copyrights is only for the Scripture text of the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NAB) used in this work. Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.

The Introduction is by Paul Thigpen, who also compiled the quotations from the saints that begin the daily readings.

Copyright 2004, 2011 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. Published 2011.

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Contents

Editors Introduction

An Invitation to the Scriptures

Ignorance of Scripture, observed St. Jerome, is ignorance of Christ. Jesus Christ himself is the Word of God made flesh (see John 1:14), and in reading the Scriptures we can encounter Him in all His power, wisdom, and glory.

My Daily Catholic Bible is intended to help you get better acquainted with Our Lord by reading the entire Bible through in one year. To make that challenge less daunting, the text is broken down into small, bite-sized readings, one for each day from the Old Testament and one from the New. You dont have to start on January 1; just begin reading on any day of the calendar, and twelve months later youll have made your way through all seventy-three books of the biblical canon.

This edition of the Bible is not intended to provide commentary or other study helps; you can find those aids in abundance in other places. It simply gives you a workable plan for reading the Scriptures all the way through, a few chapters at a time. Nevertheless, we offer here one special feature that may help you in your reflection: a quote for each day from a Catholic saint (including those not yet fully canonized, but designated by the Church as Venerable or Blessed).

Wherever possible, the quote comes from one of the saints whose memorial is observed that day (also noted). If it is a feast of the Church, the quote is related to that special occasion. Otherwise, the quote is related to some topic in the reading, or to the value of the Scripture reading itself.

Like the Bible, the writings of the saints are so extensive that they may seem daunting at first to those who approach them for wisdom. So, from this rich, inexhaustible treasury, we offer a single gem each day for your spiritual profit. Some quotes will crystallize and confirm what you may already know, such as the words from St. Jerome already cited. Others may surprise or puzzle you: for example, St. Brigids wish for a great lake of ale for the King of kings (February 1). Either way, all of these saintly thoughts bear careful consideration, given the lives of great holiness in which they are rooted.

At the same time, we encourage you to ask the saint who is quoted to pray for you as you read the scriptural texts. The saints loved the Scriptures and took them to heart, so they no doubt desire to help you deepen your understanding of them and apply their truths to your everyday life.

If on some days the readings seem a bit dry, dont give up. Some parts of the Scriptures are more immediately helpful than others, and eventually, the big picture will emerge. Keep reading: Youll be laying up Gods Word in your heart (see Psalm 119:11), to be brought to mind again some day when its application will be more evident.

The biblical text used here is from the New American Bible, Revised Edition. The scheme for dividing the text into daily readings is similar to the One-Year Reading Plan in Carmen Rojas work How to Read the Bible Every Day (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Servant, 1988; pages 196207). The quotes from the saints come from a variety of sources, though you can find most of them and countless more in my Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Servant, 2001).

A note about the numbering of verses in some sections of the Books of Sirach, 1 Chronicles, and Wisdom, and of some chapters in the Book of Esther. Both of these books have unique numbering systems, and explanations for this can be found in Catholic Bible commentaries. To avoid confusion, simply ignore the jumbled or unusual numbering and read the texts designated for the day, which are in the correct order. Regarding the omission of Matthew 23:14, the notes in the New American Bible, Revised Edition explain:

Some manuscripts add a verse here or after Mt 23:12 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. Because of this, you will receive a very severe condemnation. Cf. Mk 12:40; Lk 20:47. This woe is almost identical with Mk 12:40 and seems to be an interpolation derived from that text.

Jesus Christ waits to meet you again and again in the pages of this sacred book. His saints are eager to help you find your way to Him there. If you seek Him in Scripture and prayer every day, and if you persevere in your search for a year, I guarantee that you will encounter Him in ways you never dreamed of before, and you will never be the same again.