Bible in 90 Days - Catholic Version?

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My girlfriends invited me to start the Bible in 90 Days with them on Monday. They are all using the actual book from Zondervan. I’m the only Catholic in the group (these are my best friends, and we cross all denominations).

I realized this AM that the Zondervan book doesn’t include the 7 Deuterocanical books. Has anyone ever seen a Catholic version of the 90 day plan that includes them?

I saw a Catholic 90 day plan online, but it only does a few books. I’m looking for one that does the entire Bible.

Thanks!
 
I have never heard of a Catholic plan to read the Bible in 90 days, but I can share with you a method of reading the Bible that is very meaningful.

It is called Lectio Divina. (Divine Reading). One takes a scripture verse of about 2 to 5 lines and reads it slowly and ponders it. Then it is read again and you focus on a phrase that jumps out at you. Again it is pondered quietly. The chosen passage is then read again and it can then be used to form a prayer in how one is to relate to the passage.

Then it is read slowly again and one can ponder the challenge that the passage has for you today.

This is the way that the Lord can speak to us and aid us on our spiritual journey. It takes about 1/2 hour to do this properly. The Lord needs our full attention in order for us to listen to Him.

It can be done individually, or in a group and requires discipline and our full attention. When done in a group the participants share the words or phrases that come to them, leaving a good space of time in between sharings.

To learn more about it you can do a search for 'Lectio Divina". It is a tried and true ancient practice of the Church.

I had a conversation about this type of meditative bible reading with a Baptist once, and he was fascinated and wanted to hear all about it. He had just finished sharing with me about reading the Bible in 90 days!
 
The last time I read whole Bible I did it in a year. 5 pages a day was about the average and I’ll tell you that you just scratch the surface. The Bible should be prayed. And frankly I would think in 90 days you would not get much out of it because you will not have the time to study the historical context and reflect on the words of our God. If the whole Bible read like Numbers then maybe… I have read it many times and can tell you it is not something that a group can read for 90 days and “learn” from.

How in the world can you all read the Bible in 90 days when you wont even have the same Bible? Where is the fruit? I see only confusion ahead.🤷 I think it is wasted ecumenism that could be better spent learning your faith.
 
90 days?! How about 90 minutes! I need a drive-thru fast-food microwaveable version of the Bible! 😃

I don’t know of any 90-day Catholic Bible editions. Like Dorothy mentioned, I’d rather spend 90 days on one verse doing lectio divina than trying to cram in the entire Bible, with or without the Deuterocanonicals, in 90 days, though doing something like that with a group could be great for fellowship and ecumenism.

Hey, I wonder if after you do the 90-day thing with Zondervan, you could get your friends to do lectio divina? Or maybe even spend 90 days following the lectionary?

Godspeed on your search. 😉
 
Thank you for your feedback.

The point of the 90 days program is really to read the Bible like a book. I don’t think it is meant to be anything more than that. One girlfriend who did it last year said it brought her closer to God, and it helped her realize she needed to spend more time in her Bible than she was. (She’s Catholic, but she used the Zondervan book.)

My friends who have previously done it said that they read through, highlight/mark things that they want to delve into further, and then return to those verses or chapters in a more meaningful way when they are done.

I suppose I could just use the Zondervan book, but I was hoping there was something with the Deuterocanonical books too. I can’t find anything, so I’m going to assume there isn’t.

I bet they would love to do a lecto divina when we are done. I’m going to suggest it. We can use the verses that touched us the most.

Thanks for your help 🙂
 
A have a one-year Catholic Bible, but I’ve never heard of the 90 day one. Couldn’t you just look at the protestant one and then roughly base your reading off of that, except taking into account the extra books? Seems like it wouldn’t be that hard to come up with your own 90 day program.
 
boymama said:
Thank you for your feedback.

The point of the 90 days program is really to read the Bible like a book. I don’t think it is meant to be anything more than that. One girlfriend who did it last year said it brought her closer to God, and it helped her realize she needed to spend more time in her Bible than she was. (She’s Catholic, but she used the Zondervan book.)

My friends who have previously done it said that they read through, highlight/mark things that they want to delve into further, and then return to those verses or chapters in a more meaningful way when they are done.

I suppose I could just use the Zondervan book, but I was hoping there was something with the Deuterocanonical books too. I can’t find anything, so I’m going to assume there isn’t.

I bet they would love to do a lecto divina when we are done. I’m going to suggest it. We can use the verses that touched us the most.

Thanks for your help 🙂
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I hope I did not give the impression that you should not read the Bible. I am always shocked at the number of christians and especially Catholics that have not read the Bible, the word of God but have read all the harry potters:D
However I dont think anyone can get much out of the Bible when “reading it like a book” It is over 70 books. Now If I told you I was going to read 70 books in 90 days how much of that do you think I would retain in a meaningful way? The cannon is meant to be in a certain order with certain historical and theological points. Mark my words, there will be more confusion from this than spiritual fruit.🤷
 
As long as you insist on a speed reading of Holy Scriptures may I suggest that you DEFINITELY include the “Catholic” books. Specifically because they ARE Catholic. Tobit has Archangels and the theological basis for purgatory as well as being an amazing story. Maccabees are two books that chronicle a very important time in JudeoChristian history and in the story of our salvation. These books were dropped by protestants not because they have a shakey connonical past but rather because they contradict the protestant heresy. No Bible is complete without them. I can only guess that part of the motivation for a 90 skim of the Bible is to be able to say you have read the Bible. However without the “Catholic” books you have not. It will also give you a chance to evangelize and share your faith with others so they can see the whole of God’s revelation.
 
Hi, I’m new here, but a friend sent me this link and I wanted to comment. I am Catholic, in fact I am a 6th grade religion teacher, and I have done the Bible in 90 Days program using the Bible in 90 Days Bible, the NIV translation, by Zondervan. At first, I too was concerned because this particular Bible did not contain the 7 Deuterocanical books. But, since I had tried (and failed) several times to complete a Catholic 1 year reading plan, I decided to forge ahead and give it a try. I actually ended up adding in the books that I missed at the end the first time, and the next 2 times, added them in at the point where they would be in the Bible. It worked for me. Will I go ahead and do a tradtional Catholic Bible Study plan at some point - very probably. As a religion teacher teaching the Old Testament, I found that focusing on the Bible for a 90 day stretch really helped me to teach my students better. I was very focused on getting the readings done and took notes and was able to better discuss stories and passages with my class.

I did not start this plan “simply to say I have read the Bible” - I read about it online, was interested and decided after praying about it, to go forward. I spoke with 2 of my parish priests who had heard of the program and thought it was great. When I asked about reading the additional books, they advised to work them into the daily readings if I could when I got to the point in the Bible where they would be.

Boymama, I am guessing that you have done your research on this, but just in case (or for anyone else) here’s a link to the Bible in 90 Days website biblein90days.org/welcome/ and also to the Mom’s Toolbox website, which is where I participated in an online Bible in 90 Days group momstoolbox.com/blog/bible-in-90-days/.

I would encourage you to participate with your friends - sounds like you have a great support system and faith community with them - and then, as previously suggested, offer to do a Catholic scripture study with them.

Best wishes for a faith-filled reading!
 
Dorothy said:
I have never heard of a Catholic plan to read the Bible in 90 days, but I can share with you a method of reading the Bible that is very meaningful.

It is called Lectio Divina. (Divine Reading). One takes a scripture verse of about 2 to 5 lines and reads it slowly and ponders it. Then it is read again and you focus on a phrase that jumps out at you. Again it is pondered quietly. The chosen passage is then read again and it can then be used to form a prayer in how one is to relate to the passage.

Then it is read slowly again and one can ponder the challenge that the passage has for you today.

This is the way that the Lord can speak to us and aid us on our spiritual journey. It takes about 1/2 hour to do this properly. The Lord needs our full attention in order for us to listen to Him.

It can be done individually, or in a group and requires discipline and our full attention. When done in a group the participants share the words or phrases that come to them, leaving a good space of time in between sharings.

To learn more about it you can do a search for 'Lectio Divina". It is a tried and true ancient practice of the Church.

I had a conversation about this type of meditative bible reading with a Baptist once, and he was fascinated and wanted to hear all about it. He had just finished sharing with me about reading the Bible in 90 days!
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This is really the best way to read the Bible. When you read the whole thing in 90 days, you’re just reading it, which isn’t how the Bible is meant to be read. It’s meant to be prayed over, thought about, meditated, etc. Why read the Bible just to read it? I would much rather read a passage or two and then spend the rest of the day digesting it.
 
ddlad73 said:
Hi, I’m new here, but a friend sent me this link and I wanted to comment. I am Catholic, in fact I am a 6th grade religion teacher, and I have done the Bible in 90 Days program using the Bible in 90 Days Bible, the NIV translation, by Zondervan. At first, I too was concerned because this particular Bible did not contain the 7 Deuterocanical books. But, since I had tried (and failed) several times to complete a Catholic 1 year reading plan, I decided to forge ahead and give it a try. I actually ended up adding in the books that I missed at the end the first time, and the next 2 times, added them in at the point where they would be in the Bible. It worked for me. Will I go ahead and do a tradtional Catholic Bible Study plan at some point - very probably. As a religion teacher teaching the Old Testament, I found that focusing on the Bible for a 90 day stretch really helped me to teach my students better. I was very focused on getting the readings done and took notes and was able to better discuss stories and passages with my class.

I did not start this plan “simply to say I have read the Bible” - I read about it online, was interested and decided after praying about it, to go forward. I spoke with 2 of my parish priests who had heard of the program and thought it was great. When I asked about reading the additional books, they advised to work them into the daily readings if I could when I got to the point in the Bible where they would be.

Boymama, I am guessing that you have done your research on this, but just in case (or for anyone else) here’s a link to the Bible in 90 Days website biblein90days.org/welcome/ and also to the Mom’s Toolbox website, which is where I participated in an online Bible in 90 Days group momstoolbox.com/blog/bible-in-90-days/.

I would encourage you to participate with your friends - sounds like you have a great support system and faith community with them - and then, as previously suggested, offer to do a Catholic scripture study with them.

Best wishes for a faith-filled reading!
Click to expand...
Fantastic post! You’re making me have a change of heart about the 90-day approach. 👍
 
boymama said:
My girlfriends invited me to start the Bible in 90 Days with them on Monday. They are all using the actual book from Zondervan. I’m the only Catholic in the group (these are my best friends, and we cross all denominations).

I realized this AM that the Zondervan book doesn’t include the 7 Deuterocanical books. Has anyone ever seen a Catholic version of the 90 day plan that includes them?

I saw a Catholic 90 day plan online, but it only does a few books. I’m looking for one that does the entire Bible.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I don’t think there is a 90 day Catholic plan, but what you could do is find a one year reading plan (like this one) and condense it into 90 days. For example, you could do two “days” worth of reading on your first and second day to ease yourself into it, then for the remaining days you could do four “days” worth of readings from the one year plan. I think that adds up correctly, but I never have been very good at math!
 
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