Bringing Your Bible to Church

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I had a friend ask me why Catholics don’t bring their Bibles to Church. I answered her the best I could by telling her that you can bring your Bible if you want, you’re supposed to read the Reading before Mass as part of preparing yourself for Mass, the Readings are a proclamations, etc. She said wouldn’t this discourage Catholic for reading the Bible making them a little lazy because it’s all done for you. When did we start using the Missal?
I was wondering how you would answer this.
 
because it is not necessary
the readings for the day are proclaimed, and we know what they are ahead of time if we want to prepare. The reason for the misalette, if your parishes chooses to supply them, is that not every parishioner can afford to buy a Daily Roman Missal, which contains all the readings of the Sunday and daily cycles, so the booklet contains the order of the Mass and the readings, hymns and other aids needed for a couple of months. The best book for a Catholic to bring to Mass would be a missal. The annual versions of the Sunday Missal are available for less than $5. I would not recommend buying an expensive hard cover Daily Roman Missal until all the changes to the Mass and NABRE readings are in place. I have at least 2 that are already outdated, huge expense, but I use them as props for sacramental classes.

Also the pastor’s homily is not going to be an in depth bible study where you would want to reference your study bible, the sermon you might be used to in another denomination, but rather a reflective link of the message of the readings to Christian life today.

Actually in this and several other parishes pastors wanted to emphasize and encourage bible reading at home by Catholics and so make low-cost editions available for purchase and asked people to bring them to Mass for one year to get used to looking up and following the lectionary readings. This was in conjunction with and an introduction to Disciples in Mission, which has a small group meeting in homes to do faith sharing with the weekly readings.

In general at Mass, we are not supposed to be distracted with the mechanics of looking up the readings in a bible, but to LISTEN as they are proclaimed. It is primarily a matter of communication and learning to listen, rather than to read, at that time. If the parishioners are taught properly they will want to read on their own at home as well.
 
Catholics: When did you last read the Bible?

That’s a thread and poll I did about 3 years ago to see where we were at.

The results were interesting enough that I am opening a new poll there today to update.

Some n-Cs don’t think we read the Bible or know it, but I think that in general we are gradually disavowing them of that notion.

In my own case I find that I read and know the Bible at least-as well and often better than the n-Cs that I encounter.

I often take my Bible to Eucharistic Adoration along with my prayer book. I generally do not take my Bible to Mass, as I am focused on the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist.

Here’s a link to the new poll. Poll: Catholics and the Bible:Update.
 
Buttons:Since protestants have no mass or traditions their limited to preaching or quoting the Bible.THe bible is their only source of learning.I doubt if you could explain the reasons why Catholics dont bring the bible to church but you could tell her that she’d have to understand how important the Holy Mass is to us.
 
I bring a copy of the Magnificat with me to Mass. The daily readings - morning/evening - are there for the month, as well as meditations, prayers, the order of the Mass, a great index in back, and information on the saints & text writers.

magnificat.com/english/index.asp

My copies get dog earred, I normally stick it in my coat pocket. The paperbacks measure 5.5 x 7.5 and the soft cover allows the book to fold over.
 
buttons said:
I had a friend ask me why Catholics don’t bring their Bibles to Church. I answered her the best I could by telling her that you can bring your Bible if you want, you’re supposed to read the Reading before Mass as part of preparing yourself for Mass, the Readings are a proclamations, etc. She said wouldn’t this discourage Catholic for reading the Bible making them a little lazy because it’s all done for you. When did we start using the Missal?
I was wondering how you would answer this.
Click to expand...
In addition to the response you already gave your friend and what Annie added, another consideration is the translation. The Lectionary uses a translation that is not exactly the same as what is in the Bibles you can buy yourself. It is pretty close to the NAB but not exactly. Using the missal to follow along, if desired, makes sure you are reading the same words you are hearing. It’s not a huge deal but it can be distracting if there is a disconnect.

I don’t know exactly when missals came into wide use but I would guess that it corresponded to the increase in literacy that occurred around the time of the industrial revolution. I have a small collection of old missals and the oldest one is from the early 1900s. I saw one on ebay from th 1890’s.
 
I take a missal to Mass, but my Bible I take to adoration, Eucharistic visits, and reconciliation.
 
Half the time, I’ll have my Bible at Mass, but it’s only because I have class before and we need our Bibles. 🙂 But, to answer the OP’s question, I would personally say this: “We don’t bring our own Bibles because we would be flipping pages too much to follow what we’re saying in the Mass!” And if they further inquire: “Well, just about everything we say in the Mass is Biblical, from the beginning to the end!” Which is true!
I’ve found passages like this in many Catholic books:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19)
Amen (1 Chr 16:36)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you (2 Cor 13:14)
The Lord be with you (Ru 2:4)
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth (Lk 2:14)
Blessed be God forever (Ps 68:36)
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands (Ps 50:23)
Lift up your hearts; we lift them up to the Lord (Lam 3:41)
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God (Col 3:17)
Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord (Mk 11:9-10)
Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith (1 Tm 3:16)
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again (1 Cor 15:3-5; Rv 22:12)
Lord, you are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness (2 Mc 14:36)
Through Him, with Him, in Him (Rom 11:36)
This is the Lamb of God; happy are those who are called to His supper (Rv 19:9)

And all the readings! There’s probably more, but that is what I found in Ask the Bible Geek by Mark Hart. I found a similar passage in the Lamb’s Supper, but a friend is borrowing that right now. 🙂 I always find it cool when I see lists like this, thought I’d share. 😛
 
Maria_Margaret said:
Half the time, I’ll have my Bible at Mass, but it’s only because I have class before and we need our Bibles. 🙂 But, to answer the OP’s question, I would personally say this: “We don’t bring our own Bibles because we would be flipping pages too much to follow what we’re saying in the Mass!” And if they further inquire: “Well, just about everything we say in the Mass is Biblical, from the beginning to the end!” Which is true!
I’ve found passages like this in many Catholic books:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19)
Amen (1 Chr 16:36)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you (2 Cor 13:14)
The Lord be with you (Ru 2:4)
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth (Lk 2:14)
Blessed be God forever (Ps 68:36)
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands (Ps 50:23)
Lift up your hearts; we lift them up to the Lord (Lam 3:41)
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God (Col 3:17)
Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord (Mk 11:9-10)
Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith (1 Tm 3:16)
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again (1 Cor 15:3-5; Rv 22:12)
Lord, you are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness (2 Mc 14:36)
Through Him, with Him, in Him (Rom 11:36)
This is the Lamb of God; happy are those who are called to His supper (Rv 19:9)

And all the readings! There’s probably more, but that is what I found in Ask the Bible Geek by Mark Hart. I found a similar passage in the Lamb’s Supper, but a friend is borrowing that right now. 🙂 I always find it cool when I see lists like this, thought I’d share. 😛
Click to expand...
Thanks for this list. Much appreciated. You bring up some good references.

I followed up on a couple of these. It explains the English but it doesn’t necessarily follow the Bible. For example, “Lift up your hearts.” In the Latin the verse is actually “Levemus corda nostra cum manibus ad Dominum in cælos” which makes sense because you can actually lift up your hands. However, the Latin in the Mass is “Sursum corda” and in the Polish it’s closer to “Upwards hearts,” meaning a turning of the heart upwards, not lifting.

“Dominus vobiscum” is there in the Latin Vulgate alright but its context seems to be different. In the Latin the full verse is " Et ecce, ipse veniebat de Bethlehem, dixitque messoribus : Dominus vobiscum. Qui responderunt ei : Benedicat tibi Dominus." What’s interesting here is the subjunctive is introduced into the first acclamation and not the second in the English. But IMO it’s not the best theology to say “The Lord BE with you” because the Lord is always with you, but “May the Lord bless you” is okay, though in the English it’s rendered “The Lord bless you.”

Perhaps this is all petty on my part but you’ve given me some food for thought anyway.
 
Maria Margaret:

Thank you so much for this. An old pal of mine is a born again christian and at times has asked me questions or actually has ridiculed the CC and teachings and one remark she generally makes is that we never read the bible and we just bring missles to church. Where she gets her info—I don’t know but I have basically told her pretty much what puzzleannie has posted. However, she persists. 😉

What are ya gonna do? I gotta love her. 🤷 we have been friends for well over 30 yrs. :eek:

Now I have more to explain to her from your post. Thanks again.
 
Your friend very likely is not coming from a liturgical tradition. As Catholics we are in a Eucharistic Liturgy during which the Holy Scriptures are proclaimed. In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite there are four scriptural readings at every Sunday Holy Mass in a rotating 3 year cycle designed to cover a large portion of Holy Scripture over those three years. In daily Holy Mass even more of the Scriptures are covered, although on a normal day we hear only three readings, an OT reading, the psalm, the Holy Gospel. The Extraordinary Form of the Mass and the Divine Liturgy of Eastern and Oriental Catholic Churches does not have the three year cycle, but a different fixed cycle.

The structure of the Mass is, roughly, the Introductory Rites followed by the Liturgy of the Word, then the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Divine Liturgy of Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Chruches is similarly divided into the Liturgy of Preparation, Liturgy of the Catechumens, Liturgy of the Faithful. Traditionally East and West the Catechumens depart after the Liturgy of the Word, as anyone who has Catechumens and the Elect in their parish now sees happening, where they delve more deeply into the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the Church so as to prepare for eventual reception of the Holy Sacraments/Mysteries.

For Catholics the Introductory Rites followed by the Liturgy of the Word (Liturgy of Preparation, Liturgy of the Catechumens) is preparing us body, mind and spirit for the “source and summit” of the Church’s actions both in Mass/Divine Liturgy and in the world, to use the language given to us by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council in their teaching Lumen Gentium, that of the Holy Eucharist in which Christ is truly present and we truly receive Him.

We are taught and assured that Christ is truly present in the Word and we reverence the book of the Gospels when it is carried into the temple for this reason, and only the ordained clergy may proclaim the Gospel. So your friend’s Christian community is reverencing deeply and beautifully that of Christ present in their services when they study the Word in their services. They do not have the True Presence in the Holy Eucharist so their focus is well placed on the Holy Scriptures. Our focus as Christians in the Catholic (and the Orthodox) Churches is on the fullness of Christ God, manifest in our Liturgy not only in Sacred Scripture but in the True Presence in the Most Holy Eucharist.

As was mentioned before, since we have the benefit of the cycle of readings set out for each day (including added readings during the Hours if one prays these Offices also) either in the Ordinary Form’s three year cycle or the single fixed cycle of readings for the Extraordinary Form and Divine Liturgy, we know exactly what the readings will be (there are some days when there are optional readings in the OF if it is a Feast Day) so we are expected to have read and reflected (Lectio Divina is one traditional reflection) on these readings prior to coming to Mass/Liturgy. I believe *most * Christian communities and certainly the nondenominational ones it is the pastor who decides on what Scriptural texts he or she will focus on that Sunday so the faithful do not have the benefit of spending time alone themselves with these texts before their pastor sets about his/her own teaching on them.

This being said, I think our Christian brothers and sisters in other Christian communities have a tremendous love of and devotion to Holy Scripture and in this we Catholics should certainly be encouraged by their beautiful example to spend a great deal more time with the Scriptures. 🙂
 
Your Missal… the Liturgy of the Hours if you pray it… they ARE the Bible. The relevant parts of the Bible are read daily. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that the average Catholic who does pray the full Liturgy of the Hours and goes to daily Mass, gets 10 times more bible in a day than the average “Bible-believing” Protestant.

Unlike them, we don’t take the Bible out of context. We regard it as an organic whole that ties together from the origins of Man to prophecy to Gospel and letters of instruction (the epistles). The readings of the Mass and of the LOTH are made to tie together.

There is no rule of course against simply reading the Bible like a book; but the Mass is not really about a book, it is about Him who is before us on the altar. The readings are to point us to Him, not to usurp His authority.
 
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