Catholic Daily Readings

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My “Bible Alone” Baptist friend said that by allowing the Catholic Church to require us to the have set daily readings that we let the traditions of men teach us their view of the Bible. This way of reading the Bible allows the Catholic Church to take scripture out of context and not allow the Spirit to teach the truth. What do I say to this?
 
GerardPaul said:
My “Bible Alone” Baptist friend said that by allowing the Catholic Church to require us to the have set daily readings that we let the traditions of men teach us their view of the Bible. This way of reading the Bible allows the Catholic Church to take scripture out of context and not allow the Spirit to teach the truth. What do I say to this?
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Tell them that lots of Protestants do the same thing… and that, as the Apostle Paul said, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” Remind them also, that between the weekly lectionary and the daily lectionary, almost 90% of the Bible is covered in three years (not a bad plan considering that all of us are biblically illiterate to some degree).

Remind them also that the Holy Spirit rarely rejects good planning; Jesus had a plan before he went into Jerusalem, I suspect - God’s plan.

O+
 
But…but…the readings are NOT taken out of context. Usually they cover an entire book of the Bible; e.g., last month, we went through Tobit (cool).

I think this is one of the coolest aspects of the Catholic Church–such well-ordered Scripture readings.

And nothing stops a Catholic Christian from studying other parts of the Bible on their own or with a study group in their Church.
 
The Scripture readings in Jesus’ time were based on a 3 year cycle. The Hebrew liturgy provided for a continuous reading from the Torah and also a passagefrom the prophets which was chosen to explain the first reading, or for a particular feast.

Remember how Jesus, after reading a passage of Scripture in the Synagogue, then sat down to explain what the passage meant.

“Traditions of man” describes how non-Catholic Christians ‘worship’, IMO.

Acts 8:30-31 And Philip running thither, heard him reading the prophet Isaias. And he said: Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest?

Who said: And how can I, unless some man shew me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
 
Ridiculous! I know a BAPTIST minister who uses the Catholic Lectionary in church because it takes you through the entire Scripture and doesn’t just pick out the pastor’s 52 favorite texts.

Having a lectionary PREVENTS the personal outlook of one person from taking over the scriptural exposure that a congregation receives.

Get a GRIP!
 
GerardPaul said:
My “Bible Alone” Baptist friend said that by allowing the Catholic Church to require us to the have set daily readings that we let the traditions of men teach us their view of the Bible. This way of reading the Bible allows the Catholic Church to take scripture out of context and not allow the Spirit to teach the truth. What do I say to this?
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Remind you friend of how many “read the Bible in one year” programs there are – all with different reading orders. Also, in Bible churches they are often encouraged to read the Bible according to the Pastor’s plan or a Bible study plan of some sort. It’s all the same thing.

Of course, since the Catholic Church gaves us the Bible, it makes sense to me to read it the way they recommend. 😉 But also you can explain that in the Lectionary the Gospel readings are usually in order (ie on Tuesday we pick up where left off Monday) and that daily readings get the entire Bible in over the course of 2 years (Sunday only readings get it done in 3), so the entire Bible is presented–not just sections.
 
GerardPaul said:
My “Bible Alone” Baptist friend said that by allowing the Catholic Church to require us to the have set daily readings that we let the traditions of men teach us their view of the Bible. This way of reading the Bible allows the Catholic Church to take scripture out of context and not allow the Spirit to teach the truth. What do I say to this?
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if we do things his way, who is selecting the readings? what possible guarantee does he offer that the minister, pastor, lay worship leader or other individual choosing the readings ad hoc is led by the Spirit?
 
I have a good idea that my friend said this because it is a way for Catholics to teach our view of the Bible and he must disagree or his view of the Bible is not correct. As you know the passages are in very good context so he must say that they are not.
 
GerardPaul said:
I have a good idea that my friend said this because it is a way for Catholics to teach our view of the Bible and he must disagree or his view of the Bible is not correct. As you know the passages are in very good context so he must say that they are not.
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So tell him about my Baptist minister friend, who uses the Catholic lectionary!
 
Sr_Sally said:
Remind you friend of how many “read the Bible in one year” programs there are – all with different reading orders.
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Yes, there are a lot of them.

I follow one from the American Tract Society that attempts to be chronological (for example, Job is read after Genesis, then you go back to Exodus). I do the “read your Bible through in a year” thing every 5 years, and usually get through the Bible again at least once in the intervening 4 years (although I don’t necessarily follow that schedule).

Does anybody know of a similar type of schedule that incorporates the entire Catholic canon? I could probably devise one myself, but if there is already such a schedule out there, I figure why re-invent the wheel?

I haven’t become very familiar with the Catholic lectionary yet, but I think it’s neat the way the Scripture readings for the Masses in the 1962 Missal are chosen, from different parts of Scripture, to emphasize the message for that particular Mass.
 
Excellent responses!!! The only thing i would add is that the so-called proscibed readings are part of our daily (and Sunday) liturgies, i.e. the Mass. And show him a daily or Sunday missal with ALL the readings and prayers-it’s amazing the number of scriptural readings that are in a single mass-the Psalms, OT, Gospels, etc. Truly the Mass is an act or worship that is replete with SS.

Ask him how much time at his service is spent on SS readings, and then compare that with a complete Mass. As Catholics, we spend most of our worship (Mass) praying the scriptures!!! Also, I read a One-A-Day Catholic Bible and am on my 6th trip through it. It always amazes me that each reading is almost “fresh”-wish I could retain more!!! I use the One-A-Day Sunday Visitor Bible, but as previously said there are many others to choose from. I also attend a SS class/study. He may well be amazed to learn how much of SS is used in our worship services, as well as the multitude of Catholic SS study aids.

God bless and good luck!!!
 
GerardPaul said:
My “Bible Alone” Baptist friend said that by allowing the Catholic Church to require us to the have set daily readings that we let the traditions of men teach us their view of the Bible. This way of reading the Bible allows the Catholic Church to take scripture out of context and not allow the Spirit to teach the truth. What do I say to this?
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I asked my bible only friend how many of the books in the bible they have gone over in context in the last year.

Basically they almost finished one book and had already started another book (all NT mind you) and of course tons of verses here in there in between from various books.

There are bible studies that address learning the bible if one needs more than the readings or does not have much bible experience.

I reccomend “The Mass Explained” by Father Larry Richards www.catholicity.com
 
I enjoyed reading everyone’s responses to this question. I sort of faced a similar situation, too. Personally, I think sometimes the non-Catholics just feel like they have to find fault with something, anything, because otherwise they’d have to admit the Church would be right about something. If you know what I mean.

I’ve used several different read-through-the-Bible plans over the years and this year I’ve started reading the daily and Sunday Mass readings with the particular intention of seeing things as a whole; meditating on how the readings fit together. I hadn’t done that before and I really do like it.
 
Catholic Daily Readings is the great work of the Holy Spirits. 😉
The arrangement of the Readings with the Gospel is just so amazing!
 
Daily Mass readings
The central theme in Catholic worship is the Mass. In Protestant worship, it is the sermon.
The Scripture readings during Mass are well arranged. However, there are a few glitches in Bombay.
Lectors are discouraged /debarred from quoting the scriptural notations as the congregation will rely on ‘Sola Scriptura’.
The lectors adopt theatrical pauses and intimidating eye contacts, apparently implying that they are casting pearls before swine to a ‘moronic’ congregation.
Recently, ‘The Examiner’ carried a debate on the long sermons, often devoid of Scriptural notations.
The Mass is celebrated in 15 minutes on the war time front. A Cathedral Solemn High Mass takes about two hours. The Grace is the same in both Masses.
After a War Front Mass, the soldiers charge out, willing to die for God and Country.
It is important to translate the message of the Mass into action, especially in our neighborhood. If not, the Mass remains a ritual. Denis
 
Date joined 5/6/2007
Tanzania,EA

Elizabeth Petra
QUOTE=Eileen T;2442789]**The Scripture readings in Jesus’ time were based on a 3 year cycle. The Hebrew liturgy provided for a continuous reading from the Torah and also a passagefrom the prophets which was chosen to explain **the first reading, or for a particular feast.
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Didn’t know that, thank you for the information.
 
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