Do you use your Bible in church?

[Forest-Pine]

bauerice:

I just came back from RCIA class. Father said that, that is why the Parish provides Missals in the pews, so that everyone may participate fully in the celebration of the Mass.

No one is talking about reading the missal during the daily reading. The question is if the people should be expected to bring their Bibles so that the priest can hop through it during his homily. Did you ask the priest about his opinion on that?

 

[Apryl]

bauerice:

I always carry my missal to Mass so I can follow along. For our non-Catholic friends, the Missal contains the prayers and scripture for each day.

Yes… and our church has Missalettes in each of the pews.

But do you carry a Bible? My pastor frequently references books and chapters that are not part of that day’s mass.

Also, if you do carry a missal to mass, have you got a daily missal for the other days of the week. Wow!

 

[Apryl]

Della:

No, this should NOT be happening. The word of God is proclaimed at Mass not studied at Mass. The time for biblical teaching is in a class not during the Mass. I think your priest ought to have a long, meaningful talk with his bishop.

I don’t agree.

I think what he is doing is a good thing.

Don’t get me wrong: he doesn’t go into a Bible Reading, or some long discourse… but what he does do, frequently, is say ‘You see where we learn of blah-blah and blah-blah-blah? Look at the 2nd book of Such and Such and see how they foreshadowed that’.

Some times, rarely though, he will even READ what is is he is speaking of. A verse or two.

 

[Cesaria]

bauerice:

I always carry my missal to Mass so I can follow along. For our non-Catholic friends, the Missal contains the prayers and scripture for each day.

Yes, that’s what I do too.

 

[Apryl]

Fidelis:

You didn’t say what your priest’s response to this is.

He didn’t, really. He just smiled. Said something about ‘it would be good if you always had one’.

However, we got into discussions about Bibles - I am one that has, for years, made it a habit to bring a bible with me to mass. I don’t normally go into it DURING mass, but when we discuss the Readings after, I have my Bible with me.

 

[silverwings_88]

I will bring my bible to confession though, as I think it is still well good to do.A long time ago, I did mark the Sunday readings in my bible with paper bookmarks, so when I would hear them in Mass, I could read over them in my bible without having to turn pages, and I could follow up.

I still bring my bible, but I have made it habitual to just listen and practice a Mass-Lectio Divina…

 

[Anima_Christi]

Apryl:

My pastor frequently will reference some other books in the Bible than what were part of the mass, and some carry Bibles, others don’t.

Our pastor is new to us - we’ve only had him for about 3 years now, and hte last Pastor pretty much never had any one looking things up during mass.

I have attended mass at other churches, as well, and seldom is there any ‘Turn to Romans’ going on.

So, I did ask my priest to ‘let us know when you need us to have them’, although, the logical reply is that we should carry the Bibles every time we come to mass. Another thing is, he may call out a book, and by the time we’ve found the book, he’s finished what he was saying about the reference.

I’m compulsive enough to carry paper and pencil with me, write down the Chapter: Verse, and then look it up on my Palm Pilot… but not every one has those things at their disposal.

Are we the only ones getting this? And do you agree it should happen more? (The use of Bibles during mass)

This is extremely Protestant (evangelical/charismatic/Baptist type) and is NOT appropriate for a Catholic Mass!!!
It is not a Bible study!!! :tsktsk::tsktsk:

 

[MrS]

It is admirable that the pastor tries to get you to read more.

How about this suggestion(s):

If the pastor’s homily (or sermon) is written out, perhaps he would put an insert in the Sunday bulletin noting the verses he quoted, and/or a general outline of the teaching he obviously thinks you should grasp.

If there is a PA system in place, can you tie in a recording device, and record on tape or CD. Not really a big job to duplicate and have ready for the following week.

 

[AmISearching]

as a soon to be ex-protestant - I guess I should take from this thread that 1) I shouldn’t take a Bible to Mass 2) I might get weird looks for bringing my own copy of the Missal (to be able to jot down any good thoughts from the homily (see! I didn’t call it a sermon!! yay for me, lol) and 3) I probably definately would get the weird looks for wanting to take notes?(either in margins or in a separate notebook?)

 

[Apryl]

Anima Christi:

This is extremely Protestant (evangelical/charismatic/Baptist type) and is NOT appropriate for a Catholic Mass!!!
It is not a Bible study!!!

I totally disagree!

How is it ‘Bible Study’ to say ‘In Blah Blah Book, when he makes this comment, it was said before in Such and Such Book’?

It is NOT ‘Bible Study’… it does, however, ENCOURAGE people to read their bibles.

Are you one of those Catholics that believes it’s non-Catholic to read a Bible on one’s own?

Where did THIS notion come from? (If that’s your belief)

If you don’t think it’s non-Catholic to read a Bible on one’s own, what is the problem with a priest telling you how what we are reading in the day’s mass is related to something else? Or better yet, how this week’s Gospel is related to last week’s Gospel?

 

[y2daddy]

Anima Christi:

This is extremely Protestant (evangelical/charismatic/Baptist type) and is NOT appropriate for a Catholic Mass!!!
It is not a Bible study!!! :tsktsk::tsktsk:

Geez, enough of the Protestant-phobia already. If someone wants to bring the Bible to Mass, who cares. Let them. More power to them. Let God take care of them if they are in the wrong (which I don’t think they are).

 

[Della]

AmISearching?:

as a soon to be ex-protestant - I guess I should take from this thread that 1) I shouldn’t take a Bible to Mass 2) I might get weird looks for bringing my own copy of the Missal (to be able to jot down any good thoughts from the homily (see! I didn’t call it a sermon!! yay for me, lol) and 3) I probably definately would get the weird looks for wanting to take notes?(either in margins or in a separate notebook?)

Good heavens, no! Bring your Bible or missal or whatever if you want to–no one will give you funny looks or care!

Folks, you are misconstruing what has been said in this thread about bringing a Bible to Mass, so I’ll try, with my poor words to explain.

The Bible is quoted all through the Mass, from the beginning to the very end. But, Mass is not a Bible study. It is a declaring of the word of God, in the readings, an expounding on the word of God, in the homily, and the offering of the one sacrifice of Christ for our sins in the Eucharist.

The homily is not a Bible study, per se. Of course, the priest or deacon may quote from other passages besides the Mass readings of the day, to support a point or explain something better, but he is not giving a Bible lesson, but preaching a homily, which in the Catholic Church is not about citing dozens of Bible verses in an effort to teach about the Bible, itself, but to illustrate points in a homily.

A missal can help people follow the parts of the Mass, if they choose to use it, but it is not necessary, still if you want to bring one with you or your parish provides one, it is perfectly fine to use it. The only reason to discourage anyone from bringing a Bible is that, once again, the Mass is not a Bible study, and that’s all. If you want to bring your Bible to make notes in the margins or whatever, that’s fine, too.

And by all means, we ought to be reading the Bible outside of Mass. The daily Mass readings are a good place to start, but other Bible studies are fine too. I hope that finally puts this issue to rest, because everyone seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill here, IMHO.

 

[Forest-Pine]

Della:

Good heavens, no! Bring your Bible or missal or whatever if you want to–no one will give you funny looks or care!

Folks, you are misconstruing what has been said in this thread about bringing a Bible to Mass, so I’ll try, with my poor words to explain.

The Bible is quoted all through the Mass, from the beginning to the very end. But, Mass is not a Bible study. It is a declaring of the word of God, in the readings, an expounding on the word of God, in the homily, and the offering of the one sacrifice of Christ for our sins in the Eucharist.

The homily is not a Bible study, per se. Of course, the priest or deacon may quote from other passages besides the Mass readings of the day, to support a point or explain something better, but he is not giving a Bible lesson, but preaching a homily, which in the Catholic Church is not about citing dozens of Bible verses in an effort to teach about the Bible, itself, but to illustrate points in a homily.

A missal can help people follow the parts of the Mass, if they choose to use it, but it is not necessary, still if you want to bring one with you or your parish provides one, it is perfectly fine to use it. The only reason to discourage anyone from bringing a Bible is that, once again, the Mass is not a Bible study, and that’s all. If you want to bring your Bible to make notes in the margins or whatever, that’s fine, too.

And by all means, we ought to be reading the Bible outside of Mass. The daily Mass readings are a good place to start, but other Bible studies are fine too. I hope that finally puts this issue to rest, because everyone seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill here, IMHO.

I think you found some fantastic words there!

 

[mark_a]

Apryl:

My pastor frequently will reference some other books in the Bible than what were part of the mass, and some carry Bibles, others don’t.

Our pastor is new to us - we’ve only had him for about 3 years now, and hte last Pastor pretty much never had any one looking things up during mass.

I have attended mass at other churches, as well, and seldom is there any ‘Turn to Romans’ going on.

So, I did ask my priest to ‘let us know when you need us to have them’, although, the logical reply is that we should carry the Bibles every time we come to mass. Another thing is, he may call out a book, and by the time we’ve found the book, he’s finished what he was saying about the reference.

I’m compulsive enough to carry paper and pencil with me, write down the Chapter: Verse, and then look it up on my Palm Pilot… but not every one has those things at their disposal.

Are we the only ones getting this? And do you agree it should happen more? (The use of Bibles during mass)

When:

• a priest (or any minister) quotes a scripture passage, I tend to believe it is at the exact location he claims.
• I look at the bigger mistakes of my past, I made them not because I didn’t know where to locate the proper scripture, but because I refused God’s authority.

That’s just me, though.

 

[Ahimsa]

Ah, things are becoming clearer now. In my visits to parishes in the past, I’ve usually brought my own missal (even though I’m not Catholic), but rarely saw anyone else bring his or her own missal. I thought maybe I was just being too “Protestant”. And maybe I was, since it seems that the idea of Mass is to listen, rather than to study (which is the aim of a Protestant sermon).

So: if Catholics don’t study their Bibles during Mass, then when do they get a chance to study them?

 

[Della]

Ahimsa:

Ah, things are becoming clearer now. In my visits to parishes in the past, I’ve usually brought my own missal (even though I’m not Catholic), but rarely saw anyone else bring his or her own missal. I thought maybe I was just being too “Protestant”. And maybe I was, since it seems that the idea of Mass is to listen, rather than to study (which is the aim of a Protestant sermon).

Right. Good so far.

So: if Catholics don’t study their Bibles during Mass, then when do they get a chance to study them?

The same times that YOU do! At home or at Bible studies conducted at their parishes, which many have these days. When else?

 

[Forest-Pine]

Ahimsa:

So: if Catholics don’t study their Bibles during Mass, then when do they get a chance to study them?

In formal settings, casual settings, and by oneself.

Formal: most parishes have specific Bible studies. Catholic colleges often also have series for lay study as well.

Casual: many people work with others in a joint effort at Bible study. Examples would be online groups or groups of friends, etc.

Oneself: there are many methods of doing so. Some start at the beginning and read through to the end. Some go by topics (papacy, Eucharist, Christian living, etc) and read all pertinent Biblical verses. Some follow other orders (start with the Gospels, for example). Some just open their Bibles and ask God to lead them. Some read in the early morning, some late at night, some over lunch, some around the breakfast table, some as a family in the evenings. Some follow the daily readings. Some read the Bible as part of a novena prayer. Some read 3 hours every Saturday, some read 15 minutes once a day. Some read the Bible during Eucharistic adoration. Some read the Bible in response to apologetics debates. You get the idea.

We do not HAVE to read the Bible. An illiterate is still able to participate in the fullness of faith. As a matter of fact, illiteracy was so common that the Eastern church used icons to depict the truths of faith. Looking around the church would lead one to the fullness of truth found in the Bible. However, we do have an obligation to grow in our faith and for those who are literate, reading the Bible would be a pretty obvious way of doing so. (Not to mention to help the person be grounded in faith and less likely to fall to lies.) The church encourages us to read the Bible as it will only strengthen our faiths and bring us closer to the Lord. It is up to each of us to make time for things of importance, and Bible study would be one of them.