Two Year Catholic Bible Reading Plan

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I currently have a two year plan that follows the Protestant Canon. But, since I can’t find any valid reason why the so-called deuterocanonical books were removed from the canon, I figure they should be incorporated into my readings.

I’ve found a couple of one year plans, but doing it on the one year schedule feels like enough of a rush job with a Protestant Bible. I can’t imagine trying to do it with 7 extra books included.

I also follow the daily readings for the church because I like to know what’s going on. But, it has been pointed out to me that while the daily readings cover most of the Bible in three years, it does not cover all of the Bible.

Does such a plan exist?
 
Ragamuffingirl said:
I currently have a two year plan that follows the Protestant Canon. But, since I can’t find any valid reason why the so-called deuterocanonical books were removed from the canon, I figure they should be incorporated into my readings.

I’ve found a couple of one year plans, but doing it on the one year schedule feels like enough of a rush job with a Protestant Bible. I can’t imagine trying to do it with 7 extra books included.

I also follow the daily readings for the church because I like to know what’s going on. But, it has been pointed out to me that while the daily readings cover most of the Bible in three years, it does not cover all of the Bible.
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I just bought a used copy of The One Year Bible, Catholic Edition. I bought it online. The book is in excellent condition. It only cost me $4.00. I think the shipping was about $4.00 as well. I love the format that is used in this book. Each daily reading contains readings from the Old Testament, The New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs and the deuterocanonical books.

It takes me about 20 minutes to do each day’s reading. Afterwards, I go the US Catholic Bishop’s website and I read the Daily Mass readings for that particular day. It takes me about five minutes to complete those readings. I like to read Sacred Scripture in the mornings when its quiet and when the coffee seems to just taste a little better. Suffice it to say, this time that I spend studying the Word of God is a very special part of my day.

amazon.com/One-Year-Bible-NLT-Catholic/dp/084236207X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388593768&sr=1-4&keywords=one+year+bible+catholic

usccb.org/bible/readings/010114.cfm
 
Got to start reading scripture. Where to start is difficult. Have read the New Testament
 
If you have a Catholic bible with two ribbon markers, you can read from the beginning of Genesis in the Old Testament (a chapter or two) and starting with the Gospels in the New Testament read a chapter or two each day. Read for twenty or thirty minutes each day and maybe longer on your days off. Don’t worry if it takes a year or two years (or less), the fact that you are reading Holy Scripture every day is what is important!
Happy New Year! 👍
 
Those interested in a ready-to-use plan for daily Scripture reading over more than one year might try How to Read The Bible Every Day: A Guide for Catholics. This slim volume (48 pages) provides one-, two-, and three-year plans. Designed to be used in conjunction with a Bible you already own, it cites the Scripture passage(s) to be read each day. The one-year plan contains both Old Testament and New Testament passages daily. The two-year plan follows “as much as possible…the daily readings of the liturgy.” According to the book, the average reading time each day is as follows: one-year, 20 minutes; two-year, 10-15 minutes; three-year, 5-7 minutes.
Irish_Cabbie said:
I just bought a used copy of The One Year Bible, Catholic Edition. I bought it online. The book is in excellent condition. It only cost me $4.00. I think the shipping was about $4.00 as well. I love the format that is used in this book. Each daily reading contains readings from the Old Testament, The New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs and the deuterocanonical books.

It takes me about 20 minutes to do each day’s reading. Afterwards, I go the US Catholic Bishop’s website and I read the Daily Mass readings for that particular day. It takes me about five minutes to complete those readings. I like to read Sacred Scripture in the mornings when its quiet and when the coffee seems to just taste a little better. Suffice it to say, this time that I spend studying the Word of God is a very special part of my day.

amazon.com/One-Year-Bible-NLT-Catholic/dp/084236207X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388593768&sr=1-4&keywords=one+year+bible+catholic

usccb.org/bible/readings/010114.cfm
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This is my approach as well, except that I’m using My Daily Catholic Bible published by Our Sunday Visitor. My version uses the RSV-CE; there is also an NABRE version for those who prefer it.

I admit to not having done well with the one-year plan (this is my third attempt :blushing:), but if I miss a day I’ll just pick up where I left off. If it takes me more than a year to finish, so be it.

The daily Mass readings are also helpful, I agree. I get mine by going to Mass, but I realize not everyone is able to attend Mass daily.
ajecphotos said:
Got to start reading scripture. Where to start is difficult. Have read the New Testament
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Have you tried these one-year Bibles Irish Cabbie and I have mentioned? They’re very easy to use, since Scripture is already divided up amongst the days of the year and all text is included for each day (so no going back and forth between a guide and a Bible, nor can one lose one’s place). 👍 Maybe I’m not the best person to speak for them since I’ve already failed twice to complete the reading program in mine, but that’s entirely my own fault and in no way can I blame it on the way the book is set up.
 
I use a little booklet called How to Read the Bible Every Day: A Guide for Catholics (Servant Books, ISBN 0-89283-399-8), compiled by a certain Carmen Rojas. It contains a 1-year, 2-year and 3-year schedule for reading the Bible. I use the three year schedule and have done for 17 years now.
 
I just ordered this from Amazon. Hopefully, it’ll be here in a week or so…
 
I’m pretty sure I have the same Bible as Irish Cabbie – I read it by the day and it’s the last thing I do every night before I turn out the light. Don’t have it with me a/c I’m away from home and spending the holidays with one of my sons. I’ll try to “catch up” when I go home in a few days.
The readings from the Old Testament sometimes raise the hair on my head – but I do love Paul’s Epistles (hope that’s the right one a/c my memory is sometimes awful – I’m pretty old).
I’m very pleased that I started reading the Daily Bible and just wish I had done it much sooner.
 
Here is my reading plan.
  1. Cook oatmeal
  2. Brew coffee
  3. Bring oatmeal, coffee and Bible to breakfast table.
  4. Eat, drink and read until coffee and oatmeal are gone.
  5. Put dishes in sink and Bible back on the sofa table.
  6. Repeat daily
In five years I have read the Bible cover to cover three times this way and am currently half way through my fourth.

I don’t mean to offend but I really don’t know why people find it so difficult that they need a book to help structure Bible reading. Just integrate it into part of your day and eventually it will be part of your life, your day won’t feel complete without it.

Monks get up to pray, read scripture, eat breakfast, go to Mass and then go to work. It is part of their day. They have been doing this routine for 1600 years. Reading scripture is integrated into their day and it is part of their life.

-Tim-
 
Well. i started yesterday with Genesis. Trying to read some every day. As i said before, i have read the New Testament. Will try my upmost to read a bit of it every day as it is part of my new years resolution to do so.

I suppose the odd thing for me is things that happened in the Genesis etc. Very odd indeed and seems so far out there!
 
ajecphotos said:
Well. i started yesterday with Genesis. Trying to read some every day. As i said before, i have read the New Testament. Will try my upmost to read a bit of it every day as it is part of my new years resolution to do so.

I suppose the odd thing for me is things that happened in the Genesis etc. Very odd indeed and seems so far out there!
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Just read. My best advice is not to try too hard to figure it out and to just read. Let it be absorbed into you like a sponge absorbs water and don’t try too hard.

Let it speak to you rather than you reading it, if that makes sense. It is God who speaks to you in the Scriptures. The creator of the universe gets on his knees and speaks with his children through the Bible. You can’t muscle God’s word and trying too hard to figure it out ruins the message.

Just be at peace. Read it slowly. Don’t try to go too fast. If some part is difficult to understand then pray to God that He gives you light and move on. If another part is especially beautiful to you then pray to God that He speaks to you and teaches you through it and don’t be afraid to linger there and savor it, reading it over and over until you feel it is time to move on. And then pray to God for the wonderful gift of that beautiful part of the Bible.

It’s like the best, richest and creamiest chocolate ice cream you have ever eaten. Savor it slowly, enjoy it, and don’t eat too much at one time. 😉

I’ve read it three times, on my fourth now. Savor it slowly and make it part of your life. That’s my best advice.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Just read. My best advice is not to try too hard to figure it out and to just read. Let it be absorbed into you like a sponge absorbs water and don’t try too hard.

Let it speak to you rather than you reading it, if that makes sense. It is God who speaks to you in the Scriptures. The creator of the universe gets on his knees and speaks with his children through the Bible. You can’t muscle God’s word and trying too hard to figure it out ruins the message.

Just be at peace. Read it slowly. Don’t try to go too fast. If some part is difficult to understand then pray to God that He gives you light and move on. If another part is especially beautiful to you then pray to God that He speaks to you and teaches you through it and don’t be afraid to linger there and savor it, reading it over and over until you feel it is time to move on. And then pray to God for the wonderful gift of that beautiful part of the Bible.

It’s like the best, richest and creamiest chocolate ice cream you have ever eaten. Savor it slowly, enjoy it, and don’t eat too much at one time. 😉

I’ve read it three times, on my fourth now. Savor it slowly and make it part of your life. That’s my best advice.

-Tim-
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Superb advice. Cheers 👍
 
TimothyH said:
I don’t mean to offend but I really don’t know why people find it so difficult that they need a book to help structure Bible reading.
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No offense taken 🙂

People aren’t all wired the same way. Some folks thrive on structure, others wither as a result of it. I get so busy sometimes that if I don’t write “have lunch” into my schedule, I won’t remember to eat.

Even those who work better with set plans don’t always have it in them to devise their own. Fortunately, guides exist to make things easier for them.

I’m glad your approach works for you. I wish it could work for me, but I know myself well enough to understand it won’t. If, in the end, we’re both reading Scripture daily, I don’t think it really matters how we each go about it.

God bless!
 
I have the ‘Olive Tree’ Bible study app on my ipad, and it has a Bible reading plan for one year (among others) built into the software. So you can pick your translation and it will guide you for one year. 👍
 
CalCatholic said:
I have the ‘Olive Tree’ Bible study app on my ipad, and it has a Bible reading plan for one year (among others) built into the software. So you can pick your translation and it will guide you for one year. 👍
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The danger here is that we put the Holy Spirit into a box. If God wishes to speak to us through a particular passage then we should allow it.

Rushing to get through a certain number of chapters or verses per day could cause us to miss what God is trying to tell us. Perhaps a particular passage or section seems especially beautiful or moving to us, or speaks to us about our current situation - that’s God trying to communicate to us through his Holy word. We should be attuned to this and read this part a little more slowly and attentively, maybe even reading it a second time or stopping at a particularly moving part to ponder it, meditate on it, or pray it back to God.

As an example, I might read Song of Songs, Philippians and 1 John four or five times. I find them exquisitely beautiful and God often teaches me things there so I slow down. But I tend to blow through the Proverbs - they seem rote and dry and don’t do much for me. Next time I read through those however, the opposite might be the case and I might slow down in the Proverbs as God speaks to me through the words and passages.

My point is that we should not be so structured that we don’t allow God to speak with us through his written word. Structure is good, but we have to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit room to breathe, be willing to let the Bible speak to us rather than us reading X number of pages per day as if it were a reading assignment.

-Tim-
 
Reading Genesis at the moment but not gaining anything from it as of yet
 
TimothyH said:
The danger here is that we put the Holy Spirit into a box. If God wishes to speak to us through a particular passage then we should allow it.

Rushing to get through a certain number of chapters or verses per day could cause us to miss what God is trying to tell us. Perhaps a particular passage or section seems especially beautiful or moving to us, or speaks to us about our current situation - that’s God trying to communicate to us through his Holy word. We should be attuned to this and read this part a little more slowly and attentively, maybe even reading it a second time or stopping at a particularly moving part to ponder it, meditate on it, or pray it back to God.

As an example, I might read Song of Songs, Philippians and 1 John four or five times. I find them exquisitely beautiful and God often teaches me things there so I slow down. But I tend to blow through the Proverbs - they seem rote and dry and don’t do much for me. Next time I read through those however, the opposite might be the case and I might slow down in the Proverbs as God speaks to me through the words and passages.

My point is that we should not be so structured that we don’t allow God to speak with us through his written word. Structure is good, but we have to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit room to breathe, be willing to let the Bible speak to us rather than us reading X number of pages per day as if it were a reading assignment.

-Tim-
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I think what you are doing is called Lectio Divina rather than Bible reading. Both practices are fine and valid but the two should not be confused.
 
Trilor said:
I think what you are doing is called Lectio Divina rather than Bible reading. Both practices are fine and valid but the two should not be confused.
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I do both, and sometimes lapse from purely academic reading into a more prayerful lectio type reading and back. To me there is no hard and fast division between academic reading and more prayerful lectio type reading.

-Tim-
 
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