Why don't Catholics bring Bible to Masses

[TrueLight]

Because there is no need. The Readings are in your missalette. Othere religions bring their Bibles because they use them for discussion

Evangelicals bring them to church because there are no missals and whenever there is a reading from the word, everyone stands, finds the readings and reads along.

Also, there is Sunday school.

 

[pnewton]

Evangelicals bring them to church because there are no missals and whenever there is a reading from the word, everyone stands, finds the readings and reads along.

Also, there is Sunday school.

I grew up with Bible drills where all the kids stood in a line. When a verse was called out, everyone started flipping through to find it. When you found it, you stepped forward and started to read it for a point. It really is a good skill to have. My only problem now is remembering where to squeeze in the Deutero’s.

I started bringing a Bible to Mass. I quickly realized the futility of flipping through to the same thing that was sitting in front of me in the pew without flipping. Now, since I almost always have to read the readings in advance, I just listen.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

. A homily differs from a sermon in that it must specifically explain and address the readings for that day.

This statement is incorrect. The homily does not have to be “specifically” anything, it is the one place where some latitude is allowed.
Other than that, I think you are right on!!

From the GIRM, my emphasis added.

1. The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended, for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life.
   It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary
   or from the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.

 

[TrueLight]

I grew up with Bible drills where all the kids stood in a line. When a verse was called out, everyone started flipping through to find it. When you found it, you stepped forward and started to read it for a point. It really is a good skill to have. My only problem now is remembering where to squeeze in the Deutero’s.

Yes, I did this too lol. It was a fun game.

I started bringing a Bible to Mass. I quickly realized the futility of flipping through to the same thing that was sitting in front of me in the pew without flipping. Now, since I almost always have to read the readings in advance, I just listen.

Exactly. I tried this as well, and it didn’t make sense for me to go from missal to Bible. I do sometimes bring my Bible to daily Mass and after Mass is over, I stay in the pews for another 15 minutes, reading the Word, meditating and praying.

 

[MissRose73]

I have been accustomed to not bringing a Bible to Mass as we have missalettes available listing the Sunday Mass readings for those who desire to follow along. Not all people know how to search out Bible verses ahead of time either but it was a very valuable skill I learned from some Protestant friends growing up when they invited me to their summer vacation Bible school even if we do not share the some books (some we or they accept etc) and translations.

I do hope to be able to attend Bible study at my parish (or another one) again someday if my work schedule permits me to attend something organized. If not, I still read from the Bible without going to classes and organized classes.

 

[Cat]

I bring my Bible to Mass.

I look up the readings in advance and mark them in my Bible so I can just flip right to them. I don’t find that any trouble at all.

Yes, we have missallettes. But I can’t make marks and underline in the missallette, or jot down pithy comments that the priest makes in his homily. I have many such notes in my Bible and this often helps me outside of Mass when I am reading my Bible. It’s especially good when talking to all my evangelical Protestant relatives and friends. But it’s also encouraging and comforting to me personally, in my own soul.

My husband uses his phone to read the Bible readings during Mass. It takes him less time to find the daily readings on his phone than to look them up in the paper missallette. IMO, this would be a good option for parents who are carrying many babies.

In fact, IMO, bringing a Bible to Mass would be a good way to show children and young people how important the Bible is. Yes, it’s not Jesus and we shouldn’t worship it. But it is the written Word of God, canonized by the Catholic Church. We shouldn’t leave it home on the shelf, either. Throughout the ages, the saints have exhorted us to read and study the Bible often, not just at Mass.

As for “hearing” the Word of God, I have only come across one Catholic church in seven years that has an adequate sound system. Most use Mattel’s “Mr. Microphone”-type sound systems. Also, a crying child or a chatty senior citizen with a malfunctioning hearing aid can make it hard to hear much of anything at Mass.

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the resistance towards such a simple thing as bringing a Bible to Mass. I don’t even know what to say or how to react to this. I’ve listened to several excellent presentations by wonderful Chicago-area priests at Catholic Family Conferences in this area urging parishioners to bring their BIbles to Mass and follow along in their own Bibles rather than in an impersonal missallette. I can’t believe that Christians are actually arguing against the simple devotion of bringing a Bible to Mass. This is unbelievable.

 

[maryjk]

Evangelicals bring them to church because there are no missals and whenever there is a reading from the word, everyone stands, finds the readings and reads along.

Also, there is Sunday school.

Our CCD has a classroom set of Bibles in each classroom. There is no need for the children to bring a bible.

 

[PiousTemplar]

Our CCD has a classroom set of Bibles in each classroom. There is no need for the children to bring a bible.

I think he was referring to sunday school in evangelical Churches.

 

[TrueLight]

I think he was referring to sunday school in evangelical Churches.

He is a she!

 

[LPS]

I am tired of people saying “We hear this many readings every day in the liturgy of the word.” Does it stick? No. That’s obvious.

I don’t agree with that - I think it does more than we realize, actually. When I first started really reading my Bible, the thing I liked most was reading passages in order for the full context; I didn’t necessarily know that Noah was in Genesis or where to find the epistles of Paul. But all of them were familiar to me - I’d heard them many times.

And further, I knew as I read certain OT passages where they tied in with Jesus’ life. I remember a protestant eager to teach how Psalm 22 pointed to Jesus (My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?) and I was a little shocked not everyone knew that … all my life I had heard it read during Easter the same day as the reading of Jesus crucified.

I really hope most of you are in fact, reading the Bible on your own.

In fact, I love it so much that I created my own website to read the entire Catholic Bible in a year … the link is in my siggy

 

[agnes_therese]

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the resistance towards such a simple thing as bringing a Bible to Mass. I don’t even know what to say or how to react to this. I can’t believe that Christians are actually arguing against the simple devotion of bringing a Bible to Mass. This is unbelievable.

I don’t see it as “resistance.” Just pointing out that, in churches that provide missalettes (or if you have your own missal), the Bible readings are right there for you without bringing your Bible also. I didn’t notice anyone saying “No, you MUSTN’T bring your Bible.” By all means, do so if you wish. Personally, I find it easier to use the missalette during Mass. My Bible is read at home.

 

[Adonia]

That whole Bible-worshiping thing started the moment they rejected Christ’s Lordship over His Body the Church. There is no “Bible Sunday” in any “church” founded by an apostle. Show me a true Catholic who is ignorant of the Bible and I’ll show you a unicorn.

That’s great! I never thought of it like that. “Bible Worshipping” Yep, we worship by doing. Well said.

 

[Rolltide]

Originally posted by Oneofthewomen

This statement is incorrect. The homily does not have to be “specifically” anything, it is the one place where some latitude is allowed.
Other than that, I think you are right on!!

From the GIRM, my emphasis added.

65. The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended, for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life.
It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary
or from the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.

Isn’t this pretty much exactly what I stated though? Look at what it says. The homily “should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or the Proper of the Mass of the day”.

So, it normally SHOULD be about the readings or other texts specific to that Mass (the Mass of the day). The priest normally CANNOT just talk about any theme he likes.
For example, on Easter Sunday, the priest can’t just go off and give a sermon on global warming, or even the Christmas narrative (under normal circumstances).

It goes on to say that it “should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.” In other words, it must discuss either the Holy Mass itself, or the topic linking the readings for the day. The “particular needs of the listeners” tends to be an exception where the bishop ok’s a special topic for a week or series of weeks. I’ll acknowledge that THAT topic could be just about anything.

 

[Miriam1947]

I have the Bible on my Kindle and I take it to church with me and read before Mass starts. Right now I am reading Romans.

When we were in Acts, I just had to read it everyday. Since I go to daily Mass, I get a lot of Bible during the week.

Our bulletin always has the next week’s readings listed for each day so anyone at any time can pick up their Bible and read during the week.

The Magnificat is my daily missal because it has morning and evening prayers, saints, and meditations in it. The missal in the pews for daily Mass does not have readings daily, just which books and verses will be used. That is why the Magnificat is such a wonderful tool. Just love it.

 

[MissRose73]

I do have the iMissal application on my Android phone and it does give what readings are for each day’s Masses. It also has a section where it gives random Bible verses for each day and allows for searches for certain verses but not all of them.

Any recommendations for free applications that have the Bible and the version that Catholics read so I can read it on my phone when I am traveling or just wish to read?

 

[KimberlyAnn0218]

We have too many kids to hang onto to carry Bibles.

I take it that was a crack at the large family stereotype??

 

[TrueLight]

That’s great! I never thought of it like that. “Bible Worshipping” Yep, we worship by doing. Well said.

I disagree. These comments are very dismissive of the word of God.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

I was adressing your use of the word specifically, what should be done does not mean it must be done.

I agree that the homily should have some relevence to the readings and/or Church teaching as it ties into the readings, but that does not always happen. Unfortunately, there are some out there who use the homily to address some of the issues you suggested, I have heard them. Not at Easter or Christmas, but it does happen…

As I said, a priest/deacon (and in the case of my diocese, certain “lay-preachers”, which is a whole other issue) have ***A LOT ***of latitude in how they present a homily.

Isn’t this pretty much exactly what I stated though? Look at what it says. The homily “should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or the Proper of the Mass of the day”.

So, it normally SHOULD be about the readings or other texts specific to that Mass (the Mass of the day). The priest normally CANNOT just talk about any theme he likes.
For example, on Easter Sunday, the priest can’t just go off and give a sermon on global warming, or even the Christmas narrative (under normal circumstances).

It goes on to say that it “should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.” In other words, it must discuss either the Holy Mass itself, or the topic linking the readings for the day. The “particular needs of the listeners” tends to be an exception where the bishop ok’s a special topic for a week or series of weeks. I’ll acknowledge that THAT topic could be just about anything.

 

[Elizabeth502]

I’m prepared to have eggs thrown at me.

I have actually wished that Catholics would bring Bibles to Mass; however, that’s only because I wish there was Catholic bible study (of the day’s reading, especially) just before the actual Celebration, and as part of the formally scheduled service. That’s also because very few parishes have any formal bible study in any structured way (led by someone competent, trained, and/or the complete The Great Adventure series – Jeff Kavins’ product).

Parishioners are hungering to understand the Word of God more. That hunger I noticed over 10 years ago when I led such study groups in one parish and participated in one in another parish. Both parishes consisted of parishioners who in other respects were highly educated; yet when it came to scripture, were essentially illiterate. (It was obvious, but they came to admit it rather easily during these groups.) The practice of being in the group led them to crave much more of it, but then the groups were closed down. (They weren’t controversial or anything; I think it may have been a publicity/support problem; they were vibrant when publicized by the lay & clergy ministers in the parishes.)

I see that at one of these 2 parishes, a new group has started again, on site. (Ours were off-site, but parish-affiliated for the most part.) This new group is so basic that Protestants would find it embarrassing: it’s something like “Introduction to the Gospels.” (At age 30-60? For people with bachelors’, master’s, Ph.D’s and law degrees? Amazing.)

I also have to say that some priests, not all, are not quite in touch with their flock. For example, when I was doing this over 10 years ago (and suggesting it 15 years ago, including suggesting pre-Mass bible study on Sundays), one pastor, whom I consider a sensitive & aware person, scoffed at the possibility of there being a critical mass of interested attendees. (The popularity of the later Bible groups would tend to contradict his assumption.) And when very recently I was asked to participate in a parish-wide discussion (different parish) about the crisis of dwindling attendance, leading to dwindling collection plates & fear of parish survival itself, it was again the pastor who was out of touch with what the parishioners were craving, which were: frequent confession (not always possible for a single parish with a single pastor, for sure, but possible when nearby parishes cluster for agreed-to confession “shifts”), the church being open for prayer much more often, and bible study, especially in conjunction with Sunday Mass.
It was pointed out that parishes who have one or more of these features have better attendance, often full attendance.

Naturally such organized groups require lay leadership and competency in this area, which will be a concern in communities which lack that, but hardly the communities I’m discussing, which are urban and which are plentiful in lay people, as well as people in religious formation, who have considerable background to bring to such activities. (Graduates of many local Catholic colleges and diocesan ministry programs, etc.)

I personally think we have a lot to learn from our Protesant and Jewish brethren about the passionate celebration of the Word of God, integral to our Holy Mass. I know I’ll get flamed for saying that.

 

[DianaCC]

If one attends Mass every day for three years…

I find the cycles disorienting. I understand the construction and rationale but the plan is just too finely divided to allow familiarity with the Bible as a whole.