Why Don't Catholics Read the Bible?

Knowing you need to read the Bible and actually doing it are often two very different things. We are, as Catholics, a biblical people, after all. The Bible is the Word of God. Mass is grounded in scripture. Many of our prayers have biblical roots.

So what's the problem? Why do Catholics seem to have a reputation for not spending any time with the Bible, for not knowing it, and maybe for not even caring?

Maybe it's that Bible is so integrated into so much of our Catholic lives that picking up the Bible might seem, at times, to be almost superfluous.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In the introduction to A Year with the Bible, well-known author and apologist Patrick Madrid points out, "Right now, as you turn the page and begin reading this book, you are taking, as Saint Jerome says, another step toward heaven."

If you have not yet made any Year of Faith commitments, this might be a great next step.

Patrick has made this easy for us. There's a page for each day of the year, with a one or two sentence introduction, a scripture verse or passage, and then the invitation to enter God's presence with reflection questions and a closing prayer.

You may invest five minutes--or ten--in each day. And yet the passages and meditations have been carefully selected and paired to have a staying power that can only be Spirit-inspired.

Not only is this a useful compilation--Scripture in bite-sized chunks for your entire year is handy, you have to admit--but it's beautiful, too. It's bound and embossed, with a bookmark ribbon and heavy paper. It will stand up for the entire year and many more besides, to be a companion to you and guide you closer to God through his Word.

You can find A Year With the Bible by following this link to EWTN's Religious Catalogue