In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
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PDF Version file
Good Catholic Bibles
(Quotes included shipping – check the links to verify a Bible has good study notes.)
1. Saint Joseph New Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible Hardcover – Jan. 1 1963 $76 used
2. The New Jerusalem
Bible: The Complete Text of the Ancient Canon of the Scriptures
with
Up-to-Date Introductions and Notes Hardcover – Nov. 1 1985 $41 used
3. The New Jerusalem Bible: Standard edition Hardcover – March 16 1999 $37 new
4. Christian Community Bible: Catholic Pastoral Edition, Green Hardcover – June 1 1999 $40 new
5. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament only Hardcover – Illustrated, June 1 2010 $49 new
6. The Catholic Prayer Bible, Lectio Divina Edition Hardcover – Illustrated, June 26 2010 $59 new
Fathers of the Church Bible-NABRE Paperback – April 25 2013 by Our Sunday Visitor
8. The Catholic Study Bible New American Bible Paperback – Illustrated, Feb. 25 2016 $51 new
9. The Catholic Youth Bible, 4th Edition, NRSV: Paperback – Jan. 10 2018 $47 new
10. The Catholic Youth Bible, 4th Edition, NRSV: Hardcover – Jan. 10 2018 $60 new
11. The Great Adventure Catholic Bible Leather Bound – Sept. 4 2018 $92 new
12. The Revised New Jerusalem Bible: Study Edition Hardcover – Dec 3 2019 $77 new
What is the best edition of the Bible for Catholics? Short answer: There isn’t just one because none are perfect. The best approach is to have more than one different translation, even in a language other than English, and to compare the different versions of the same text in order to get a richer understanding of the meaning.
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SIMPLE APPROACH TO READING THE BIBLE
How can we best read the Bible, the Word of God? Short answer: The Holy Spirit who inspired the original people who wrote the various texts is with us now to inspire us to “hear” God speak to us personally. Here are a few steps that will help you enter into a personal relationship of “listening” to God.
1. Begin
with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to be with you to enlighten your mind and
open your heart.
2. WHAT?
To understand “what” the Word says, it helps to read introductions to each
book, notes at the bottom, and Bible commentaries. This “study” is different
from reading the Word of God “prayerfully” but is a good step to better
understand what was happening at the time God inspired the Bible writer.
3. SO WHAT?
Once we have an idea of what God was saying the first time, we can begin to
wonder that that Word of God has to do with us, with me, now. This is where
commentaries and homilies help.
4. WHAT NOW? Once we begin to see the significance of what God said back then and
what light God is shedding on our situation now; then we can begin to discern
what God is saying to us, to me, now.
5. HOW MUCH IS UP TO EACH OF US NOW? We are all under the obligation of obedience –
as Jesus was obedient (listening and then doing) to the Father’s will – which
also involves keeping the commandments, especially Jesus’ commandment to love
our enemies and love one another as He loves us. Beyond that, we have a lot of
freedom to discern what more the Lord is asking of us out of love.
6. Always close with a prayer of thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit for enlightening and
guiding us.
ONLINE SCRIPTURE RESOURCES – in ENGLISH – la Traduction liturgique ou au CHOIX
You can get Kindle versions of most Bibles listed above at Amazon.ca (CANADA) or Amazon.com (USA) You can also get Bible apps for your phone. Look for a Catholic Bible app.
Catholic Scripture Study International – you can explore this option yourself
The Didache Series – Catholic teaching inspired by the Apostles
examining the Roman Catholic Christian faith as well as the Sacred Scriptures –
a high school curriculum edition and a parish edition – check it out
Why are there Catholic Bibles and Protestant Bibles? Isn’t the Word of God one?
The earliest Jewish Scriptures trace back old oral traditions, and then to Moses after the Exodus which Scripture scholars and historians long placed around 1250 B.C.; to King David ca 1000 B.C., and subsequently to his son Solomon; both of whom composed a number of the Psalms which were originally set to music for singing.
After the Exodus, Moses and his collaborators and helpers developed the first five books of the Bible, called “The Torah” or “The Law” by Jews. Subsequently some of the historical books were written as well as some of the books by the prophets. There was a concentration of inspiration and writing before, during, and after the Babylonian Exile and Captivity which happened roughly between 597 and 538 B.C. and subsequently included rebuilding and rededicating the Temple. This caused a new edition of the Sacred Scriptures over a century or so.
Subsequently there were a few more prophets and a lot of spiritual writing. In the few centuries before Jesus there developed a Jewish population of Greek language and culture in Egypt around Alexandria, and some of them composed some new Scriptures in their Greek language. For a time these works were welcomed into the Jewish religious culture even in Palestine / Israel and Judah.
By Jesus’ time the official list of inspired books in the Jewish Scriptures was fairly settled. However, as Jesus’ disciples made extensive use of the Jewish Scriptures, having been taught by Jesus how to trace the many prophecies about the coming Messiah and how Jesus had fulfilled them all; things began to change.
Many of the Scriptures originally composed in Greek, such as The Book of Wisdom, seemed given by God to prepare the way more intensively for the coming of his Son into the world. As a result, when the majority of the Jewish population rejected Jesus and the developing Christian faith, the Greek Scriptures fell out of favor. By coincidence corresponding to the three centuries of Roman persecution of Christians and often also of Jews, the Jewish religious leaders came to exclude those Greek Scriptures from their official list of the Word of God.
At the Council of Rome in 382 under the scholarship of Saint Jerome, the Catholic list or Canon of the Sacred Scriptures was set as it remains to this day. The Council commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Bible into the current language of the people, which was Latin. This translation was called the Vulgate.
In the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Martin Luther and most other Reformers rejected this Catholic Canon of Scriptures and opted for the Jewish list or Canon. They therefore eliminated the books that had been originally composed in Greek rather than in Hebrew in and around Alexandria in the centuries before Jesus.
To this day, this remains the main difference between Catholic and Protestant Bibles. Orthodox Bibles have a few different lists but they most resemble the Catholic Canon. Here are the books included in Catholic Bibles but which Protestant Bibles exclude or include in a separate section called Apocrypha or Other Writings.
Tobit – Judith – 1st Book of Maccabees – 2nd Book of Maccabees – The Book of Wisdom – Ecclesiasticus also known as Ben Sira – Baruch
Protestant Bibles: O.T. – 39 + 27 N.T. = 66 books in all
Catholic Bibles: O.T. – 46 + 27 N.T. = 73 books in all
Feel free to check
out: Fr. Gilles’ Web Home Page Madonna House Apostolate
PRAYERS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR PONDERING THE WORD OF GOD
(In Saint Joseph “New Catholic Edition” of the HOLY BIBLE – Confraternity Edition, a Revision of the Challoner-Rheims Version Edited by Catholic Scholars under the Patronage of the Episcopal Committee of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine – Catholic Book Publishing Company, New York, 1962.
Before reading the Holy Scriptures
Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
℣. Send forth Thy spirit and they shall be created.
Ʀ . And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let Us Pray.
O God, Who didst instruct
the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant us by the
same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and ever to rejoice in His
consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
After reading the Holy Scriptures
(Prayer of St. Bede the Venerable)
Let me not, O Lord, be puffed up with worldly wisdom, which passes away, but grant me that love which never abates, that I may not choose to know anything among men but Jesus, and Him crucified. (1 Cor. 13:8; 2:2.)
I pray Thee, loving
Jesus, that as Thou hast graciously given me to drink in with delight the words
of Thy knowledge, so Thou wouldst mercifully grant me to attain one day to
Thee, the Fountain of all Wisdom and to appear forever before They face. Amen.
Opening Prayer at the Second Vatican Council – 1962
We
stand before you, Holy Spirit, conscious of our sinfulness, but aware that we
gather in your name. Come to us, remain with us, and enlighten our hearts. Give
us light and strength to know your will, to make it our own, and to live it in
our lives. Guide us by your wisdom, support us by your power, for you are God,
sharing the glory of Father and Son. You desire justice for all: enable us to
uphold the rights of others; do not allow us to be misled by ignorance or
corrupted by fear or favour. Unite us to yourself in the bond of love and keep
us faithful to all that is true. As we gather in your name may we temper
justice with love, so that all our decisions may be pleasing to you, and earn
the reward promised to good and faithful servants. You live and reign with the
Father and the Son, One God, forever and ever. Amen
Saint Pope John XXIII, pray
for us.
RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE
In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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