BIBLE SERIES: Why Don't you Read the Bible?

By Paul Dion, STL


Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of our series on the Bible. It is an offshoot of the Bishop's Synod being held at the Vatican from October 5-26, 2010. Please follow this blog series and be enlightened on why the Bible needs to be part of our ongoing Christian life and experience. Below are links to the rest of the series:

Part 1: What are your Personal Bible Habits?

After the Burning question from last week sent most of you scurrying into the corner, we have decided to push further and ask a less personal question, but a more directly probing one. In case you are wondering, we do have some interesting comments to share with you this time. As is our custom, we will provide you with some "answers". But, outside of our custom, we are going to start by enumerating some answers and then look for yours.

The question is, WHY DON'T YOU READ THE BIBLE?

Down through the ages and until this day there are many answers which have remained the same. Many of them have been told to me directly. Some of them came to light in the survey that the Church took over the last two years. They appear below. See if you can find yourself in them. After that, read the comments that we have posted here.

I don't read the Bible because I don't find it interesting.
I don't read the Bible because I find it difficult to understand what it is trying to say.
I don't read the Bible because it is for priests and nuns.
I don't read the Bible because I don't know where to start.
I don't read the Bible because I hear some of it every Sunday anyway.
I don't read the Bible because if I do and my Protestant friends find out, that's all they'll want to talk about.
I don't read the Bible because I don't have time with my family, job and children and everything.
I don't read the Bible because that's for old people.
I don't have to read the Bible because I have a Catechism.
I don't read the Bible because I thought that Catholics aren't supposed to read it.

You might think that these answers come from people who are not Catholic, or religious, or something. No, that's not it. Most people have a Bible in the house, but it just sits there and gathers dust. You might think that this comes from people who are in and of our times and you know how the people in our times have deteriorated since the "good old days!" Wrong again.

With this list of excuses, it is easy to see that the Church has an uphill effort ahead of it to bring its faithful people around to the reading of the Bible. If it is any consolation, I invite you to click here and see just how old a problem this really is.

Once you have reflected on this question, we at ParishWorld.net request that you make the good resolution to open your Bible. If you don't know how to attack it, ask around and you're sure to find someone who can help you discover the treasure that you have on your coffee table.

"Why do Catholics have a "crucifix" and Protestant have plain crosses?"

By Paul Dion, STL

Here is a question that a young person asked me two weeks ago that I have decided to present to you. This is a thought provoking question that has more than one correct answer. So you should have no shyness about submitting what you think it should be.

I will even give you a hint... All the answers that I will propose to you will be based on Scripture stories. The easiest one might be the story about a problem that the Israelites had as they were walking through the desert after escaping from Egypt. God gave Moses the cure for the problem.

Some of you have noticed that there are crosses that have a small statue of the body of Jesus attached to them and there are crosses that are plain and have no representation of a human attached to the front. The crosses which have the statue attached to the front will be seen in Catholic Churches and never in Protestant churches.

The burning question is: Why do Catholics have a "crucifix" and Protestant Christians have plain cross?

Share your thoughts with us. The comment box is below.

CLICK HERE to see the answer to this Burning Question.

What is the "Real Presence of Christ" that Catholics talk about?

By Paul Dion, STL

Here is the Burning Question of the Week: When Catholics talk about the Real Presence of Christ, what are they talking about? How many other forms of Christ's presence in our midst can you think of?

Catholics among you should be able to answer the first one without difficulty. With a little thought and some prayer you should be able to answer the second question and come up with two or three other forms of presence.

Those of you who are not Catholic may have a little trouble with this one.

Try your thoughts out on it. If you don't come up with anything, hit the Bible first and then Google and wait for the response to see how the Catholics did.

We would like to hear your thoughts. Share them with our readers from all over the world so that they too may be encouraged to look into their hearts and reflect upon our burning question of the week.

(Click here to view the many wonderful articles that await you in www.ParishWorld.net, America's Catholic Lifestyle Magazine. Be informed, be inspired, be blessed. )