For us, for Catholics, September is the month of the Bible because in this month, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Jerome (September 30th), who translated the Bible from Arameic, Hebrew, and Greek into Latin, the Vulgata, which means “popular.”
According to fundamental theology, God reveals Himself through the Sacred Scriptures, the tradition in Jesus Christ, and the teachings of the Church. Believing that God talks to us through the Bible, we consider it as the Word of God. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God who is always present in our lives and wants the best for us.
Some people come to me asking how to start to read the Bible. My answer is simple. Start to read the Gospels, especially the Gospel of Mark. Why the Gospels? Because all of the Bible (Old and New Testament) points to Jesus. He is the center of the Holy Scriptures. Why the Gospel of Mark? Because it was the first Gospel written (circa 70 AD), it is the shorter Gospel (it has 16 chapters), and talks about the life, passion, death, and of course resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. For instance, the Gospel of Mark 1:1 says, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God].” From the first verse, Mark identifies Jesus as the Christ, that means the Messiah, and the Son of God. In addition, Mark is saying that this is the beginning of the Gospel, that means the beginning of the life of Jesus and the beginning of the preaching of Jesus which is the Gospel, the Kingdom of God.
Some other people have said to me that they are reading the Bible from Genesis, and even some of them say that they have read the entire Bible (from Genesis to Revelation) several times. This is wonderful; however, not many people are able to read the complete Bible.
Questions: How often are you reading the Bible? Are you reading one of the Gospels or another book of the Bible? Are you following a podcast, videos on Formed, EWTN, YouTube, reading magazines, articles, or participating in Bible study to understand better the Word of the Lord? Here at Holy Trinity Church, we have a Bible study. They meet every other week on Wednesdays at 6:30 pm or Thursdays at 10:00 am in Trinity Hall. This is a great element that our parish offers to all of us to understand much better the Holy Scriptures. If you want to participate, you can check the bulletin to be sure when the Bible study meeting is.
Our Church is giving us many tools that help us to understand the Holy Scripture. September reminds us of the importance of the Holy Scriptures in our lives; hence, let us always pray to the Holy Spirit to give us knowledge and wisdom to comprehend the word of God every time that we read the Bible. God has a wonderful message for each one of us.
Remember, “The Parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build.”
God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!
Fr. Jorge Ramirez
