Everyone,
Before summarizing these last weeks readings, I wanted to share some insights I’ve had over the last year reading the other version of Bible-in-a-Year and revelations I’ve had in these first two weeks of readings; how important this(Bible Study) has become in my life.
Through college and subsequent years, I stepped away from Church, Bible, Prayer, and any deep search for meaning. I didn’t realize at the time the other parts of my life that were neglected as a result. I was working out less, my diet was poor, my relationships with friends, family, and my future wife were all left wanting. I can remember saying ignorant things I thought I knew about religion, faith, prayer, and beliefs. However poor my decisions were, there was a beacon of light through it all. God blessed me with a family and friends that were a beacon of light, whether I was paying attention or not.
My parents have been the foundation of it all. Their unwavering faith, their constant support, and endless prayers are the prime example of how God’s love works through His people. My older siblings Tim, Teresa, and Anne all provided amazing examples of discipline, hard work, and honesty. Most importantly, they gave me a relatable view of how unwavering love for your spouse and children allow you to achieve at the highest level personally and as a family.
In the few stories we have read and as we will continue to read, God’s people are blessed when they make proper sacrifices, “walk with God,” and hold His standards as theirs. I’m not sure what God’s plan is, but Tim, Teresa, and Anne, your lives and beautiful families are the living story. Your precedent lives on, as us younger siblings attempt to live up to your excellent example.
Thank you!
Quick thought about God. God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. I don’t intend to give God a singular dimension, but bear with me. God is the Future. If we sacrifice now, we are blessed in the future. If we give all our energy and resources to others, we make their futures great. The future is One Second – to – Thousands of years from now. If we do adhere to the Ten Commandments, love our neighbor as we would ourselves, lift the heaviest burden(carry our cross) we possibly can; we are Knowing, Honoring, and in turn, loving God.
As this week progressed we see a crazy mix of stories. For this summary, I’m going to continue to focus on God’s love for his people and the blessings he bestows to those who sacrifice and “walk with Him.”
Genesis 21 – God Blesses Abraham and Sarah with Isaac at Sarah’s old Age
One of my favorite readings so far is Matthew 6 – I will paraphrase – Do not focus on earthly treasures and items. However, when you focus on the appropriate things, God will give you everything you need.
Genesis 22- God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Are we willing to sacrifice the things(people) we love the most? God proves in the end, He doesn’t want us killing the innocent, but He wants to know that we will sacrifice Anything for Him(the future?).
Matthew 7 – Dr. Frank Turek said something about this passage I had never heard before. He said, this isn’t telling us Not to judge. It is simply telling us to get the junk out of our eyes(life) before we can help(or separate) ourselves from others with clear reason and distinction.
Matthew 8 – Jesus performs miracles. The only way to God(a proper future?) is through the Son(Jesus). So we must follow the way of Jesus to have the blessed future (Heaven?)
Genesis 25:3 paraphrased – God said to Isaac ” Listen to me and sacrifice the present and I will make your nation great.” In the reflection “Why does Isaac, alone among the patriarchs, never experience exile? Could it be because he alone remained faithful and chase to his spouse? If, as the church Fathers suggest, the Promised Land represents Heaven, perhaps Isaac’s purity of life and fidelity to marriage represent the road to Heaven!” ….. Sacrifice for God and the future will be blessed!!!???
Matthew 9 – Matthew was called to drop everything and follow Christ. He did. And Matthew has been blessed and immortalized in scripture.
Matthew 10 – Sacrifice everything for God. The reflection on page 50 is difficult to comprehend. Please share your comments when you have a chance.
Thank you all!
The Journey Begins 
Great summary Matt. Thank you.
I know we have discussed this idea of sacrifice before, but it is something that I think about a lot now. We read about Cain and Abel in week 1, and now in week 2 we read about Abraham and Isaac. What are we willing to sacrifice today, for a better tomorrow, or what are we willing to sacrifice in this life for the next? We are all sacrificing a lot for our families and their future. And, we have sacrificed a lot when we were younger for the future that we have now. Steve Covey used to say, that we are who are today, because of decisions we made yesterday. It’s so true.
Bishop Barron recently was talking about the bible. When asked if we should take the bible literally, he stated that we need to understand the genre. Is it a saga, a legend, a letter, an apocalypse, poetry, or history? “The bible is the word of God, in the word of man. It wasn’t dictated, it is expressed through man”. As I am reading the Old Testament, I think about the genre of what I am reading. It helps me with the psalms, and with some of the Old Testament.
In the New Testament this week, there were some things that Jesus said that truly inspired me for the week.
Matt 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the days own trouble be sufficient for the day.”
Matt 8:8 “…Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof: but only say the word and my servant will be healed” (We say this at Mass, …. do we really understand what we are saying when we say this? It’s such a statement of faith. Sometimes I just say the words in Mass…..not even thinking about what I am saying….. ) And Jesus responds, “…. not even in Israel have I found such faith.
The reflection on page 50: I have a friend whose daughter became a nun after going to Cornell for Chemical Engineering. My friend was so mad. He had spent all that money on Cornell and then she became a nun? I think he is still upset. Her first priority was to God. She is a beautiful, wonderful nun. So, this reflection spoke to me in that way. If we follow the will of God, others may not be thrilled with us, but we have to do his will. Having 10 children, moving, giving to others, homeschooling, etc….. I know many weren’t happy with me….. it’s not about me though.
Thanks everyone, I am looking forward to this weeks summary from Anne. This is a tough one!
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Matt,
I appreciated what you said about how important the Bible Study has become to you. Hearing about your college and independent years reminds me of how God waits so patiently for all of us.
I’ve been struggling recently with making time for God. I’m very good at making excuses for why I am so busy, but I seem to find plenty of time for other things. I took it to confession before Lent- that I just didn’t “feel it” right now, that I was offering up plenty of my daily life to God but wasn’t really getting any closer to Him. The priest very seriously reminded me that we cannot continue to grow in love unless we spend time with the Beloved. Adoration isn’t really in my cards right now, but I can learn more about Him by studying His Word and looking for Him in this daily study. I look forward to the readings every day and even find myself reading them multiple times throughout the day. I love the connections and fulfillment of the Old Testament within the New Testament. I feel gratitude for this space.
The biggest kicker for me in all of this week’s readings is the story of Abraham and Isaac. God had just set the stage for the offspring of Abraham (through Isaac) to be as numerous as the stars in the Heavens- He promised! And in a seemingly sickening turn, God is now asking for the life of Isaac, at the hand of his own father. There hasn’t been a time in my life that I’ve heard this reading and felt comfortable in the pew.
How in the world could a parent sacrifice their only child?!?!?
Was this really because God wanted Abraham (or any of us) to “prove” our love?
In the New Testament, we are shown the answer-
Hebrews 11:17-19
17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, 18 of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.” 19 He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead
Abraham’s Faith was SO GREAT. Do I have faith that God’s promises to His children will be fulfilled? Would I be willing to sacrifice my everything (or my anything, really…)? My prayer this week has been, especially, for the increase of the gift of Faith in our home.
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I have to be honest, I lost my place this week and ended up missing a few days…#becauselife #becausekids #becausei’mme
Thank you Matt for sharing! I too stepped away from the God and the church. I was angry with God for the car accident that took Andrea and everything that followed. I had plans of college and life…and after all seemed useless. Why? I had always been a good catholic kid. Why would God allow the poor decisions of one man to ruin my life? It wasn’t until I started dating Mike that I started to go back to church. I went with him on weekends home. It didn’t take long for me to realize how much God had touched my life by bringing Mike back into it and how empty my life was without God in it. Maybe I needed to go through something so devastating to fully understand how powerful God’s love for me is.
I do also struggle with the story of Abraham and Isaac. It always brings me back to our pregnancy with Sean and Liam. Why would God give us two babies, if he was only going to take one back. Much in line with Abraham and Sarah finally having Isaac, only for God to ask for him back. Fr Joe had a great insight to that…this is the closest I will ever understand to Our Blessed Mother losing her only son. Wow!
Now as a parent, I feel the importance of sharing God’s love with my children. While we go to church on Sundays, because that’s what we do as a family. Their relationship with God is their own personal experience, Mike and I are here to foster it, through love and our example.
Well enough of my rambling. Thank you Matt! Looking forward to getting to know everyone.
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DOH! I had this great response written and I went to post it and 💩…it was gone!
So anyway…I have to apologize this week got away from me and I missed a few days #becausekids #becauselife #becausei’mme
Thank you so much for sharing Matt. I too walked away from my faith. Mine was after the car accident and losing Andrea. My heart was so mad at God for allowing one man’s wreckless actions to ruin so many lives…especially mine. Life went way off course till I started dating Mike and going to church with him on the weekends. It didn’t take long to realize how much my life was lacking without God. I look at where the last 17 years have taken us. Deployments, moves, Mike going back to school while I was pregnant and living in his parents basement before we closed on our house, the death of Liam, all our trials with our children…etc. I can’t imagine where we would be if we didn’t have our faith in God or his plan for our lives.
Thank you Matt for sharing the Bible ina Year with all of us.
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I am grateful, incredibly grateful, to be sharing in this journey with all of you. Reading the Bible every day has been a real blessing. Reading your summaries to this point has been a great experience as well. And seeing the comments that people have shared is really blessing my journey. Last week, as I read from each section of the Bible, I found sometimes that there were things that were hard for me to really understand. But last night, Ben and Eliza and I were talking about some of what we’ve read recently, and they both shared a lot about the Bible studies they’ve been doing and how Genesis really informs our need for a Savior. We as humans can be so flawed and broken. I know I am. But God can still use us for great things if we have faith and if we say yes to His Call. Thank you so much for the time you’ve put into this and for the invite!
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And Matt- thank you for sharing your own personal journey with us. I didn’t really know all of that about you. God is faithful…always.
Sometimes I feel like any given day or week I push away from God and forget that the only way I have ever found peace and purpose and joy is when I have been utterly reliant on God, when I have sought God’s Call and truly followed it. In the times when I forget, life can become purposeless and I can find myself feeling lost and not knowing why. Then something reminds me to turn to God and, while life isn’t suddenly perfect, and is usually still filled with challenges and difficulties, I know God is guiding my way and I don’t have to figure it all out. I just have to say Yes, Lord. Also- I find that saying yes to the Call can be a lot easier than actually doing whatever it is I said yes to. I have to keep asking God for help to do and not just have the intention to do. If that makes any sense.
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Good evening everyone. I think we also need to learn to appreciate the psalms.
My input from another source;
psalms for the troubled soul, or fear of enemies:
5,6,7,10,11,17,23,26,28,31,35,41,43,46,55,61,62,64,69,70,71,77,83,86,88,91,95,108,109,120,121,140,143,144 (for anyone that feels betrayed or alone in the midst of a hostile world.)
psalms for good over evil:
1,14,15,36,37,39,40,49,50,73,76,82,84,92,112,115,
psalms of joy and praise :
8,9,16,19,21,24,29,33,65,66,67,68,75,93,94,97,98,99,100,103,104,113,114,117,119,122,124,133,134,135,136,138,139,145,148,150
the others are a variety of sentiments from the heart of a believer to his God.
As we read further and understand where David is in his life, all of these will start to make sense.
Thank you all for sharing,
Tim (Dad)
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Is there a Psalm for praying for good fishing?
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Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths psalm 148:7
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Hahahahahahah 🐠
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