Catholic Family Connection Bible

The Catholic Family Connection Bible, which Saint Mary’s Press kindly sent me to review, aims to be “Where family, faith, and life connect” with God’s word. Since the edition has a Catholic emphasis, the translation used is the highly acclaimed New American Bible Revised Edition, which I, too, acclaim for its thoroughness and accuracy, especially if you want to read, as I did, the intertestament books.

The word “Catholic,” of course, means universal, wide-reaching, and all-embracing, so you can be confident it includes you. Nevertheless, you can expect to find pages with “Catholic Practices and Prayers,” which I also recommend regardless of your denominational preference simply because the more we understand where each other is coming from, the more apt we are to show respect and appreciation for fellow Christians with views we might not have considered.

As stated in an opening page, “The Bible Is Multicultural”:

“In the Bible, God is revealed as the God of all nations and all cultures….” and since we “live in a multicultural word,” this edition “includes additional articles representing cultural perspectives from around the world” – namely, African American, Asian American, Hispanic and Latino, and Native American.

For example, a “Cultural Connection” sidebar on Mark 1 tells us:

“Most Native American peoples would not be surprised by all the angels and spirits in the first chapter of Mark. Many Native American cultures believe in the presence of good and bad spirits in the world. They view good spirits as personal helpers and message bearers, like the angels who take care of Jesus in verse 13.”

The “Cultural Connection” alongside Mark 4 reminds us how “Jesus teaches about God’s Reign through parables” or stories. Then,

“In some Hispanic families, it is customary for young people to hear their abuelita (grandmother) tell stories about their family history, traditions, and faith. Many of the stories are true; others may be created to give a moral teaching, like the parables.”

Still in Mark, the “Cultural Connection” for chapter 15 says:

“According to Mark 15:21, the Roman soldiers compelled a North African black man from Cyrene by the name of Simon, a passerby, to carry the cross of Jesus. We do not know anything more about Simon of Cyrene, except that Mark identifies him as the father of Alexander and Rufus. The reference to Simon’s sons by name and the possibility that Rufus is the same person Paul greets in Romans 16:13 indicate that they were known among the early Christians. This is significant for African Americans because it is evidence of the prominence and influence of African people in the early Christian Church.”

Each of those cultural references came in sidebars only from the Gospel of Mark, but such perceptive jewels have been scattered throughout the entire edition.

Other unique articles and sidebars encourage us to “Pray It!,” “Study It!,” and “Live It! Additionally, inserts such as “Praying with the Bible” go into more detail:

“As Catholics we believe that God speaks to us in the words of the Bible. The words are not just human words but rather God’s own communication of love to us. When we pray with the Bible, God speaks to our hearts and can deeply touch us and change our lives.”

The next two pages of that insert instruct us in the ancient prayer practice of Lectio Divina – “a prayer technique for reading the Bible slowly and contemplatively, allowing God’s word to shed insights on your life. It cultivates the ability to listen deeply, to hear the word of God with the ear of your heart.”

Another insert focuses on “Family Faith Conversations” that provide:

• thematic Bible passages to help start family faith conversations
• prayer ideas for dealing with the death of a family member
• ideas for family service activities

Can you see why I’m so impressed with this edition? And I haven’t even mentioned the helpful introductions to each book, the pages in the back matter that help readers find a wealth of topics, an explanation of “The Church Year,” a glossary, a timeline, and maps including one I always like to find (but rarely do) “The Holy Land in Modern Times.”

Like a good mother, this edition gives us almost everything a family might need!

Mary HarwellSayler, poet-writer, Bible reviewer, ©2020

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College Study Bible for ever

As soon as I received my review copy of the Saint Mary’s Press College Study Bible, published by Saint Mary’s Press and kindly sent to me by Acta Publications, I realized what a treasure this edition is – not only for college students but for all of us who want to understand Bible people, places, times, and concepts. And so, I really really wish my paperback review copy had its pages sewn into a top quality leather binding to hold up under decades of wear. At present that option is not available, but I hope it will be.

Meanwhile, what a find!

To encourage young people to read the Bible, this edition begins with a “Letter to College Students” written BY two college students, Brigitte Smith and Carolyn Olson, who were “part of developing this special edition of the Bible” with college students in mind. However, Bible lovers from teens to all ages of adults will find excellent “footnotes, maps, photographs, charts, articles, background information, and additional tools to help you in your studies.”

The study aids also help us to connect Holy Scripture with our own lives. For example, “Articles throughout this Bible discuss many of the contemporary social, personal, and spiritual issues that we face each day. By connecting these very real issues to the Scriptures, the articles help the Bible become more meaningful to us and can have a very direct impact on our lives and the choices we make.”

In the opening article, “The Bible: A Light on Our Path,” readers learn about the 5-step process that brought us the Bible, beginning with the events themselves and ending with the biblical canon, which “claims that this book is inspired by God and therefore faithfully teaches those truths that God wishes to teach us for the sake of our salvation.” And so, “This means that the Church cannot teach something that contradicts the Scriptures. However, the Church can teach a truth that has its roots, but not its full flowering, in the Scriptures, as well as something on which the Scriptures remain silent.”

“Understanding Genres and Literary Forms” and “Understanding the Bible in Its Historical and Cultural Contexts” give us useful tools with other helps discussed in “Reading the Bible: Tools for Understanding.” For example, almost everyone with a television set has seen posters with “John 3:16” without necessarily knowing what that means! This article explains by saying, “To locate a particular passage within the Scriptures, three pieces of information are necessary: the name of the book, the chapter, and the particular verse,” then uses John 3:16 as an example.

Other study aids include introductions to each section of the Bible (Pentateuch, Wisdom, Gospels, etc.) with important background information on each individual book. “The Three-Year Cycle of Sunday Lectionary Readings,” a glossary, excellent maps, and a biblical timeline have been included too.

I especially appreciate line drawings throughout the text to show such items as the Ark of the Covenant as well as colorful inserts of “Biblical Art” and charts on such topics as “The Names of God,” the “Deities of the Ancient Middle East,” the “Wonders, Miracles, and Signs in the Old Testament” and the New. In addition, inserts on the significance of numbers, colors, festivals, and more help us to understand the original intent, which is what each of the study aids aims to do, making this edition highly recommended for adults of all ages who want to embrace more fully God’s Word.


©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, poet, writer, and reviewer, is a lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church in all its parts.


Saint Mary’s Press College Study Bible, paperback



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Little Rock Catholic Study Bible

While leading round table discussions in one of my favorite Bible study groups, I became familiar with the excellent study materials provided by the Little Rock Bible Study series, edited by Catherine Upchurch. So when I saw she also edited the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible, I immediately requested a review copy, which she graciously sent right away.

For some reason I thought Little Rock might produce all of the supplemental materials in this edition, so I was surprised to discover the extensive footnotes and introductions to each book were the same ones found in the Catholic study Bible from Oxford I reviewed a couple of years ago. However, the more I leafed through the pleasantly smooth, bright white pages of the Little Rock edition, the more I saw unique aspects that encourage Bible study and reading.

First of all, the quality paperback binding allows the book to lay flat, so you’re not constantly trying to keep pages from closing like an elevator door. This especially matters to me when I’m interacting with a Bible, jotting thoughts and notes in the margins, which the cross-referencing columns with lots of white space in this edition nicely allow me to do.

As the first four pages point out, other unique features include quick summaries of each book, author, content, and characters with definitions and descriptions interspersed for clarification and interest. For instance, you'll find helpful "Archaeological insights," "Social justice teachings," "Prayer starters," "Liturgical use of Scripture," "Cultural Connections," and "Photographs."

Interestingly, these features also provided a visually appealing layout. Opening the pages to Matthew 5, for example, lightly colored insets separate helpful mini-comments and definitions from the biblical text. As one note tells us, “The Beatitudes recorded in Matthew have an ageless quality that has fascinated every generation of Christians. The church has variously seen them as signs of the kingdom of God, ideals to be striven after, or unique virtues meant primarily for Jesus’ followers.” So, in #1716, “The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the Beatitudes ‘the heart of Jesus’ preaching’.”

Then, beneath a clear, concise definition of a beatitude, we see a sidebar on “Applying the Beatitudes” that says, “The U.S. bishops noted the importance of the Beatitudes in implementing economic justice for all people in their pastoral letter on the topic,” which the note goes on to quote:

“We write to share our teaching, to raise questions, to challenge one another to live our faith in the world. We write as heirs of the biblical prophets who summon us ‘to do the right and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8). We write as followers of Jesus who told us in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are the meek… Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness….’ These words challenge us not only as believers but also as consumers, citizens, workers, and owners.” Therefore, “The challenge for us is to discover in our own place and time what it means to be ‘poor in spirit’ and ‘the salt of the earth’ and what it means to serve ‘the least among us’ and to ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’.”

If one were to prayerfully read every word, every sidebar, every note in this highly recommended edition, perhaps we could begin to meet that challenge, with God's help, individually and as the church Body of Christ alive in the world and empowered in Jesus’ Name.

© 2014, Mary Sayler, poet, writer, lifelong Bible lover, and reviewer


Little Rock Catholic Study Bible, paperback



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The New Catholic Answer Bible

Whether in a Protestant or Roman Catholic Bible study group, someone inevitably asks, “Why do Catholics ____?” In The New Catholic Answer Bible, Our Sunday Visitor provides intelligent, biblical answers to the questions most likely to fill in that blank.

For example, the page insert entitled “Does the Church Teach Evolution?” includes these responses:

“The entire universe, including the human race, is not the result of chance, but of God’s purposeful, loving design (see Gn 1:1, 31).”

and

“Human beings are not simply more advanced animals; they bear the image of God in a unique way (see Gn 1:26-27).”

For another example, the page for “What Is Original Sin?” says: “Unlike personal sin, resulting from the wrong choices of individuals, original sin does not result from our own doing. It is contracted, not committed; we are conceived with it (see Ps 51:7)” because of the Fall in the Garden of Eden where our original parents used free will to disobey God. However, “The sacrament of Baptism cleanses us from original sin. It restores us to original righteousness and fellowship with God (see Acts 2:38, 22:16).”

Throughout this edition, you’ll find an abundant supply of Bible references, relating to each colorful page insert. Many of the key questions relate specifically to the Catholic Church, such as “Why Does the Church Have Religious Orders?” or “Why Do Catholics Pray for the Dead?” but others address questions people ask in general, such as “Why Does God Allow Evil?”

The biblical response to that big question required more space, but to give you an idea of the thoughtful answers, “God allows evil in part because it is a necessary risk of creating sons and daughters who are free to love or not to love…. At the same time, no matter how terrible the evil caused by sin, God is great enough and wise enough, to bring out through that evil, an even greater good (see Gn 50:20, Roman 8:28). The resurrection of Christ is in fact a glorious example of how God can create joy from sorrow, beauty from horror, victory from defeat, and life from death.”

In addition to question-answer page inserts and insightful footnotes throughout the book, this edition includes articles on the divine revelation and history of the Bible in the front matter and a three-year reading plan in the back pages. If you want to learn more about the Catholic faith and doctrine to deepen your life as a parishioner or to broaden your understanding of a Christian perspective outside your denomination, The New Catholic Answer Bible will answer those needs and more.

©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, Bible reviewer


The New Catholic Answer Bible, paperback



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