What a Catholic nun and a group of Evangelical teenagers taught me about the Bible

3 thoughts on “What a Catholic nun and a group of Evangelical teenagers taught me about the Bible”

  1. Maureen Smith

    In the 70’s I volunteered to be a catechist for Special Ed. I was trained with the Sisters of Nortre Dame in Washington,DC at the Kennedy Institute. I had never read the Bible and Sister asked us to come with our favorite Bible verse and I was so embarrassed I opened the bible to a verse about the desert and I really do not remember anything else, except Sister asked why I liked that particular verse, ” I said because I love the desert it is so peaceful and calm and warm” I wanted to hide under the table. I was afraid to read anymore. Years later I have taken a course from Loyola/Marymount In Los Angeles,, their Bible Institute and love the Bible and teach it to all my students,.

  2. Jeanne Thompson

    I was taken back to my Catholic high school years in New Jersey when I read this article. My older sister and two older brothers shared our first New American Bible for religion classes from 1973-1977. I was amazed when during my freshman year a lay woman teacher actually had us read the Gospel passages about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey and being able to answer the question about why Jesus was riding a donkey. From then on I realized that the bible was for our reading and understanding and not only for writing the family geneaology in.

  3. Dominic Bruno

    Short devotionals, with a short Bible passage and then an author’s reflection, were a staple of my childhood breakfasts, along with OJ and corn flakes. From this, I grew familiar with navigating the Bible and comfortable reading from it. Another help was memorizing the books of the Bible as a 2nd or 3rd grader. I don’t remember them all now, but a few sections are still stuck in my head and help me around the minor prophets.
    Two huge developments in my use of the Bible were learning the practices of Ignatian contemplation and Lectio Divina. I was exposed to Ignatian contemplation on a 5 day silent retreat in college. Later, I learned Lectio Divina from Archbishop Nienstedt in St. Paul, MN. Every month he would visit the university of St. Thomas and lead a group in Lectio Divina.
    As these are central to my prayer life, I teach these practices to my candidates and catechumens. A neophyte recently came up to me and said that since her Sacraments of Initiation, reading the Bible is completely different. Words just jump off the pages too her. Sounds like the Gift of Understanding to me! I’m so encouraged to see that the Sacraments are fruitful in her life.

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