Reflection authored by Bev Whitlatch, Parishioner
Well, here I am again. Joyce chose this second chapter for me to blog about and it is out of my box again. I tried to change chapters with my husband Dwight, but he said there is a reason this chapter was chosen for me. OK I concede.
I can honestly say I do not pick up the Bible daily and read it. When I was a child, I went to Annunciation Catholic school in Coon Rapids from 1st through 6th grade and do not remember the nuns reading from the Bible. Those days we were reading from the Baltimore Catechism “Who made me? God made me”. And so forth. Simple questions with simple answers.
As a family growing up, we never read out of the Bible. I am not sure I ever even saw a Bible in our home. We went to Sunday Mass, but God and prayer was not referred to much in my home growing up.
We moved to a farm when I was going into 7th grade through graduation and we lived 10 miles out in the country. I do remember mom teaching CCD and being involved with Women’s groups at St. Mary’s in Guthrie Center. At that time though, I was more interested in trying to be a good student and making friends.
When going to Mass, I don’t remember when I realized that the readings were The Word of God taken from the Bible. I thought they were just stories made up about Jesus by different men.
After graduating I moved to Des Moines and started working for Bell Telephone. I did try to make it to Mass on Sundays depending on how hard I partied on Saturday night but reading the Bible was never a thought. I don’t think I even had one then.
Then I met and married Dwight and we joined OLIH. It is then that I became more aware of church and all it represents. I believe going to Marriage Encounter, with Dwight, helped me open my heart and mind to what God wants for me as a wife, mother, and women of God. I realized that in the Bible is where I can find answers through his life and story if I would just take the time to read it and relate it to my life. CEW helped me find my personal relationship with God and by reading HIS story would help me find my personal life story too.
Over the years there are many ways I have become aware that the Bible is the Word of God. Going to the Bible Timeline through church and helping Dwight facilitate the shorter version of it helped me to realize that it is not just little stories made up by different men but a story of God and of my faith.
Other resources that help is I have The Catholic Women’s Devotional Bible that helps me interpret the readings into my daily life as a woman. Also Give us This Day daily prayer book has the daily Mass readings and at the end of each Mass there is a reflection that also helps me put it into my daily life.
The greatest thing I can say that helped me to realize that the Bible is the REAL word and life of God was going to the Holy Land in January 2020. Now when I hear the Bible readings, I can actually put myself there with him.
So even though I can say I do not give myself a DAILY DOSE OF THE BIBLE, I can say that the Bible stories are very much a part of my daily life. After doing this blog I will try to make it a priority of OPEN THE BIBLE and read it.