In Catholic schools, it was hit or miss, mostly because of the times, and my particular diocese. I remember in 10th grade we read much of the Old Testament, like Ruth, Esther, and Judges. Of course, around Christmas, we read the Gospel accounts. And somewhere, we read the differing Creation stories. Of course, during Lent we read the accounts of the Passion.
I agree that I am not a chapter and verse guy. I also admit I should know a heck of a lot more. Fortunately, I have a pretty good textual concordance, and the Haydock Bible (which has excellent commentary).
Hey you got in before the Catholic bashers.
Catholics memorize prayers. Not Bible verses.
When I took a Education for Ministry course years ago. Our Old Testament Instructor told how she had to teach teenage boys some of the “colorful” parts of the OT. I just can not imagine doing it. :)
“In Catholic schools, it was hit or miss...”
I think this is right. I graduated high school in 1968.
In Catholic grammar school, we read Old Testament Bible stories in the lower grades, and studied the New Testament in higher grades - I remember doing an in-depth study of the Acts of the Apostles in 8th Grade.
We all had to buy Bibles in freshman year of Catholic high school, and used them as we went through the Old and New Testaments in 4 years of Theology classes.
Although the Novus Ordo Mass leaves me cold, I really like the three-year cycle of readings in the New Mass as compared to the 1-year cycle in the Traditional Mass, which I otherwise strongly prefer.
I also agree with the author of the article that in Catholicism, the Bible is used more as a tool of worship at Mass, much like the Missal, rather than as subject of independent study in an of itself.
I see the Bible as the basis of my Catholic belief, and have been trained to understand the Old and New Testament readings as the underpinnings of Church teachings. In other words, Catholics use the Bible on a more contextual basis, both in study of out Faith and in our worship during the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
And, of course, the reason that Catholics don’t take Bibles to church is that the biblical readings for that particular day (i.e., the Proper of the Mass) have always been in the Missal - therefore, no need to carry the Bible when you have your Missal or a misssalette at Mass.
Daily reading plans (not excerpted devotions) of chapters of the Bible are very good as a guide to read the Bible in at least a year.
The one I use takes you through the NT and Psalms 2X a year and the OT once a year. This is my basic ‘food’ for the day along with studying specific chapters, passages or topics.
If you are of the tablet or mobile type there is a wonderful APP which has these yearly reading plans. As you read and complete the APP keeps track of your progress. It is called the YouVersion Bible APP it is on Android devices as well as the Apple products. The good news is there are a multitude of Bible versions you can choose from in English and many other languages. So one can choose KJV, NIV, NASB and also the DRA and NABRE for Roman Catholics.