This Lent, I am reading through the gospel of Saint Luke. I think it’s important, as a Christian, to regularly read, study, and pray with the Bible. As a wife, mom, and teacher it is a hard habit to keep up with! Never the less, this Lent, I am making a focused, clear initiative to read through the gospel of Luke.
Why this gospel? I was at a Bible Study two days before Lent started, and the story we read was from the Gospel of Luke. I had it on my mind that I needed to choose a book of the Bible to study during Lent, and for lack of a better sense of direction, I chose it! Sometimes, when you make goals for regularly reading scripture, it’s better to just dive in than to wait until you feel like you have a perfectly discerned plan. God can speak to you in many ways, in all books of the Bible.
As a cradle Catholic, I wanted to share some of my experiences with reading the Gospel of St. Luke. If you’re a cradle Catholic, you might be able to relate!
- I have heard it read at mass many, many, many times since I was a child and into adulthood.
- As a child, I read stories from the gospel of St. Luke in my children’s Bible many times.
- As a young adult, I first read through the gospel of St. Luke from start to finish.
- I have studied different chapters of the Gospel of St. Luke at many Bible studies in the last 13 years, depending on the focus at a particular Bible study (e.g., sermon on the mount, Lenten themes, nativity, etc.)
- I’ve read parts of it in the Liturgy of the Hours (although in this season of my life, I am not praying the LOH, but I hope to again in a different season of life)
I am certainly not an expert on it, but that’s not the point anyway. You may have noticed that I don’t have a degree in theology. I don’t even have a certificate! What I do have is Baptism, a love for Jesus, my very own Bible, and the God-given ability to read.
I don’t read the Bible to become a Bible expert. I read the Bible to learn about God, to know God, and to serve God. I read the Bible to hear God. I read the Bible to relate my life to the lives of others 2,000+ years ago. Through the humbling, heart wrenching, inspiring, sinful, trusting, and loving experiences of people in the Bible, I desire to discover the person God is calling me to be.
When I read scripture, I feel more at peace. I love how you can read a Bible passage and apply it to your life in a particular way one year, but when you read it again later, you can apply a different message to your life. That’s because it is the living word of God. It’s quite amazing.
Do you have a book of the Bible that you are focusing on now? What is it? If you are not reading a particular book, I encourage you to choose the Gospel of Saint Luke. I’ll post a few more times about it this Lent. We can compare notes!
Story of a Homeschooling Family 