How Reading Scripture Each Morning Opens Your Eyes
Reading Scripture every day - preferably first thing, in the morning - can be challenging for many of us Catholic men. It's especially tough when you have to be at work early. But if at all possible, do it.
I started reading for about 10 - 15 minutes every day at the suggestion of a good priest to whom I went for spiritual direction. This was part of a daily regimen he outlined for me, and it took a while to get into the swing of things. Fortunately for me, I had already developed the habit of rising early in the morning, so I just got up a bit earlier and I had some time each day.
My own routine is to try to read some Old Testament, a Psalm, a Gospel passage and something else from the New Testament. When I first started, I just began at the beginning: Genesis, Psalm 1, Matthew chapter 1 and, finally, the Acts of the Apostles (which starts up right after the last chapter of Luke's Gospel.) Do this and over time, you'll find you've read the whole Bible - more than once. You'll wind up reading the Psalms over and over more than anything else. There are only 150 of them so you're reading them more than twice a year.
For a while, a lot of my scripture reading was kind of rote - something I just "got through" every morning (Scripture done; score one for me). But, thankfully, that's not so much the case now. Part of the reason things became rote was that I "forced" myself to get through each of the four categories (Old Testament, Psalms, Gospels, New Testament) every day no matter what I was reading. Now, though, if a Psalm is particularly long, or something really strikes me, I just stay with that and skip some of the other reading. (I really don't have much more than 15 minutes to read Scripture in the morning, so time is limited.)
I'm sharing all this with you to encourage you to start if you've never developed the habit, and to keep it up if you've already tried daily Scripture reading, but haven't persisted. It's really worthwhile.
I think you'll find that the discipline, the persistence and, finally, the ability to focus on passages that strike you, will really carry over into your work during the day. You'll become better at focusing on the task at hand, and not do things in an offhanded way, or slog through stuff without paying much attention. (Of course, maybe you never slip into these sloppy habits that lead to mediocrity in your work. If so, congratulations!)
Also, you'll no doubt start to see certain themes that come up over and over again throughout the Bible - the same theme expressed in many different ways, in many different contexts. After a while - when you get the hang of it - you'll find that you'll learn something new each time you run across the same old theme, especially when you learn to focus better on passages that especially strike you. Maybe you'll even meditate briefly on them.
When you think of your work, you've probably got certain themes, or routines, that occur over and over. I've got the routine where I read a certain body of research each week, pieces written typically by the same analysts and commentators. I found that for a time, I was just slogging through the pieces, and not getting that much out them - but I felt I had to read them just to keep up with my field.
Then I started doing what I was doing with Scripture. I linger on certain items that strike me, highlight them, go back to them and think about them (meditate?). Over time, I've gotten a lot more out of my research. I can identify certain themes clearly, and understand them at a deeper level. Before I kind of memorized certain items. Now I really "get it." I think my Scripture reading helped me a lot this way.
And, of course, all that Scripture reading does eventually seep into you mind, heart and soul. Even someone as stuck in my ways as me eventually softens up and lets God penetrate deeper and deeper inside. And at some point (by His grace) you grow a bit closer to Him.
So reading Scripture really should be a basic, essential, important part of every day - even for a busy Catholic man facing the responsibilities of family and work every day.
I started reading for about 10 - 15 minutes every day at the suggestion of a good priest to whom I went for spiritual direction. This was part of a daily regimen he outlined for me, and it took a while to get into the swing of things. Fortunately for me, I had already developed the habit of rising early in the morning, so I just got up a bit earlier and I had some time each day.
My own routine is to try to read some Old Testament, a Psalm, a Gospel passage and something else from the New Testament. When I first started, I just began at the beginning: Genesis, Psalm 1, Matthew chapter 1 and, finally, the Acts of the Apostles (which starts up right after the last chapter of Luke's Gospel.) Do this and over time, you'll find you've read the whole Bible - more than once. You'll wind up reading the Psalms over and over more than anything else. There are only 150 of them so you're reading them more than twice a year.
For a while, a lot of my scripture reading was kind of rote - something I just "got through" every morning (Scripture done; score one for me). But, thankfully, that's not so much the case now. Part of the reason things became rote was that I "forced" myself to get through each of the four categories (Old Testament, Psalms, Gospels, New Testament) every day no matter what I was reading. Now, though, if a Psalm is particularly long, or something really strikes me, I just stay with that and skip some of the other reading. (I really don't have much more than 15 minutes to read Scripture in the morning, so time is limited.)
I'm sharing all this with you to encourage you to start if you've never developed the habit, and to keep it up if you've already tried daily Scripture reading, but haven't persisted. It's really worthwhile.
I think you'll find that the discipline, the persistence and, finally, the ability to focus on passages that strike you, will really carry over into your work during the day. You'll become better at focusing on the task at hand, and not do things in an offhanded way, or slog through stuff without paying much attention. (Of course, maybe you never slip into these sloppy habits that lead to mediocrity in your work. If so, congratulations!)
Also, you'll no doubt start to see certain themes that come up over and over again throughout the Bible - the same theme expressed in many different ways, in many different contexts. After a while - when you get the hang of it - you'll find that you'll learn something new each time you run across the same old theme, especially when you learn to focus better on passages that especially strike you. Maybe you'll even meditate briefly on them.
When you think of your work, you've probably got certain themes, or routines, that occur over and over. I've got the routine where I read a certain body of research each week, pieces written typically by the same analysts and commentators. I found that for a time, I was just slogging through the pieces, and not getting that much out them - but I felt I had to read them just to keep up with my field.
Then I started doing what I was doing with Scripture. I linger on certain items that strike me, highlight them, go back to them and think about them (meditate?). Over time, I've gotten a lot more out of my research. I can identify certain themes clearly, and understand them at a deeper level. Before I kind of memorized certain items. Now I really "get it." I think my Scripture reading helped me a lot this way.
And, of course, all that Scripture reading does eventually seep into you mind, heart and soul. Even someone as stuck in my ways as me eventually softens up and lets God penetrate deeper and deeper inside. And at some point (by His grace) you grow a bit closer to Him.
So reading Scripture really should be a basic, essential, important part of every day - even for a busy Catholic man facing the responsibilities of family and work every day.
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