Reading God’s Word Daily Adds New Dimension

by Letters Editor · Published February 13, 2020 · Updated February 12, 2020

Heather Withers, Johannesburg – To the highly commendable Ten New Year’s resolutions suggested by Erin Carelse, I would like to add another one, if I may: Make time, even for a few minutes at first, to read God’s Word, the Bible, every day.

For those who do not have a daily missal, a guide to the daily readings can be easily be found on Catholic Link, issued by many parishes to publish their weekly notices, or in The Southern Cross.

It is also useful to subscribe to, or purchase at the repository or Catholic bookshops, The Living Faith booklet, which has most encouraging reflections on the readings for the day.

It is significant to note that the same daily Bible readings at Mass are read throughout the world, over the 24 hour period, which can be a truly unifying experience.

So I encourage you, for this year ahead, to hear from God yourself. Make notes. Journal. Journey with God in a personal, way so that you may be filled with the Word of God which is “quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).

It is one blessing to hear the Word of God, passively, from someone else reading it, but quite another exciting dimension to actively hear from God yourself. God is with us, in Jesus, the Word. “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105).

Truly inspirational saints and Bible heroes often quoted God’s Word with astounding consequences, even Our Lady in her Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55).

“Gather the riches of God’s promises. Nobody can take away from you those texts from the Bible you have learnt by heart,” wrote Corrie ten Boom, survivor of Ravensbrück women’s extermination camp.