A Book for the Family

Richard A. Sokerka

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will mark National Bible Week (Nov. 15-21) under the theme, “The Bible: A Book for the Family,” which builds on this year’s Synod of Bishops on the Family and Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families.

So the questions for Catholic families are these: Do they consider the Bible among their home’s most valuable possessions? Or do they let it gather dust on a shelf?

Scripture is the Word of God. Not only does it faithfully convey what God has spoken in the past, and impart inspired wisdom about how to live, but also it is a means that God uses to speak to people in the present, to bring them into communion with himself. In the history of the Church, God has used the Bible to call people to himself. St. Augustine, St. Anthony, and St. Francis all came to conversion under the influence of the words of Scripture.

But parents cannot pass on to children what is not firmly rooted in their own lives. It’s important that parents, as the first teachers of the faith to their children, come to know God’s Word intimately and its importance in their lives and that of their family.

As one is nourished by reading, praying, and studying the Bible, that person will be changed and empowered by Christ. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said: “The Church knows well that Christ lives in the Sacred Scriptures.”

Open up the treasure that is the Bible and let the Word of God inspire your family to spread the Good News of salvation, for this is the mission entrusted to the Church and to every Catholic.