Jeff Cavins
Appearances
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Yeah. Yeah. The touch points to me were my mother-in-law, my grandfather, my confirmation night. And then at 18 years of age, when I really got serious about serving the Lord, the Bible really became the focus of my life. And I couldn't even return to my college classes, literally. And my parents were not real happy about that. But I would sit outside the classroom with a
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
with this Bible that I bought, and I just read it and read it and read it, and it has really become my life. And for me, the Bible is, it is my life. Now, I don't mean that in the sense of the sacraments are not, or anything like that.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
But when you're going through tough times in your life, like now with so many people who are struggling with a worldwide pandemic, election results, whatever it might be, you have health problems, just literally walking into my living room and seeing my Bible on the counter or on the coffee table, it just brings hope to me knowing there's someone who doesn't change.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
There's someone I can build my life on, that is Jesus Christ, and he actually wrote me letters to guide me and direct me and to comfort me and correct me and show me who I am and what his plan is for my life. And so uh, I've never left the Bible and I get excited every time someone picks one up and says, I'm getting it. I'm getting it. I love it.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I said, well, not as much as mine. I had no idea. And we can talk about that a little bit later, but I had no idea that when I was 25 years old that a 48-hour period was going to define the rest of my life and I was going to live in it. But, you know, it speaks of the story, really not us, but the story of salvation history. And that's what you're going to be bringing people through.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
You know what some people do with their Bible, which you're explaining it in your Bible right there. You're going back to high school and you can look in there and you can actually see evidence of where your heart has been. And that is that legacy. When you pass away someday, let's say 100 years from now, your nieces and nephews are going to want that because that's where Uncle Mike is.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
That's where Father Mike lived. And they're gonna want it. And I bought this Bible, my first one right here. I got a leather cover on it now. But in the blank pages at the front and back here, I literally wrote down personal stuff that was going on. And like, for example, listen to this. This is before we were engaged.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Emily and I agreed that God would show us what he wanted us to do for our lives. And then I give the date when we were engaged. And then after that, I talk about first week in July, we found out we're going to have a baby. This was big news for us. It was just unbelievable. I wrote this in my Bible. Emily felt the first move of the baby, November 10th, 1984.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And I have on the whole page, all of the movements all the way to when Carly was born. That's in my Bible. I have so much like that in here. And then, you know, I spent so much time in the Bible, just writing and, um, you can see it's kind of messed up these days though. And, uh, So I had to get my Great Adventure Bible and start on that now as well.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
So it's going to be exciting. Yeah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Well, let's talk a little bit about what exactly we're going to be doing. I should say you, because you're going to be on every single day. Maybe the best thing is just to speak of the structure of the entire year, which the Great Adventure, I'll kind of build that structure, and then you fill in what you're going to do, because I think it's going to be exciting. Yeah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
If you're going to read through the Bible in chronological order, you have to know how to do it. Because if you go from Genesis and then hope to go all the way to Revelation, you're not going to get it. Trust me. Nobody's going to get it if they just do that. They're going to be like, okay, I'm starting in January, Genesis, February, Exodus, March, Leviticus. I quit. I'm done.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And so what we're going to do is... is follow the structure of the Bible timeline, and that is we're going to go through 12 periods. In other words, the entire Bible is divided up into 12 color-coded periods, and that's what the Bible timeline chart is about, which people certainly can get. And then out of the 73 books of the Bible, we're picking the
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
14 narrative books, that is the books that actually take you through the entire story. So you've got Genesis, and you've got Exodus, and you've got Numbers, and then you've got Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, Luke, and Acts. And those are the 14, and you're gonna be reading through those, but then what about the other 59 books?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Well, you're gonna be, and I think this is brilliant, you're gonna be sprinkling those other 59 books into those 14 books. So they're gonna get a taste of, I wonder what a prophet sounds like, you know, in the midst of kings. And I think that that's gonna be a lot of fun. So that's kind of the structure, you take it from there.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Well, the scripture says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, you know? That's why. What do you think, what's your hope? What's your hope for, you know, we have so many friends around the world that are on this journey with us. What do you hope they will get out of this? I mean, this is a year. It's a few minutes a day, but it's a year. We're promising some things.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
One is we're going to go through the whole Bible. We're going to go through the whole story. You're going to get some commentary, but what do you hope for them personally in this journey?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I just got a picture just yesterday from a group in China. Really? Studying, yeah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I do have a hope, I guess myself too, I would piggyback on what you're saying there. Over the last, I don't know, five years or so, the Lord has really impressed on me that I'm not just a Christian, not like that's bad or anything, but I'm not just a Christian. I'm a disciple of Jesus. I'm committed. He said, come follow me. I'm chosen. You're chosen. And I'm chosen not to just study.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I'm chosen to follow him, to pick up his worldview, and to do his word, to accomplish his kingdom and what his will is. And one thing I've learned, Father, and I know you have too, is that Jesus said, do not be afraid more than anything else combined. Do not be afraid. And I ask, well, what's there to be afraid of if I'm gonna be following you? I mean, everything's taken care of.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
It's gonna be great every day. Why would I be afraid? And the answer is, is because if you follow Jesus as a disciple, You aren't going to go and meet people you never thought you would meet. You're going to be in situations you never thought you would be in, and you're going to do things and say things that you never—it's not my gift.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And one thing I've learned, Father, is that in the kingdom of God, to be a disciple doesn't have a lot to do with giftedness. It has to do with passion and relationship. And so for me, to get deep into Scripture is to really— get close to Jesus, our Lord, and to find out what do you want me to do? And then to know I've got the power to do it.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And so my hope is that there'll be thousands and thousands of people who will go beyond reading, listening, and they'll do it. And we'll see a movement in the world of people are saying, you know what? I want to enter this story. I don't want to just read about it. I want in, which is through the sacraments. I want in. I want to be empowered. I want to start living the great adventure in my life.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
That's really, I guess, what my hope is on top of what you're saying.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Kind of shifting gears a little bit, you and I have talked about this a lot. And for those of you joining us, Father Mike and I have a lot in common about things, about Bibles and about writing in our Bibles. And along this journey, we're going to introduce some new ideas, I think, you know, pop them in. I'm not going to tell you what they all are right now, but we do have some surprises.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
That's going to be big, big surprises. Yeah. But I've got to ask you, and then I'll reveal the brand of pencils I use. Do you write in your Bible?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
But you underline verses that mean something to you or you're teaching from them?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I've been using, and we'll share this as we go along, but I've been using this brand here called Caran d'Ache. It's a Swiss brand, and I like it. I use colored pencils. I'll show you the colored pencils here. There you go. I use colored pencils to highlight in my Bible, and I use pens to write in the column and so forth. But it's very personal, isn't it? I mean, you're underlining things that pop.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And I think that as people go through this year with you, they're going to be hearing it. It's a podcast. But we do encourage people to get the Bible and to take a moment that day and maybe highlight something that really meant something to you. You can even have color schemes, which we'll talk about later, but... Green can be growth. Red can be no, stop, sin. And you can come up with it.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And it's a lot of fun, actually, to do it and to share it with other people of how you're getting into the Word of God. The Word of God is just so powerful that you could read it and I could read it. And 500 of our friends that are going to be joining us or thousands of them would read the same text. but they're gonna hear it differently.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
God may speak to them in a different way than he speaks to us. And that's just the beauty of, and it speaks of the depth of God's word. And I think that by the time people are done with this year, their life's gonna be different. I really do, because of the power of the word of God. This is one of my favorite verses. And it's, I mean, it's no stranger to you. Obviously, it's 2 Timothy 3.16 says,
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
It says, all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. And I think that verse really kind of encapsulates what you're going to be doing is that the scripture is inspired. Talk to...
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
You might want to mention a little bit about inspiration, because this isn't just another book. I mean, what makes this book so different, you know?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Well, in a nutshell, Father, it's probably good to share with those who are joining us. In a nutshell, what are you going to be doing over the entire year? And then it'd be fun to go kind of deep into that and look at the Bible in our lives as Catholics and also in our lives individually. Personally, what does the Word of God mean to us?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Well, your Bible becomes kind of a spiritual document. diary in a sense, you know, I mean, you can go through it and you can see where you've been.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
So you're going to be doing this every single day. It's going to be a podcast. People know about podcasts, basically. And that is that on your smartphone, you're going to carry this around with you. I think everyone's going to have a different time to listen to it. Some people are going to be listening on the way to work. Some people on the way home.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
you know, different, different, different times. But I think it's also a good thing to share with other people, you know, of join me, you know, just to get, you get your friends, Hey, let's do it together. Let's do this together. And maybe at work or, or in the morning, whatever we can get together and we can, we can talk about it once a week or, or whatever.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Or if you're at work, you know, or at a church, the staff could even talk about it together a little bit. It might be a point of contact.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And I'm curious what it's meant to you, and I know it's meant the whole world to me.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I have to admit that I listen to the Bible on my phone as well, or I might listen to a favorite podcast on my phone. And so sometimes I'm like, oh, I want to listen to the rest of that. Honey, do you need anything at the store? You need to get back in the car. Can I go back in the car and listen to it?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
You know, another great idea would be, and people are always looking for ideas on how to incorporate scripture into their life, is, well, what if a family has, they have two teenagers or three teenagers or junior high kids, and maybe this could become a point during dinner, it's not gonna be that long, maybe after dinner or dinner, where you could play this and discuss a little bit as well.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I mean, it's not gonna be that long and maybe people could use it in creative ways that way.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Yeah. And you've had such a big impact on young adults and teens. And I know you have a big impact on adults as well. You're just that guy. You have an impact on everybody. But how many people would like to say, well, I wish I could ask Father Mike a question. And in 365 days, I would think you're probably going to be addressing a lot of people's questions and what they're
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
what they're asking in life. And sometimes they don't even know until it's brought up and like, oh my gosh, I've been dealing with that in my own life. And it's gonna become a wonderful tool there. Real quickly, I just wanna share a little bit about the Great Adventure Bible because this is what you're gonna be using. It's unlike any other Bible and kudos to Ascension Press.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I mean, they did a great job of... of taking the idea of reading the Bible in chronological order and putting the Bible timeline chart actually into the book. And so it's different in that, and this is on the side, you can see it's color-coded. And the Great Adventure Bible takes the entire Bible and divides it into 12 periods, color-coded. I'll give you a crude look at that.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
That's the chart I can show you. And then on the back, you've got, So it takes the entire Bible and puts it into 12 color-coded periods, and then it shows you the 14 books. Those are the books that go through the entire Bible, and then the other 59 fit somewhere in there. And that's kind of the beauty of the Bible there.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
But it also has in it a wonderful article on how to interpret Scripture, and it also has an article on how to pray Scripture or do Lectio Divina. and an introduction on how to use the Bible. So if people don't have a Bible, I really encourage you to get one that you can live in. That means write in it.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Some people, they'll probably say this to you too, Father, and say, oh, I could never write in my Bible. So I say, fine, put that Bible on the shelf, go buy another one that you can write in.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And it's usually, isn't it the first time you write in it, that's the toughest, isn't it?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I do a bullet journal, but I'm starting to do something a little different, yeah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Well, you know what I did?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
go ahead go ahead i'm going to show you an example of that you go for it i was going to change the subject okay so i i i did that i i started with this bible the first one i bought i i underlined so carefully you know and i had my color system and everything and i was only going to use this one pen then i started getting this oh that's such a cool verse and i what anybody got a pen and i started writing with everything and then i got i wanted to highlight and i got a wet marker
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
not even knowing what happens when you put a wet marker on Bible paper. And so in 1 Corinthians 13, I did it. Now this is perfection.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And the problem with it was it also highlighted chapters 14 and 15 on the other side. And I'm like,
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I've used it all these years. And it's sort of like, you know, when I bought a brand new Subaru, everything was just perfect. And then I came out from a store one time and someone had dinged the side of my Subaru. I'm like, no, it's wrecked now. It's wrecked. I'm going to have to get a new one. That's life. That's life. And you're going to make mistakes when you when you highlight in your Bible.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
That's all part of it. It's you and it's life. And just jump in and do it.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And if anybody thinks, you know, as I go through, I don't know, I've never done this before and maybe I'll get confused. With your permission, I think I'm going to be joining you once in a while to sort of explain the major movements, you know, that you come, all of a sudden you're reading and then, oh, okay, I'm going to come in with timeout. There's what you're about to enter here.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Let me tell you where you're going. And then you're going to take them right through there. So I'm going to come in, you know, here and there too.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
It's not a praise party, but I'll tell you, you, I don't know of anyone who has really had such an impact. on people at such a basic level of follow Jesus, follow Jesus. And what you're saying and the way you communicate, it resonates with people. And that's why I think this project that was your idea is going to yield incredible fruit.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And we need to remember to be in prayer for everybody that is going through this because their life is gonna be transformed by the power of the word. The scripture says, my word... which goes out does not return empty. It will accomplish that which I purposed. And this book is unlike any other book. It's not just data, it's transformation.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And if it gets into your heart, prepare yourself, you're going to get changed. You're going to get changed if you'll submit yourself to it.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
It's going to be good.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Should we both pray? We'll pray for our, I'll open it. I'll just pray. And then if you want to conclude, that'd be great. In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you, Lord, for coming to us and inviting us to be a part of the life of the Trinity.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
I thank you for choosing us to not only know your ways, but to be involved in your kingdom and your plan for the world. I thank you, Lord, for Father Mike and what's going to take place over a year's period of soaking people in your word.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And I do pray, Lord, for all those who are going to join us, that their lives would be transformed, that they would become like you in thought and deed, in every way. I pray that this will be a new beginning for people as they have a relationship with you through your word.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Amen.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
Well, it's going to be so exciting because, you know, in the Great Adventure Bible timeline, it's basically taking the entire Bible. And I've got my office is filled with Bibles. I've got the Great Adventure Bible here. But it's taking the Bible that is, some would argue, it's the most complex book in the world. You know, it's going way back into creation, all the way to Revelation.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And for some people, it's very difficult to read. They don't know how to read it. And what you're going to be doing, and I'm going to assist in any way that I can, is that you're going to take people through that entire journey from Genesis to Revelation, not just reading it like it is in the Bible, but you're going to read it in chronological order so that they basically— get the story.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And I think that that's what's going to make this so different and so unique is that for a year, people are going to soak themselves in God's word and really get a hold of the story, not just the stories, which you and I could talk about the stories day and night, but it's the story. And that story is really going to illuminate people's lives and give them direction in their life and correction and
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And it's going to give them hope and a foundation on which they can really trust the Lord. And let's admit it, most Catholics that we know of, I'm not talking about people who follow you on social media or people who have gone through the Great Adventure, but Catholics in general in the country, they don't have that real personal relationship with the Word of God.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And I think you're going to be bringing that to them.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
No, I know exactly when it was. Exactly. Give me a moment here. I'll tell you exactly when it got a hold of me. And I got a picture of it. I got a picture of the time. I got a picture. It was 19, and it was my first communion. It was 1971, May 1st, 1971. I was confirmed and I received two Bibles for my confirmation.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And that night when I got home, absolute, I'm telling you exactly what happened here. I took that Bible and I was just like, whoa, the Bible. and I put it on my end table and I looked at it and I thought, how do I read it? I want to read this. I was just drawn to it. And so I came up with this amazing plan. And that is, I would open it up in Genesis and I would read one verse a night.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And then by the time I was old, say 30, I will have read all of it. Well, that lasted about two weeks and the Bible still sat there all of those years. And here's a picture of me and my mother and my Bible the night of my confirmation. I don't know if you can see that. Oh, yeah. But so I actually got a picture of it.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And from that point on, I was always attracted to the Bible, but I didn't actually read it. And I think part of it was that nobody expected me to. I was really never invited to. And for sure, nobody ever taught me how to read the Bible. And I personally think that's one of the biggest problems that we face is that we don't teach our children how to read the Bible.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
So thank you. I appreciate that very much. And you and I have known each other for quite a while, and it's a lot of fun getting together because we talk about the Word of God constantly, and we're always sharing insights. And myself included, you mentioned the tool as far as your own life, mine too. People come up so often and they say, wow, that really changed my life, the Bible timeline.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
But then it was when I was 18 years old, I was a college student, and I was attracted to Emily, who had become my wife one day. And I went over to her house, and her mother was a real strong Bible Christian. And I went into the kitchen, and there was a Bible opened up, and she sat there with this 18-year-old kid, long hair down to here, And bell-bottom jeans and everything.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And she sat and she started talking to me from the Bible that God loved me and that God had a plan for my life. And I'll tell you what, I mean, you're 18 years old. You're not attracted to just middle-aged women teaching religion, right? but it was that Bible. It was her relationship with the Bible that it just drew me in. And I wanted to know this Bible. I wanted to know the God of the Bible.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
This is my mother-in-law's Bible, the Bible she had that day. I first met her. She passed away last year, but this is Alice's well-worn Bible that she read to me. And so this is very, very important. And You know, you've got different Bibles, I'm sure, too. And I've got, this is my grandfather's Bible.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
And it's probably my most treasured possession because it still has in it the bulletin from the week he died right in that place. And he underlined verses, he wrote things in the column, and this is near to my heart. So yeah, that's when the Bible really came alive to me.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)
No, he wasn't actually. And I didn't know. When it came to my dad's side of the family, I really didn't know their faith that well until after they had passed away. And then all of a sudden we realized, wow, he was deep into scripture. And he could have just passed away and without the Bible, I wouldn't have known much. But the Bible left me a legacy. That's the word, legacy. What's that? Yeah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Yeah, and I would encourage all of our listeners, I would encourage you to not just look at the life of Israel and say, wow, they sure didn't learn, did they? And get a clue, but to look into the mirror and ask, what is it in my life that God is trying to bring me out of? What is it? Are there addictions? Are there ways of thinking?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Are there habits in my life where this is really keeping me from the intimacy and that relationship with God that he wants? And as you read, take these principles and apply them to yourself. Your eyes are going to be opened. I know mine are. And I think that this is one of the
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
fall to when they read the Bible is that it's for somebody else when the New Testament says this was written for your encouragement.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Pay attention to those three major changes during this reading period of the priesthood, the tabernacle, and the Word of God. In our lives today, we have the privilege of being under the care of priests. And we have the privilege of worshiping according to a way, and that's the Eucharist, the celebration of the Mass.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And we have the privilege of being the people of the word, the sacred scripture and the sacred tradition, and really ask God to give you some illumination on those three things, recognize them at church, recognize them in their life, embrace them, and thank God for all three.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Well, thank you. It's a privilege to go on the journey with you. And, you know, it's one thing to have your Bible in front of you. It's another thing to know where you're at in it, where you were and where you're going. And I think that by the time people are done, they're going to have a good picture of the overarching story of salvation history.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And, hey, we've only gone through one book so far in two periods.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Well, one of the things we're trying to do, Father, is to help people to navigate the complicated areas of the story. And this is probably the first one that we're going to encounter where If you don't understand what's happening in the book of Exodus, then you're going to kind of miss out on the narrative. And that really begins with you finished up Genesis and now we're starting Exodus.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
But what a lot of people don't know is we have 400 years that just went by and there's no story in between there. It's you guess, you know? And so when we pick up with Exodus, it's after 400 years of being down in Egypt and And during that 400 years, the current Pharaoh doesn't respect the relationship that Joseph had 400 years ago. And so we find Israel in bondage in Egypt.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And they are tired of it, as we all are. And we could say they were quarantined for 400 years. 400 years. And they cry out to God and say, we've had enough. We're crying out to you. And God raises up a deliverer by the name of Moses. And that's where we pick up on this particular book and this whole event that we're going to go through now.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Well, up until now, it's kind of a basic story. But now in Exodus, we're going to be introduced to a number of new major, major things in the story. And I guess we can kind of move up to that. They cry out to God and God raises up Moses. His name is Moshe, which means to draw out. And that's what his calling is going to be, to draw them out of darkness.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
out of bondage, but it comes at quite a price. And it is an amazing story of how God tries to break them from Egyptian bondage. They are eating like the Egyptians, they're worshiping like the Egyptians, they even dress like the Egyptians. I won't get into the...
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
I said I was going to avoid that, but you got it in there and that's good. I'm so sorry. You are right. Is he gonna not say this? He has to. So you're right. I mean, everything about their life, they were addicted to idolatry. And so God had to do something amazing to draw them out and turn them to himself. And that's where we have the 10 plagues. And the result of that is
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Their freedom comes and they go through the Red Sea and the Egyptians follow them and the sea collapses on them. And then for three months in the book of Exodus, they travel down to Mount Sinai. And God says to them, you know, your clothes aren't going to wear out. I'm even going to, I'm going to provide food for you, which we know as bread. Manna. Manna, exactly, manna.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And manna means, what is it? You know, what is it? We're not used to this. We have garlics and leeks back there, and what is this? And so God had said something very important during this period. He said, I brought you out here to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of my mouth.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And so after three months of traveling south, they end up at Mount Sinai, and they're going to be there for one year. And this is where everything changes in that one year. And if you don't get it, then you're not going to understand most of the rest of the Old Testament. Right.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Yeah, well, I was gonna say, for sure, this is gonna be a painful freedom. And isn't it always? I mean, we say to people, this is what you need to do to become free. And they go, well, I don't know if I could really... And then they come to the conclusion of maybe life wasn't so bad, you know, with my addiction. And that's what Israel, that's what they face. And they start to blame Moses.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
You brought us out here to kill us. There weren't there enough graves back there, you know, where we were. Yeah. So they end up at Sinai for a year and something big takes place. And that is that God is going to make a covenant with Israel. And we know that there's been this progression of covenants all along since you started reading, starting with Adam and Eve, with one holy couple.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And then after that, you have one holy tribe with Abraham and And now we have one holy nation. We have a family, rather. We go from Noah, family, tribe with Abraham. And now we have one holy nation. And God's making a covenant with them, which means I'm going to do this for you. You're my people. This is what you need to do in response to me. And it goes south. Yeah. Very quickly.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
The covenant was made chapter 24. By chapter 32, we have the golden calf incident and everything looks like it's going crazy. But it's in the midst of that, that we have three of the most important things to get during this period of reading. And I'll just give you those quickly. One is that there's going to be kind of a... a laicizing of the nation.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And there's going to be one tribe that rises up as the priests, and those are the Levites. And that's where Moses and Aaron are from. And so you have the priests, the Levites, and then, and by the way, this takes place in chapter 32, keynote, keynote, rumble strips, this is where Leviticus belongs. Right, exactly. Yeah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
That's where Leviticus belongs because that is for the priests and it is for the people, the holiness code. So we have the priesthood, but then there's two other things at Sinai that are huge. One is the tabernacle. And this comes as a result of Moses being up on the mountain and seeing like a heavenly vision of what it looks like to worship.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And we see that also at the end of the Bible in John's revelation. And you'll see it at your local Catholic church, I might add. Exactly. But then the third thing is, is that God gives him his Torah. He gives him his law. Exactly. And that law is not meant to put them down. It's not meant to control their lives. Like we think, you know, my dad grounded me. He hates me.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
He's making my life miserable. No, he loves you. And so the more sin, the more law, and the law is to get you to focus on on your relationship with God, that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So as we move forward, we got to keep track of the Levites. We keep track of the tabernacle.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And once you do this, you're prepared to really start understanding books like Hebrews in the New Testament, the work of Jesus as the high priest, And certainly his word is given, which we're going to find out in the New Testament that Jesus is going to fulfill every single thing that we're reading.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
No, that's a great question. And I would have to say that in my studies over the years, and in the beginning, it was like Leviticus, skip. And now it's not. It's a very critical book. And I might add that in Jesus' day, all of the children who started their biblical studies in Israel started with Leviticus of all the books, not Genesis, not Exodus, not Numbers or Deuteronomy, but Leviticus.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And the reason... was that Leviticus talks about holiness. It talks about kadosh, holiness, to be totally distinct, to be totally separate, to be holy. And I think that the thing that I would add to the reading when people are listening to you during Leviticus is this – God brought Israel out into the desert to do something.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And he said in Leviticus, he said six different times, he said, be holy as I am holy. Be holy as I'm holy. And four more times he said that. And then he went on to say, he said, you need to learn to discern between the good and the bad, that which is clean, that which is not unclean.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And then he also said, do not obey the laws of the place you came from, nor the place you are going, but obey my word. Now, what we see here, Father, is we see the foundation of discipleship. which is God is discipling a nation who has come out of bondage, come out of addiction. And he's saying, if you want to be my people and you want to truly live free, you've got to imitate me.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And I'm going to be in your midst. I'm going to be in the tabernacle. I'll be with you. But I think that it's really important for people to realize as they read Leviticus, maybe you won't understand everything about it, but listen carefully for how God is forming a nation, what they wear, what they eat, who they hang around with, you know, how they treat their neighbors.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
All of this really goes back to God is saying, I am God. I am discipling you. So we learn a great lesson, and that is that imitation is the foundation of discipleship. And that will carry on into the New Testament as well.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And then there's going to be a 400-year break after that. And then you're going to be picking up with Exodus and moving on. So we're right on schedule here.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Yeah, I think it's faith, you know, and what is faith and trusting in God. This idea of faith is not simply believism. You know, God did not say to Abram, do you just believe what I'm telling you? Right. But faith, to quote Pope Benedict, faith is really divided into two things. One is a mental acknowledgement.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Abram says, yes, I believe that God is calling me to leave this land and go to a new land, a promised land. That's why we call it the promised land. It was promised to Abram and his descendants. But the second aspect of that, the first is faith. Mental assent, yes, I concur, I believe. The second is a personal entrusting of yourself to God.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Now, as we continue to read in the Patriarchs and beyond, you're going to encounter people who made mental assent, but they never entrusted themselves. And that's where the story gets really interesting. But what we see in Abram is he not only believed God, But it was counted for him as righteousness because he stepped out and he walked in it. He showed that he trusted God.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And so there's a remarkable demonstration here of what it means to walk with God, with Abram. And you can kind of measure Isaac and Jacob and beyond with the walk that Abraham had with God.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
uh the actions the decisions and the real lives of these people who are our fathers in faith so thank you once again well i'm finding it so exciting so far just you know just to listen yes and to uh you know scriptures as faith comes by hearing in hearing by the word of god and as you're reading scripture father and i'm listening that word is going deep into my heart and and god is having his way
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
with my heart via his word. And so you're a gift in that you're lending your voice to God to speak, but then we also get some great commentary. So I appreciate it. It's just a wonderful opportunity.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Oh, thanks for allowing me to come and go for the ride. This is exciting. You know, just came through the early world and that is turquoise. And now we're going to enter a burgundy period. And burgundy reminds us of a blood, blood covenant, big thing that's going to happen in this period.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
You know, as I've been listening to you over the last number of days, I'm just reminded of the encouragement of the Word of God and just want to extend encouragement to everybody that this is a story that you can get. And we're here to help you to navigate some of the time periods where it could be a little confusing, you know, if you don't have somebody guiding you. So that's good.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And it's good to have someone that can kind of help you. And this is chapter 12 of Genesis all the way to chapter 50. And we just came off of 11 chapters that really established kind of the early world. Now we're looking at the history that we're really familiar with, you know?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Right, yeah. And God has a plan to redeem mankind, which we saw the fall and original sin, they lost original justice back in the garden. And what we're gonna pick up on now in this period, which you're gonna be going through, I think it's even the day after Christmas, you're gonna be reading quite a bit. Big chunk, yeah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
During this patriarchal period, which is gonna cover Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. you're really going to get a look at how God works with mankind. And Abraham is going to become very important to us because how God deals with Abram is going to come into Paul's explanation in the New Testament, for example, in Galatians, dealing with faith and what it means to believe.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And so we pick up in chapter 12 with God speaking to a man by the name of Abram. As you said, his name is going to get changed. And he is in modern day Iraq. And he's in Ur of the Chaldeans. And God calls him. And you might notice in chapter 11, you get this so-and-so begot, so-and-so begot, so-and-so, which is a lot of people's favorite part of the book. Bible, I understand.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Yeah, right. Well, you know what it's called, actually? It's a Hebrew tool called a toledot. A toledot is a literary tool that takes you from the wide angle down to narrow. In other words, the writer is forcing you to go from all of mankind to one guy, and that's Abram. And Abram's going to be key because he's going to walk with God, and God is going to make a people of Abram.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And so you pick up in chapter 12, and there are three key promises that God makes to Abram, which are going to be very important, three promises that are going to be very important in your reading plan. And I'm sure you'll bring them up when we reach that point. We start off in chapter 12. all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And so you have three promises to Abram at the beginning of this period, and that is land, a royal dynasty, going to make his name great, and worldwide blessing. Three major promises. But we have a major problem, and that is Abram doesn't have any kids. He doesn't have any kids. And it's just beautiful how God deals with this problem and gives him a son, Isaac.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And people are going to be reading that with you. And he ends up with Isaac as a son. But it's so interesting. In chapter 15, which you're going to be coming upon pretty quick in your reading.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
In chapter 15, we're going to see that Abram struggles with God. How do I know that you're going to give me these things? I don't even have a son, and God is going to make a covenant. with Abram. And you're going to read about it in chapter 15. I won't read it now, but this is a beautiful, beautiful situation where God makes a covenant with Abram.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And, and as a result of that, we're going to have Isaac and then Isaac and his wife, Rebecca have Jacob and Esau, or I should say Esau and Jacob. Right. And then after that, we're going to have through Jacob, the 12 sons, tribes of Israel through four different ladies. It's going to be Leah and Rachel, true, but it's also going to be their handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And you're going to end up with all of the tribes of Israel, the sons of Jacob, which eventually is going to lead them into Egypt, where things again go south. And they become the really servants of the Egyptians, and it doesn't end well for them.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Well, I think people are a little alarmed sometimes when they're reading the Bible and they hear these wild stories that people get into and they take offense like, oh, that shouldn't be in the Bible or I didn't expect that from the Bible. Well, just turn the Bible around and look at it like a mirror. I didn't expect that in your life either. And you didn't expect that in your life either.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
You didn't... You know, you didn't think you would think like you're thinking. And so it really does paint a picture of the brokenness of humanity. And it speaks of the great patience and the loving kindness that God demonstrates in bringing us all back together into his family, which is going to culminate in Jesus. I would not be alarmed at all of these stories in the Bible.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
I think anytime you read about sin, sure, it's alarming, but it really does echo where mankind is at today. And also the love of God and the great lengths he goes to save us and to bring us to himself. This period of the patriarchs is so rich. in the stories about God's faithfulness, about our brokenness.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
You know, when you get to, you know, go from Abraham and Sarah, and then you get into Isaac and Rebecca, you will see Rebecca working with her son, Jacob, to try to right wrongs. And then Jacob fooling his brother And we wonder when he fools his brother Esau and he gets from him the blessing, but also the birthright.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
When he gets that, you're thinking, now this isn't right. There's gotta be consequences to it. Right. And there are consequences. You keep reading.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Keep reading. And in Hebrew writing, Father, it's really interesting because in Hebrew writing, we want the story to be Jacob fooled Esau. We want punishment in the next chapter. Right. But the Hebrew writers don't do that. They don't tell you the results. They show you.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And that's why you've got to read it carefully and start seeing patterns differently. develop. But the whole period in Genesis ends with Jacob giving blessings to all of his sons, and one tribe is going to rise above all of them as a tribe to pay attention to for the rest of the story.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Yeah, and another thing to pay attention to is how the church reads Scripture. You know, we know that there are three different levels that we need to pay attention to when you're reading it. Number one is you need to read this, all of this, the patriarchs in Genesis, knowing that Christ fulfills all of this. He fulfills all of it. And from time to time, that will become evident.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
But second of all, We need to read it in light of what does this mean to me? Do I see myself in this story? Am I Jacob? Right. Or am I Esau?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Yeah, right. And so you read it knowing that this relates to my life as well. And the third is the future, heaven. How does this find fulfillment eventually in heaven? And those are the three things. things that we pay attention to as Catholics when we read the Bible, but it is a love letter written to you where God is revealing his heart and his plan to you.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And don't be discouraged if you don't get it all right now. There was a very famous word from one of the saints who said that reading the Bible is like drinking from a drinking fountain. Do you remember that one?
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Yeah, yeah. You don't go to a drinking fountain and start crying saying, look at all of that went on the ground. Okay. be happy with what you got.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
Well, this period is going to be an exciting period, and I know that it's going to be fun to go through it with you. It's really the story of Abraham, and now we are following the seed line all the way from Eve We're gonna follow that line all the way to Jesus. And so one of the ways we navigate through this complex Bible is we stay on task.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
We are following the seed line that was introduced with Adam and Eve. And you can read about these genealogies in Matthew and Luke. And so it's not just willy-nilly, there's actually a prescribed way of telling this entire story. So we've got Abram, and that great covenant that God makes with Abram is going to be bedrock for the rest of the entire Bible.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
We're gonna be looking for when do they get land? When is there a royal kingdom established? When is worldwide blessing available to the world? And so that acts as a foundation for us to read going forward. But then who can forget the great stories of Isaac, and Jacob, and then the longest portion of Genesis goes to Joseph.
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Introduction to the Patriarchs (with Jeff Cavins) (2025)
And just a key, when you get to that point, when you get to that point, remember, it's not just about Joseph. There's one other character that you're gonna be getting into. I won't let the cat out of the bag. But you're gonna be talking about that, and it's going to end with all the blessings to these sons, which are really, really important. And they end in Egypt.