Family Scripture Study
This is how our family studies the scriptures, perhaps this method will work for your family also.
- Prepare for family bible study
- Read the readings for the Sunday mass ahead of time, ask the Lord what He wants you to share with your family.
- Ensure that you understand the context of the readings and have an idea of what to share with your family. This resource may help.
- Read the Sunday readings – you can find them online at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) website.
- If a parent reads the scripture, you can stop and ask questions as you read. Topics such as “who is this person that is being spoken about”, “What does this word mean?” or perhaps link it to another passage of scripture. I like to make it interactive to keep the kids attention. The goal is to dive deep into scripture and become very familiar with the word of God.
- If a child reads, ensure that they read clearly so other members of the family can hear and understand what is being proclaimed (use your parental judgement here). And if the child doesnt do a great job then during your teaching about the passage you can re-read parts of the scripture, but be sure to offer praise to the one who volunteered to proclaim the good news.
- Then select one or two themes to share/discuss with your family.
- Ask your children questions
- About the words, the people and the message in the scriptures
- What stuck out to them in the reading? Maybe it was just one word, maybe it was a theme. This is my favorite part of the family bible study, you never know what a child may notice in scripture and share with the rest of the family. Often Children can hear the voice of God better than adults.
- Awkward silence is ok, be patient, let God speak to your children and encourage them to listen patiently.
- It is ok for parents to share what they heard God say to them, but wait until your children share first or after an extended period of listening to God has passed.