Listening to the Old Testament, the Psalms, the New Testament and the Gospel in the readings at Mass is essential for us. We need to hear it with our ears, 'So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ.' Romans 10:17
But we also need to take time to ponder it, and learn from it, just like Mary, the Mother of Jesus did. 'As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.' Luke 2:19
There are many ways of doing this. Try them out and find one that suits you.
Reading sequential chucks
Widen your daily prayer time to include reading a segment or a chapter of scripture every day. If you haven't done this before, then start with the Acts of the Apostles or another New Testament book. Starting at Genesis is only OK if you have enough love of God's Word to get you through Numbers and Leviticus, because most people get bogged down there and never finish. When you read sequentially a lot of things make more sense than if you open the bible at random and read a portion of scripture.
If you do this, I promise you that you will be astonished at how often you find yourself saying, 'Really? I was only reading something about that last night. Let me share it with you'.
Reading scripture gets our minds back to reality better than anything else. As soon as we read it, we are reminded that He is God, that His ways are different, higher and more perfect than ours are, and that He is real. That puts all of our day to day concerns into perspective quite quickly.
Reading scripture as a prayer starter
This way you read a sentence of scripture and stop. Then you talk to God about it. Express your emotions about it. Ask any questions that come to mind about it. (Why did Zacchaeus climb a sycamore tree and not another kind of tree?). Then you need the next sentence of scripture and stop, and talk to God about it. Repeat as necessary.
Reading scripture with a study guide
Purchase a study guide for a book of scripture. Read a passage of scripture. Then read the study guide about that passage. Follow any footnotes in your bible that relate to that passage. Look up any references/footnotes the study guide provided.
Reading scripture with your creative side engaged
Read your passage of scripture, and then if the passage contains characters, imagine what it would have been like to be that character, or watch that scene as a bystander. If you were a movie director, what shots would you need to tell the story? Pick up a pencil and draw. What would a treasure in an earthen vessel look like? What would God's farm look like? Re-tell the passage in your own words. Re-tell the passage as a poem.
Reading scripture with lectio divina
This is an ancient monastic way of praying the scriptures. Ask the Holy Spirit for help first. Then read through the passage of scripture once to get familiar with it. Allow a little time for silence. Then read it again, noticing any words or phrases that resonate with you. Allow a little more time for silence and pay attention to what you most remember about that passage. Then read it for a third time and sit in silence for a little while. Now talk to God about that word or phrase or thought that has been the strongest with you. Ponder what message might be contained in it for your life right now. Offer thanksgiving to God, and then recall that word, phrase or thought several times in the next 24 hours.
To learn more visit http://ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/what-lectio-divina and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectio_Divina
The more we learn about God from His Word, the more we will understand and love Him, and easier it will be for us to conform our lives to His teaching.
Holy Mother Church is well aware what a source of grace the Holy Scriptures are, and in order to encourage her children to partake of this source of grace she has decreed indulgences for all those who do:
"A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read sacred scripture with the veneration due God's word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one half hour." The Handbook of Indulgences, Norms and Grants 50
Holy Mary, Mother of God, please help us take hold of this precious source of grace and obtain for us a hunger for God's word which will make a daily commitment easy. Amen.
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