"Do Catholics read the Bible?" you think?

I did not want to interrupt the flow of thought in the previous blog about the Bible reading and commentary about a modern event, so I am going to use that Bible reading to make a separate point here. I am sooooooo tired of certain non-Catholic Christians who accuse the Catholics of “not reading the Bible.” While everyone can, and should, do better in their day to day Bible reading, you must understand that one reason many church going Catholics do not read the Bible more in their personal time is that there are three Bible readings a day in each Catholic Mass. I think it might be helpful to use the previous blog Bible reading as an example.

This Sunday’s Mass has the following as their three Bible readings, as listed in the commentary on Zenit that I linked to in the previous post:

The readings for this Sunday are Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30.

Now, in the previous post I copied from my “Daily Roman Missal,” which is the book used by Mass attending Catholics to follow the liturgy, the entry for Zechariah 9:9-10. So this is what the reader is reading and the parishioners are hearing:

From the Catholic Missal: First Reading
See, your king comes to you humbly.
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah

Thus says the Lord: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem. See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the warrior’s bow shall be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Ok, so that is the first reading in the allegedly non Bible reading Catholic Mass. Now I’m going to flip to that passage in my New American Bible, right here on the desk by my left elbow.

Zechariah 9:9-10
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion,
Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you;
A just savior is he,
Meek, and riding on an ass,
On a colt, the foal of an ass.
He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The warrior’s bow shall be banished,
And he shall proclaim peace to the nations.
His dominion shall be from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.

Hmm, well, that sure looks like word for word a Bible reading to me. But wait, I own Protestant Bibles too, even though they leave out a number of “our” chapters. Let me make doubly sure that then thar Katolics are really reading the Bible. *Will now walk to the dining room cabinet where I have my Protestant Bibles.*

OK, I’m back. Here is my New King James version, which I bought because it is a small portable size and has a lovely fuchsia colored cover.

Zechariah 9: 9-10
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion!
Shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you:
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from
Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace of the
nations:
His dominion shall be from sea
to sea.
And from the River to the ends
of the earth.

Um, so what do you think? It looks like us Catholics are reading the Bible to me.