New American Bible Revised

  I previously posted on this blog, my only copy of a Roman Catholic Bible which is the Christian Community Bible. I posted it in our Catholic Apologetics group online, and I did not get a positive comment. Someone said that the commentaries are too liberal. Also, that the translation is not that good. A lot commented about the New American Bible. So I planned to get one. My bf's Bible is NAB, it was a gift from his dad. It was a good choice because the NAB, is the version used in the lectionary. I remember, it was also recommended to me before by the staff of St. Paul Bookstore.

I recently purchased mine just this week from my ever reliable Roman Catholic bookstore which is the St. Paul Bookstore. Even if it's a quarantine period they accept deliveries. I ordered this together with my mother's day gift for the mom of my bf.

The one that I got was the Millenials edition. The colors of the Bible's jacket is not the usual we always see so maybe that's the reason why it was named like that. The available colors are Turquoise green, Burnt Sienna, Blue and Purple. I chose the Purple one. It is a personal size. A bit thick, it has Bible tabs included. I am glad that this Bible has 2 ribbon markers, so you can go back to where you stopped reading, and mark that important page or section.

The Roman Catholic Bible has 73 books. Compared to the Protestant Bible. Because the Protestants removed the Deuterocanonical they call it Apocryphal which means forbidden or secret because the author of these writings are unknown or the origin is doubtful.

Let me share this story that I read online. In 393 A.D. St. Jerome was given a task by the Pope to translate all the Bible books in Latin. St. Jerome then asked the helped of rabbis, to help him translate Hebrew to Latin. The rabbis think that the Deuterocanical books were uninspired because they said they don't have them in Hebrew only in Greek. The Pope still ordered St. Jerome to translate because the church has traditions wayback, and these books were read in churches, therefore they are inspired writings. So, St. Jerome translated them anyway. Fast forward to later times, in 1947 a young boy looking for a lost goat in a cave near the Dead Sea found an amazing archeological find, and that is the 7 Deuterocanonical books all written in Hebrew!

So that's the story why us Roman Catholics have more books in the Bible than the Protestants. As you can see from the photo posted here. I also put the original Divine Mercy image in front of my new NAB revised Bible. Isn't the story amazing?! No wonder even until now, Jesus is always telling us to trust in Him! Because He will always be a wonderworker.

Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis

  Aside from the Bible, and Catechism of the Catholic church, this is another book that is indispensable. The first copy that I have got, was colored blue, and fits just right into your pocket. The book that I was referring to was translated by Msgr. Ronald Knox. Sadly, it is not in my possession anymore.

The next Imitation of Christ that I have got was from a Catholic publisher. This one has a leather bound jacket, and it has illustrations inside. It is also a bit expensive. Around $24. Anyway, if it's a good book, and another nourishment for our soul, there's nothing wrong in purchasing one. It is very much worth it!

I'll never forget reading this. My favorite chapter is Chapter 20 which talks about "On the Love of Solitude and Silence." It says there, quoting from the book of Isaiah, "Commune with your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still." This part is very timely, especially now, where we are all in quarantine, and just staying indoors. Learn to love the solitude. I remember the homily of a priest from Bulacan, quoting from his sermon before, that it is in silence that God speaks in our hearts.

Let us pray that in all the things that we do, be it a menial task or not, may we glorify our Lord God, and our Lord Jesus always.

Lives of Saints Book

  One unforgettable book from my childhood was the LIVES OF SAINTS book. I'm not an outdoor kid. I remember I love to read even before. We started with local kiddie comics, and then my aunt would give us books. My very first introduction to the  Bible was this children's Bible given again to us by our aunt, MY BIBLE FRIENDS by Etta B. Deering. I love the illustrations, and I remember I never get tired of reading it over and over again. Selected stories from the Bible in each volume. This set consists of 10 volumes. (I checked this title, and Googled it. I saw it on an Adventist online store, I don't endorse any book that is not by Roman Catholic. I just cited this book because it was the first Bible story that I read.)

We have lots of books when we were growing up. As a homebody person. My sibling and I likes to play the PC, board games, and just read books or comics. My aunt gave me a LIVES OF SAINT book, sadly that book was not in my possession now. It is just a pocket sized book with beautiful drawings of Saints on the front and back cover. She bought it from a religious sister who was selling books at their office.

I love reading the story of St. Therese of Lisieux also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, I remember the story when she was walking one night with her father, she saw the stars form a letter, her name, she said her name was written in heaven! I also love the story of St. Rita, the wife, the nun, and the Saint! I also read the sad story of St. Maria Goretti.  I recommend this book for you to give to your children, and loved ones. We can learn a lot from them. Do not forget saints are humans too! They have feelings too. They have experienced joy, happiness, grief and sadness. The lives of these religious people, who loved God dearly is a good example of how we should live our lives. In everything that they do it is for the greater glory of God!