The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology is launching a new Bible study program to help Catholics prepare for the Advent and Christmas seasons.
The Bible study, titled “Bible Across America,” is set to begin Nov. 5 and aims to gather Catholics “around God’s word to prayerfully study Scripture, grow in discipleship, and build one another up in the Lord,” the organization announced. The course represents the latest addition to the St. Paul Center, whose offerings include online courses, academic books on Scripture and theology, and in-person events for clergy and laity across the country.
Based in Steubenville, Ohio, the St. Paul Center is an independent, nonprofit research and educational institution dedicated, according to its website, to promoting “life-transforming Scripture study from the heart of the Church” and through its programming seeks “to raise up a new generation of priests who are fluent in the Bible and laypeople who are biblically literate.”
The initiative builds on the center’s previous “Journey Through Scripture” video Bible studies, which have as their goal empowering “Catholics and Christians across North America to experience an ‘Emmaus moment,’ encountering Christ in the pages of sacred Scripture and through the doctrine of the Catholic Church.”
In preparation for Advent and Christmas, the new course will help Catholics understand “who Christ is as ‘Teacher and Lord’ (Jn 13:13).” The Bible study will include seven weekly sessions starting Nov. 5 that will each focus on a different theme including the Infancy Narratives, exorcisms, the Sermon on the Mount, the healing of the synagogue ruler’s daughter, Martha and Mary, the Lost Sheep and Luke 15, and the Transfiguration of Jesus.
The center’s “Bible Across America” initiative is billing itself as “a nationwide Catholic Bible movement,” encouraging Catholics to create and organize Bible study groups with their families, friends, or fellow parishioners. Leaders can register with St. Paul Center to receive a guide to help conduct discussions with their groups. Use of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, which was released last year and whose general editor is St. Paul Center founder Scott Hahn, is also being promoted as part of the initiative.
As “Bible Across America” is expected to simultaneously welcome thousands of participants, St. Paul Center anticipated it will be the “largest Bible study” in the United States. The organization is working in partnership with other Catholic organizations on the project, including Hallow, FOCUS, and Mount St. Mary’s University. The sessions are slated to include insights from Benedictine Father Boniface Hicks, Heather Khym, Shane Owens, Katie McGrady and Alex Jones, the CEO of Hallow.
“By witnessing the transformative power of studying Scripture in community, ‘Bible Across America’ will inspire Catholics across the nation to introduce communal Scripture study in their own homes and parishes,” the center noted.
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