Australian Salesian Bulletin

Have you ever wondered where the stories come from that we read at Mass: readings from the Letters of Paul and from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Maybe even more important is the question: can you understand what these readings are all about?  Most readers of The Salesian Bulletin would be aware that these readings come from what we call the New Testament that together with the Old Testament, they form part of “the Bible.” The word “Bible” comes from Greek, and it means many books. The Bible is made up of books of all kinds.  The oldest collection, venerated by Jews and Christians, is called the Old Testament. The more recent collection, born in the light of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, teaching, death and resurrection, is called the New Testament.

So much of the English of our everyday language is influenced by phrases from the Bible: going the extra mile, casting pearls before swine, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the eleventh hour, the powers that be, to wash one’s hands of something. There are many, many more of these expressions. But how much do we really know about the Bible: the Old Testament, the New Testament, the life of Jesus, the Gospels, the Letters of Paul and the other letters and documents in the New Testament? How about the Book of the Apocalypse?

Probably very little has to be our answer. Yet the Second Vatican Council instructed all Catholics: The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord, in so far as she never ceases, particularly in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the Word of God and the Body of Christ (The Constitution on Divine Revelation 21).

For many years, Fr Francis Moloney, SDB, the present Provincial of the Salesians in Australia and the Pacific, has worked to deepen his understanding of the Sacred Scriptures. He has studied Theology and Scripture in Rome and in Oxford.  He has taught in all corners of the world, and he has written many books and articles on matters biblical. However, he has always been aware that many of the things he wrote could not be understood by “beginners” in reading and understanding the Bible. And we all have to start somewhere! He has thus turned his hand to writing a small book that tries to open up the treasures of the New Testament to what he calls in his Foreword: “a first-time reader, or a reader with only a passing acquaintance, to the two thousand year old treasure of the Church’s New Testament.” The title of the new book is A Friendly Guide to the New Testament, and it has just been published by John Garratt Publishing.

Beautifully presented and illustrated throughout and in colour with icons, photos and original artwork, the guide is written from both a historical and a faith-based perspective. I t contains readings and commentary on specific passages from the New Testament and helpful “did you know?” boxes for each chapter. The booklet is designed so that it will provide a step by step guide to such questions as: who wrote the New Testament? How has it come down to us in its present form? What did the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ mean for Jesus’ first followers, St Paul and the early Christians?

Most importantly, however, Fr Moloney asks how the New Testament can play a role in our Christian lives; how it can bring us closer to God in and through prayer. The book closes with a step by step practical exercise in praying with the Scriptures in hand. This book, as well as being a friendly guide to understanding the New Testament, helps us better to understand what the Church meant at the Council: Just as from constant attendance at the Eucharistic mystery the life of the Church draws increase, so a new impulse of spiritual life may be expected from increased veneration of the Word of God which stands forever (The Constitution on Divine Revelation 26).