Confessions of a Bible Babe

Maria V. Gallagher discovers Scripture and finds out what it means to be a Bible babe.

For I know well the plans I have for you—oracle of the Lord—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

The moment is etched in my mind forever. I am standing in the basement of our parish church, where Masses are held for schoolchildren. The lectionary I read from is heavy, and it takes all of my strength to hold it. I am nervous—so nervous, in fact, that my mother will later say that she could see my little legs shaking beneath my school uniform.

I am a first grader, lectoring for the first time.

I would not lector again until I was an adult, recruited during a parish stewardship drive. The nerves have never left me, but I am now undaunted, believing that I have been called to proclaim the Word of God.

The road to serving the church in a ministry capacity has been filled with potholes. While my father faithfully read from his Bible every day, I did not. I would normally pick it up for Lent—and then set it back down after Easter. As a journalist, I considered my bible to be a national daily newspaper.

And yet, it would seem that God was preparing me to read His Word for a long time. In college, I took many radio classes, learning how to enunciate with the best of them. I discovered the proper way to handle a microphone, careful not to “pop my Ps,” thereby trying to avoid any auditory unpleasantness.

But still, I faltered. When challenged to a Bible trivia game with my friend I floundered. The Old Testament was a special mystery to me—I did not understand much beyond the story of the Garden of Eden, and we all know how that turned out. Eve bites into the forbidden fruit, tempts Adam, and the Garden is lost to their descendants.

That is, until Jesus comes along.

And I believe that that is what happened to me. Jesus came along. Or, more accurately, He was there all along, but at last I noticed Him. And when I felt His mercy and love, I wanted to be with Him—in His Word.

Consequently, I signed up for Bible study classes, and what had previously seemed like ancient Greek to me became tangible and accessible. I heard about CatholicMom.com, and I began reading stellar articles which elucidated Scripture for me.

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When I felt God's mercy and love, I wanted to be with Him—in His Word. #catholicmom

And because I strongly believe in learning by doing, I signed up to write a few Gospel reflections for the website.

Recently, at an online gathering of CatholicMom.com contributors, I learned that I had actually contributed the most daily Gospel reflections for 2022. As you can imagine, I was shocked. The announcement came with the presentation of an award which declared me a “Bible babe.”

Yes, it has been a long and winding journey from frightened 6-year-old lector to Bible babe. But I have proven that the Lord does not call the qualified—He qualifies the called.

I would like to invite you to become part of the Bible Babe club. Start reading Scripture each day or, if you already do so, consider taking a Scripture study class at your parish or online. The rewards are, quite simply, out of this world.

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Copyright 2022 Maria V. Gallagher
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