Question: Every time I have a Bible question, I run into the problem of whom to ask. For questions about the Church, I go to the index of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and look up whatever I want to know, but when it comes to Holy Scripture, I'm often at a loss about where to begin. Would you mind telling me how you go about answering the questions people ask or finding out what you want to know?

Discussion: I'd be glad to tell you how I go about this, but please keep in mind that these discussions have not aimed to "give answers." Rather, Bible Talk has focused on helping us to resolve within ourselves some issues or concerns that have no clear biblical answer.

With that understanding, my first step in finding out what the Bible has to say about any subject is to, yep, look in the Bible. To speed the process, I might check the concordance for scriptural references to the topic, but, usually, I begin with Internet websites that will allow me to do a word search. For instance, one of my favorite translations, the Revised Standard Version, has been printed in full with excellent search capabilities on http://quod.lib.umich.edu/r/rsv/.

For Douay-Rheims, http://www.drbo.org/ also allows searching for a word, phrase, or topic, and the site offers a number of hotlinks to activate additional readings too. If you already know which book, chapter, and verse you want to investigate, the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/ — offers easy access to the New American Bible (NAB.) You'll find excellent footnotes on that website, too, since our American Bishops are the very persons who requested and approved this translation, which, therefore, deserves respect whether we like it or not. Personally, I do because the NAB with the footnoting of the St. Joseph's edition was the first Bible I ever read cover to cover in a few weeks' time, thus resolving issues and finding questions that led me into the Roman Catholic Church. I'm also fond of the lively translation and interesting footnotes in The New Jerusalem Bible but haven't yet found a user-friendly site for an online copy of NJB.

Even if I feel sure about what the Bible says on a subject, I look up the verses to double-check and verify information. Often, this tiny bit of extra time brings a new insight or reveals something subtle. If so, I might meditate on that aspect of the topic, pray about it, and look for more information.

Sometimes a search leads me to a plain old dictionary but, more likely, to a Bible atlas, Bible dictionary, or Bible encyclopedia with most investigations also including the Catechism of the Catholic Church. At first, that book seems overwhelming, but like the encyclical letters of the Popes found on the Holy See website http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm, the Catechism is remarkably easy to understand. More importantly, the book compresses into a single volume the teachings and wisdom of the Church, including quotations cited from countless books that span many centuries. For in-depth research, those citations lead to other resources on a topic, while the "Subject Index" in the back of the Catechism provides a quick view of the headings and subheadings related to the subject. For those of us who knew the Bible first and the Church's position later, it's good to note that the Catechism remains consistently and blessedly in accordance with Holy Scripture. If you want to check it out online, you'll find full copies posted on the Internet.

Finally, I hope you'll check the archives on Catholic Exchange too, especially if you've missed a question I promised to discuss in this column. I believe those questions have now been researched and covered in conversations on Bible Talk as I intended before returning to my book-writing that's been on hold. I'd appreciate your prayers about that work, and you certainly have mine. In fact, I pray right now that God blesses your New Year and your ongoing search for a closer relationship with Christ and one another in keeping true to Christian love, the Bible, and the Church.

[Editor's note: Due to health challenges that she and her husband are facing, Mary Sayler has decided that keeping up with her publisher commitments will be demanding enough without continuing this column that she has donated to Catholic Exchange for nearly a year. On behalf of CE and our many readers who have enjoyed her fine and interesting contributions, I want to extend to Mary Sayler our warmest thanks and best wishes. Mary, the door is always open for you at CE should things change.

Dear Readers, her articles will be permanently archived here and our new search engine (going online within a couple of weeks) will enable her articles, along with the 40,000 others in our archives, to be accessed by keywords. ]