Dear Mark,
I appreciate your humor and your Catholic direction. And also am very thankful for the Catholic Exchange Bible Studies of which you are a large part. Our St. Francis Parish in Thermopolis, Wyoming is in our fourth study, Exodus, already having completed John, James, and Ephesians. We are a group of about 17 with 2 classes every Tuesday, year-round for the most part except when I travel. I shared the facilitating (kind of teaching) of an ecumenical Bible study (mostly Baptist) for about 10 years through the New Testament and then mostly through the Torah, stopping just before the end of Deuteronomy.
Because our Catholic Church had not offered Bible studies of any continuity for the last 30 years I believed that God would open a door in our church for a layman to share the Bible. When I saw Catholic Exchange hyped in our statewide Catholic Register and checked out the site with an accompanying prepared Bible study, I knew God had a plan for us. What a wonderful job you and the other 3 authors have done with this Bible study! One of our 73-year-old students remarked, “Where has this been all my life?” One of my favorite scriptures is from chapter 14 of John's Gospel: “I have said all these things while still with you but the Advocate the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.” As a group we believe the Holy Spirit is our teacher and we pray to be open and receptive to all the truth He showers on us, with us, in us, and through us. And to you and yours we owe a debt of gratitude for providing us with such an extraordinary vehicle to increase our communion with the living God.
Thank you and know that you are in our prayers.
Don Kraske
Dear Don:
Thanks for your wonderfully encouraging note! It's always thrilling to us to hear that people are getting in touch with the Word of God through our efforts and discovering how rich and deep the Catholic faith is as a result. May God be praised for His wonderful revelation to us in Christ and for your good work in His Vineyard!
Blessings on your continuing participation in Catholic Catholic Scripture Study!
Mark Shea
Editor-in-Chief
Catholic Scripture Study
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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