Book Reviews2 Bible insights for everyday Catholics: Mother Angelica's wisdom about living the Scriptures

Jul 3, 2021

Mother Angelica, the Foundress of EWTN, was known for her no-nonsense, insightful and frequently humorous faith-filled answers to complex and painful issues in life. Her best seller book “Answers not promises" attest to that God-given ability.

But what happens when that same spiritual wit is applied to reading the Bible? The answer is the latest EWTN Publishing release, "Living the Scriptures," which compiles her best on-air presentation and meditations about the Holy Scriptures that shows how they are not a complicated puzzle meant for pensive biblical scholars, but a divine guide for our everyday spiritual life.

“When you read Scripture, Jesus is speaking to you,” Mother Angelica notes. “And every event in His life, every parable, everything He said, everything he did, everything that was done to Him by others, is all a part of our daily lives.”

Mother’s unique gift was highlighting lines of the Bible that, although challenging at first glance, are meant to yield breakthroughs in our own spiritual life.

The book helps you learn, as the editors explain:

• How Christ intended His words to Mary Magdalene to be completely transformative for us.

• How the Gospels correct our misunderstandings about repentance.

• Why St. Paul said, “You must stay awake, praying for all the saints.”

• Why Jesus was confronted with seemingly hopeless situations such as wine running out at a wedding.

• How the leper Christ cured teaches us not to “make demands of God.”

One of the many moving passages you will find in the book: "I want to leave that with you: 'My food is to do the will of the one who sent me.' For most of us, unfortunately, the will of God is often not food. It is something that nags us, something we rebel against, something we regret, something that is never quite in union with God’s will. But if you want to know what it means to be holy, it is really very simple. This one sentence is all it takes for you and me to become holy. Our food must be to do the will of the One Who sent us into the world. We were chosen by God before time began to be created in this time in history, each one of us with some mission. Maybe we don’t even know it. Maybe we will never know it. But whatever we are doing, it is, for this moment anyway, either the permitted or ordained will of God. Make the most of it.”

Mother Angelica's Living the Scriptures - EWTN Publishing