Transcript for BONUS: Bringing the Bible Back to Catholics (with Jeff Cavins)- 2022

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schwitz, and I want to welcome you to the Bible in a year podcast. With me today is Mr. None other than the illustrious, the inimitable, the incomparable, the infamous, Mr. Jeff Kavins. Hey, you're going to be with you. I'm so grateful for actually we're gonna as we kick off like this this podcast is Bible any ear podcast on one of the things that I think it needs to be said before anything else is that this Bible any ear podcast is following basically a Templeit that you designed that that you came upon when it came to the Great Adventure Bible timeline which has probably I don't want to just start this whole thing off by by going over the top but for me I've said this many times I've told this to anyone who asks or anyone who will listen that that great adventure Bible timeline was the most significant most significant tool that I've ever encountered that ever I've ever used that has gotten me more There's nothing that has been better to get me more deeply into the Bible than the Great of Incherbabel timeline. And I'm just really grateful not only for you and for that, but also that here you are now as we begin this Catholic Bible or the Bible in the ear podcast that we get to use this thing that has changed my life, maybe more than any other study I've ever done in my entire life.

Yeah, I'm, I'm overwhelmingly excited about it for not only for like anyone who's going to be listening to this and going to be journeying with us, but for even the people that I know that are in my life. So I have a sister and a brother-in-law. I've a couple sisters and brothers and law, but one in particular, who got the great adventure Bible. Maybe I guess maybe three or four months ago now. And maybe a little longer than that, I think it was April. Time just all happens. But she not only got the great adventure Bible, but she also was like, hey, what's a good Bible study? I'm like, okay, the great adventure Bible timeline, you need to do it. So she and her husband started it and I was over at their house a couple days ago and I picked up her great adventure Bible and I saw that that ribbon was still somewhere in the book of Genesis and I'm like oh I'm so grateful because the the podcast is going to help people who are trying to get through who just like you know he kind of bought him out sometimes you just kind of get the log jam becomes so much that it's like how do I break through to the next book and keep on moving because that's one of the things that I found when it came to reading the Bible and when it came to doing the Great Adventure Bible timeline is that sometimes it was like oh shoot I can't sit down right now or I'm not finding the time or making the time to sit down and reading through the next section. that a whole idea of being on the podcast is like, oh, no, you just get to let the word of God kind of wash over you in a different way. And to be able to not just get through it, that's not the point, but to allow it to get through to you really by the word of God being proclaimed. So not only for the people who be listening, but also for my family members who, you know, all of us at times can struggle to like, let's keep on going, let's keep on moving through the word of God and let it keep changing us and let it keep shaping our lens.

Yeah, I know it will be idea behind the whole thing was, was, is what I found myself doing is I found myself listening to a lot of, you and I've talked about this in, you know, just in various phone calls over the last six months. But one of the things I found myself doing was, I was taking in all this input. I was listening to a lot of different voices when it came to different podcasts and YouTube videos. People who are teachers who I think like, you have something good to say, you have something wise to say that is enlightening and is informative and it's actually forming me. But what I found was that there were times when I would listen to these some of these people who, again, I'm grateful for. But I wasn't thinking with the mind of Christ. And so then what I would do is I've listened to scripture because I love audiobooks. And so one of the audiobooks I have is the Bible. And I found that when I would listen to the Bible. I wouldn't just get more information and wouldn't just be reminded of a story or introduced to a new story that maybe I had forgotten or whatever the thing is or a new element. But it was that my lens, my worldview was being shaped. And I don't know if you, I'm sure you've heard the story saying nature is a little low when he had broken his leg and he was convalescing and I think it's sister in law's house or something like this. And he used to read romance novels of stories of like the glory of a knights and whatnot. And he'd also read stories of the saints and life of Jesus. And he said that after he read those stories of those knights, he said, oh, during while I was reading them, I felt like charge it up. I wouldn't want it to live like that. But afterwards, I kind of like a sugar crash, which is kind of like this disappointment he experienced versus reading the life of Christ. He was lifted up, but in afterwards, he was sustained. It was like this sense of like this was something not just inspiring, not just powerful, but it was something that was good and true and beautiful, that had lasting effect. And that's what I found. I found that when I listened to scripture, that it had this lasting effect in me that because it had shaped my lens of looking at the world. Or reminded me of like, I just hear some example. I was reading the book of judges and you know that that sense of the last line of in those days there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes in that sense of man the lawlessness kind of a sense or people who are striving after the Lord but then unfaithful to him and this how God continued to work with their brokenness was one of the things that just again it kept reminding me as a touch point and kept shaping how I was living through like, general pandemic times and living through just trying to be with others in the midst of their brokenness and their crises of their lives. And it just, again, it wasn't just like I got a nugget of, here's a nugget of truth or here's a little kernel of something good. It was more like, again, my lens or the way I was looking at the world and really interpreting What I was going through, living through was being shaped. It was being like, fashioned. And so that was a, that was a really big conviction of like, I think we need to do this from a real solidly Catholic perspective. And I don't think of a more powerful perspective than to go through it via the Great Adventure Babel timeline.

Well, I think that you nailed it when he said that one of the things the great adventure timeline does and I think this podcast is is shooting for is to get the story, not just the stories and and I love that because so we are talking before we started recording about like our original our first Bibles and I went to get my first Bible and I So next to it, my actual kind of first Bible, my first Bible is this one. It's the picture Bible, which is like a comic book Bible. It's, it's awesome. It is this like every page is, there's the underlined chapter. So I have underlined a highlighted notes, but this was, I got this for my first Holy Communion. So now I was in second grade, still have it. And I lent it to my little sister when her first Holy Communion lent it to my little brother, took it back after he got done with it. And now what I do for all of my nieces and nephews is there is a new version of this called the action Bible that they know their parents know that Uncle Father Mike is going to give them an action Bible for this all this all the second graders when they get it because part of it is like you said it can be so daunting for us as as anyone as Christians as specifically as Catholics like I don't because I don't want to get it wrong I think one of the things that as Catholics we have is going for us and kind of going against us is we don't want to get it wrong we don't want to read it and misinterpret it we don't want to read it and misunderstand it And so it's kind of like there's hesitation. And so what I've always wanted to do with my knees is nephews is get them started by having something that's accessible. And then the really cool thing is my oldest nephew, I think he was the first one that I ever gave the action Bible to. He went to one of our camps and that one of, if for Ancient Your High, so sixth grade. And in a camp, we said, you know, all campers, what we want you to do is want you to get your Bible, your actual Bible, and read 10, 15 minutes a day. Max is his name. Max just started doing it. He would have it in the car when his parents were driving him to this and that and he'd just read the Bible. I remember it being so struck by a couple of things. One was years later, He's a senior this year. So a couple of years ago, one of his cousins, one of my nieces, second grade, got the action Bible, and then her parents got her, like a, pack of trivia cards based off the action Bible, just kind of like, and it was, things like this. The first question was, who am I? And it had a list of identifiers, and the first identifier of this person, guess who I am, was some of Kush. And Max, here he is, as a probably at that point, maybe 15 or 14 year old, maybe 15 year old. He was like, oh, King Saul. What? Oh my gosh. How did you know that? He's like, well, it's in the Bible. You told us that camp to read it 10 to 15 minutes a day. So, of course, I do. And I'm just like, man, oh, man, and even just last week, and I was talking with him. And the way that even just starting at sixth grade, and now he's in 12th grade, those six years of regular, not perfect, but regular exposing himself to scripture, he just knew so much. We just came out in a normal conversation of just, oh, such and such about scripture. And that's the thing is like, That's the goal, right? That's one of the things we want is for all Catholics, not just those who have gone through the great adventure and not just those who, as you said, social media or here on our campus, but all Catholics to be able to say, this is accessible to me and I know it, it gets in my bones. So my question for you, I'm gonna throw this back to you, is when did you first let the word of God like, when did it first like impact you, get in your bones?

Well, how is your grandfather? So he was a Catholic Bible read home.

What's that? That word legacy has just been it's been like kind of turning around in my heart my mind lately and what you're describing I've just thinking of that with both with your mother-in-law and their grandfather here

I love it. That's awesome. The, you mentioned, you had your, your first, I had my picture Bible, but at one point, I had, I knew I was in high school, and the paper was probably 1991. I think it was one it was. So 30 plus years ago, or 30 less, I don't know, 29, I'm not sure. I'm not good at math. It's read the Bible. I had asked my parents for Christmas, for a Bible of mine, like an adult Bible. I remember specifically, I didn't have an adult Bible, like a big kids Bible. And as this new American Bible that has been, I've duct taped, this is like the I think the fourth of duct taped together, but just like even I look back through this. And I think like here are not just my markings, like just my notes inside the Bible that I'll go back to when I was in high school. and reading is particularly you mentioned like when it came to like having that that word of hope that you don't you know is inside yeah you don't even have to necessarily even pick it up sometimes just to be like nope there it is that's God's word to me I remember just how many times going to confession even the high school and having the pre say okay go home and read Psalm 51 and so just like that's this is the Bible that I got to know Psalm 51 this you know Psalm of David in his repentance and asking for forgiveness and being forgiven. Lord, wash me more and more for my sin and it's just like it's viable almost falls open to that page in so many ways because it's like even back in high school, these priests would direct me to read the Bible even after a confession as that sense of like not just as your penance, but also get back to the Lord's word. Let him speak. through you, words that you don't even necessarily have in you. And that's the thing, too, is like right when we read the Lord's word, that he's giving us words that we don't even have sometimes. Then if I could say, if I could pray a prayer for repentance, it would sound like this, but I don't have those words. And so I can pray them because God has given us the words. It's just so incredible.

You take it from there. Yeah, no, and thank you for that because that was the whole, you know, it was kind of the revolutionary part of this. There are, I think, a number of Bible in a year reading plans. There are probably even a number of Bible in a year podcasts that exist, but I don't know of any that a followed the narrative books and b have like you said the sprinkling of those other books and trying to have them as much in context as possible because I mean, gosh, we think about, like you said, here are the profits. Well, just to kind of dive in, it's kind of what we do at mass, right? We have the electionary and all of a sudden, in the first Sunday that event, we're here at Isaiah 63 64. And then the second Sunday that event, we have Isaiah 40. What is the context for this? And so the idea behind this whole thing that we wanted to do was contextualize the entire Bible, right? To have that, here's part of the story. Here's what I'm now, here's Isaiah speaking into this problem that's going on with, you know, the kingdom of Judah. And that sense of like being able to say, here's the, the culture of penance is now specific to these people, but also obviously timeless in the sense that it's our call as well. So right off the bat, if anyone's downloaded the Bible in a year reading plan, You can see that after day 11 we have you know Genesis 1 through 11 or day 5 Genesis 1 through 11 with some Psalms and there and Proverbs and whatnot and then we kick off here is the story of the patriarchs or the era of the patriarchs and you have Genesis 12 and we start the beginning of the book of Job as well. That's the kind of like this okay this This parallel track of not only the unfolding of the patriarchs, but also here's the story of this man Joe who asks the most ancient of questions, if God is good, then why do I suffer? If God is good, then Why am I going through what I'm going through? And so it's just this remarkable, I think it's really cool. And also when we get to Exodus, that's when we begin Leviticus, which would be then kind of this again simultaneously as we unfold the law. In Leviticus, we also are hearing the story of God setting as people free in Exodus and saying, look, I need to give you some structure to your lives as I begin to build you up into a new people. And just add, I'm really excited about how that all fit together so we'll be reading every day as I said something from the narrative books until we get halfway into the year give or take we're going to be really living with the profits because there's more profits than there are narrative books and but up until then we have like some narrative and then we have those I don't want to say ancillary books or supplementary because they're all still Right, verifiably the words of all the word of God. Exactly. With some commentary and not a ton of commentary in the sense of it's not necessarily a study every day, but it's meant to kind of pull out some nuggets every day. I've just here is something that might be difficult to understand or here is something that just it's worth reflecting on or it's worth like let's just underline and highlight this phrase or this idea in this particular section that God is trying to communicate to us. And so it's meant to be in some ways a guided tour, as well as just proclamation. And that's one of the things I love about. the idea of the podcast is here is the word of God proclaimed out loud. And I think in so many ways that I know for myself, I learn best through my years. And especially the word of God, what I've found is it gets to my heart more quickly when it goes through my years. I don't know why, but maybe it's because the word doesn't have to explain.

Yeah, no, thanks a great question. Um, because my hope originally was this this vision of changing one's vision. Like really was that was was allowing oneself to be like shaped fashion by the word of God. Um, so that was it. I mean, that was that was my first That's all I can see this as, as just like we're allowing God Himself to fashion us with His Word. So we're looking at the world differently. But then I was thinking more and more about it and thinking, you know, there's a certain rootedness as well that I just would love for more and more Catholics to become more deeply grounded, not just in, not just in the Word of God, but in God's will itself. I think a lot of times not only do we struggle to know how to read the Bible, I think a lot of us struggle with knowing how to pray. And so not just here's a fashion in my world view, but also this is now allowing me to find myself in my rootedness, in hearing God's word proclaimed, and then meditating on God's word. I could really truly be able to turn that transition this, not just from information, but to real transformation by the power of prayer. So I'm meditating on God's word, and it's actually Changing not only the way I see the world, that's the vision stuff, but it's changing how I now relate with the Lord. Like I really talk to God in a new way because his heart has been revealed to me by what he's done through these narrative books, what he's done through his word, what he's done through his prophets. And then thirdly, I have the sense I'm becoming more and more convicted. as we get closer and closer to this kind of the start-up kick-off date is of the community that I believe this will form online. I think the online community of people going through that you've experienced this when it comes to the great adventure.

Really studying. Yeah. That's phenomenal. And so like that sense of like, they're probably together. But there's that certain element, I think of all the people who will be listening that there's a sense of like, okay, I'm not doing this alone. If you're on here, I am on day 63. I'm going to continue not only because I'm getting formed and I'm getting more deeply related to the Lord, but also because I'm not alone. And that my hope is that there's a community that of people that are praying with each other and praying for each other as we're listening to the word of God and journeying through the word of God. Yeah, that's that's my third hope. So there's three things that that vision that rootedness and prayer and then that there's a community of people that comes out of this that's willing and able to support each other in prayer and in our session and yeah, brotherhood and sisterhood.

That's incredible because because it is that sense of here is these story, but I'm finding my story in these story and I'm finding myself so it's not it's not just an ancient book, well full of wisdom but it is speaking to me right now and calling me to act in a certain way right now, right? That sense of I think again we both have experienced that when it comes to I know that when I first started reading the Bible a lot of what I was looking for was answers I was looking for answer not just into some of the big questions of life. I was looking for answers of like, what should I do? What can I do right now? God, are you calling me this way or that way? And I wanted to play the Bible, you know, where it's just like flip open the book. And I figured on the page and it's like, go be a priest now or don't go a be a priest, Mary Karen, you know, like, that this sense of like, that I didn't find that. To ever be, to be the case. What about my life, Lord Jesus, what? But in that, over the course of time, realizing just because I wasn't getting an answer to that specific question in the specific way that I wanted. Every time I went back to the Word of God, God was calling me forward, not just like, here's another thing to know, but here is my voice and gosh, and you've taught me so much about this, but in so many ways, Jesus says, I know my sheep and they know me, and they recognize my voice, and they do not recognize the voice of strangers, but they do recognize my voice. And the more and more I think that we expose ourselves to God's words and more and more we know like, oh, this is the voice of God versus know that is the voice of a counterfeit or that's the voice of the destroyer or the thief, the liar. And yeah, I think so many so many of us can be really held hostage. by those false voices. I think too many of us, maybe, are held hostage by those voice of the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. And to few of us know how to really, really truly identify the voice of our Lord, the voice of the shepherd. Who calls us to, you know, obviously repentance, but it calls us to freedom, it calls us to life. And reminds us, like you, yeah, like your mother-in-law had said, Jeff, here is what God wants to say about you and about how he sees you and his love for you.

So I prefer to underline and to bracket in my Bible. I will write in the front and I'll write in the back. So you mentioned how you have some dates, some key moments in your life. I have on some of the pages, intro pages, I have things like Some, some, some things that the Lord spoke to me through his word or other people that I just like, here is here is this, ah, these images. And then they're almost a little bit too close. I don't know if I can say them out loud. And so, um, so I do write, but I don't necessarily always write little notes in the margin. But you, I know you do.

Yep, absolutely, and I have so many, oh gosh. And also, I like, because of you as well, highlighter. So I have different colors of highlighter when it comes to like, here's breaking down some ideas. I mean, there are so many areas in here. Every one of the gospels is just marked with pink and blue and yellow.

Yeah. Well, no, I'm glad you asked that question before that, though. I do want to emphasize what you just said, which is, so I, when I'm reading, I'm reading from the Great Adventure. Bible. And one of the things that can happen is I can hear it. And then like, oh, that was really good. But if I don't have a way of capturing it, then it can elude me the next day. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I remember this, but I, so what I need to do is even as I'm hearing, I need to go back and say, okay, that, like you said, here's the underlying, here's the highlighting. Here's even that notation, because it's one of the things where we are, we can take in a lot of stuff, but at some point, the sieve gets a little leaky. And so I need to go back and say that was this, I need to have an actual tangible record of even what I heard, which I think is just so good. Well, you're vital.

Well, it's almost like one of those, um, that's like Matt, my run type apps. Oh, yeah. You know, you take the phone with you and you want to bike ride, you want to run, whatever. And then it says, this is where you were. And it's kind of good to be able to look back, because I know where I was. But I know, this is the route I took. And on this corner, that's right. That's that big hill right there. And there's something about it that you have a record of where you've been. That then we have a greater sense of where we're going and what God is doing as opposed to not having any record just our memories. And how many times do scripture talk about, like remember, remember what the Lord has done? Remember how he delivered your ancestors from slavery? Remember these things because Why? Because we forget. God has to tell us to remember so often because we forget so often. Yeah, so I just, that's a, I think the having that written recorded record is.

believe it as you noted like I mean there are there are so many times while I'll listen to um people who are like coaching when it comes to parishes and they one of the things that happens in some of these coaching seminars or these like great parishes like amazing parish being one of those things they talk about how often staffs on parishes don't necessarily talk about their faith. They don't actually talk about their relationship with the Lord. They are just doing the business of running a parish or serving their parishioners. And so this could be one of those really like what do you call like easy access like low barrier ventry kind of ways for like having that discussion of saying like on the way to work. I listen to the podcast at you know 1.5 speed and I got through the whole thing and 10 to 15 minutes or whatever the thing it takes because there's an opportunity there. I'd actually, you know, when you mentioned that on the way to work, that was the thing. I remember talking with this man named Todd and Todd owns a CrossFit gym. in Baxter, he used to before he moved down to Florida with his family. And he was saying, he's like, hey, I joined the gym with my sister and brother and brother and brother were there. And they said, hey, come along with us. And so I'm talking to Todd. And at one point, he talked about his commute to work at, you know, four in the morning to be there before the 5am class. And I said, what do you do on that drive? You're like, oh, no, no, no, that's the favorite part of my favorite part of the day is my drive in. Because I was like, how come he's like, because I listen to the Bible? And really, and he's like, yeah, I just love, that's part of my devotions every morning as I'm driving to my gym and I'm listening to God's Word and it just shapes the rest of my day. And even him saying that, sparked our conversation about, I mean, he knew I was a priest and everything, but it gave like permission to be able to talk about the deeper things because he had been shaped that morning by God's Word and just who's living inside of him. And I think that that is one of the goals.

Love her the ideas. Well, it's such an idea. Yeah, that's the thing. It's like I think this out of this community are going to be a lot of ideas of what works, what doesn't work, what's worked for some people and some families, what's worked for some individuals. And I think that that could be a Again, I'm just looking forward to the community that's going to be formed out of this interceding. I'll be happy with each other, but also giving each other ideas of like here's how, I mean, like you mentioned, you can share podcasts. So here is a poignant reading from scripture that they struck someone. They actually have the ability to share, share to their family members, share to friends, share to social media and say this was something that struck me today. I've gots word. that has changed my day, has changed my heart.

Right, fine. That's, you still permission to do that.

Well, yeah, because you just, you know, you want to keep it clean. Um, do you, do you bullet journal?

But in that, you know, I started doing that a bunch of years ago, probably also from you. And, you know, you see people's light, their layouts, or their spreads, and you're like, I need to make it perfect. And then you get to the place where you have to cross stuff out, and like, well, I need a new journal now, because I had to cross stuff out, it doesn't look perfect. But when you start writing your Bible and you're like, oh, I misspelled this word out across it out and re-correct. Like, oh, it's okay. Like, it's completely fine to be able to mark up your Bible and not have it look pristine because I mean, also that's kind of life in many, many ways. Well, you know what I did?

You go for it.

Yeah. One last thing before we might have to end our time right now. But you mentioned you holding up the Bible timeline and the whole of the color coded and we get to the Messianic age being the gold. One great thing about this is we had looked at this and said, wait, we have these 14 narrative books. We're going to be doing this chronologically. We won't get to the New Testament until, I don't know, somewhere in November. And that doesn't seem right. And so what we were able to do was we were able to insert Messianic checkpoints. And so roughly threeish months into the timeline, three months into the podcast, we have a week of the gospel. And we go through one gospel in roughly a week, every quarter. And so that sense of like being able to even just kind of like zoom out and say, okay, you know what has been said, which is, here is the Old Testament hidden or revealed in the new and the New Testament hidden in the old. These Messianic checkpoints being opportunities of like, I'm so excited about them too because I just keep imagining and just anticipating The community of people who will be listening and going through the Bible with us, to be able to take in an entire gospel in a week. And just to allow it to just like, that was the story. That was how Mark, how Peter proclaimed the gospel, the of Mark. And here's how Matthew proclaimed the gospel via his gospel. And I love this, how it's going to happen. And just to know that around the world, there are Catholics who are going to be hearing the entire gospel in one week. at four different times throughout the course of the year. And it's like, oh, it's genius.

Right. Which I'm excited. I'm so worried, and very honored. Thank you very much. We only did that because, again, if there's anyone, I sound like I began this whole thing with maybe too much praise, not true, not too much praise. I want to end up with too much praise, but I don't think anyone person has taught me more about scripture than you have. And that's nine years of theology, undergrad, and major seminary. And even studying afterwards, I don't think there's anyone who's taught me more. And so I'm so grateful for your willingness to be part to do that, is well, not only to create this, but also to continue to contribute.

So good. Ah, thank you. Amen. It's going to be good.

Yes. So they can go to wherever they're listening to their podcast and they can subscribe. Just go to Bible in a year, podcast with Father Mike Schmitz. They can also text the word Catholic Bible, which is two words, but scrunch them together with no spaces. Catholic Bible to the number three, three, seven, seven, seven. Or they can download the Bible reading plan by going to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. It's all one word again, Bible in a year, ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. And they'll get the reading plan and they'll get updates. And yeah, that's the best way to get in contact and get connected.

Father, we ask that you please hear this prayer and receive our thanks. We receive our praise. Thank you for not withholding yourself from us, but for giving yourself to us so fully through your word and through your word made flesh by giving us sacred scripture, by giving us sacred tradition, by giving us this teaching office of the church that we can just stand upon your promises, we can stand upon your truth, we can stand upon All that you've revealed to us, and we just give you praise and thank you for this. Thank you for the given us this opportunity. Thank you for the technology that exists, that not only are we able to have this conversation now, but we're able to, wherever we are, have access to your word proclaimed to us. Thank you for this opportunity to do this Bible in a year podcast. and we thank you in advance for all that you will accomplish in us and through this. May you be praised and glorified, may you be loved throughout the world and especially in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Father, Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Talk later. Thanks.