How I Started Sitting With Scripture as a Catholic Woman

Learning to Meet God Slowly Through His Word

For years, I loved God deeply, yet I felt distant from one of the primary ways He speaks to His people… Scripture. I prayed. I believed. I wanted a relationship with Him, but whenever I opened the Bible, I felt overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. No one had taught me how to read God’s Word, sit with it or let it shape my life. So I lived with a tension I couldn’t name. I needed to know God more intimately… I had many questions, doubts and needed to hear Him, but I didn’t know how to encounter Him beyond prayer and the grace I received through the sacraments, despite begin born Catholic, I didn’t understand my faith or God.

I didn’t grow up in a home where we regularly went to church, I loving call my family “B.C.” or birria Catholics.. if there was birria after a Mass, like a wedding, 15ñera or baptism we were there,  but outside of that we didn’t attend Mass at all. My parents didn’t open the Bible at the kitchen table, quote Scripture when life got hard or help me see the world through a biblical lens.

The one person I remember with a visible devotion to faith was my grandmother, her faith taught me some our tradition, but without Biblical understanding. Beyond that, faith often felt confusing. When I struggled, people would say things like “Just pray about it. Have faith. God can do anything.” While those words were well-intentioned, I often walked away feeling like something was missing.

I was praying, kind of.  I believed in God, sorted of… in my limited understanding of Him, but I really didn’t understand Him at all or how to hear Him. I thought prayer alone was supposed to change everything. If I prayed, believed or hoped hard enough, surely things would fall into place. What I didn’t understand was that God wasn’t only inviting me to speak to Him. He was inviting me to know Him and Scripture would become one of the ways He revealed His heart, especially when read within the life of the Church.

Learning to Begin

At first, opening the Bible felt intimidating. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t grow up around people who talked about Scripture. I wasn’t surrounded by family members who could explain passages, answer questions or apply God’s Word to difficult situations. So I compared myself to people who seemed to know so much more and convinced myself there was some secret I was missing. I thought there was a right way to read Scripture. A right amount to read. A right level of understanding I was supposed to have. That pressure kept me from asking questions. Looking back, I realize something important… the pressure wasn’t coming from God….. it was coming from me.

I thought mature Christians had all the answers. I thought confusion meant I was failing… that my questions were a sign of weak faith, but over time, God showed me something beautiful. Questions were never the problem, my fear was. As I learned more about the Catholic tradition, I discovered practices like Lectio Divina that gave me permission to slow down, listen & let God’s Word speak before trying to master it.

The Day I Stopped Being Afraid of My Questions

The moment I stopped being afraid to ask questions was the moment Scripture began to come alive, not because I suddenly understood everything, but because I finally gave myself permission to seek, ask, wrestle, learn and be taught. Some questions were answered quickly others took years and some are still unanswered. Sometimes I encountered people who dismissed my questions or made me feel small for asking them. In those moments I learned something important…. Not everyone is assigned to lead you to Truth and that’s okay. Instead of letting those experiences stop me, I learned to bless them and keep moving, because my hunger for God became greater than my fear of looking foolish. The more I sought Him, the more I found Him. Not a distant God or the version of God people projected onto Him, but the God who revealed Himself through His Word and through the life of His Church.

Matthew Changed My Life

I started in Genesis because I thought that’s where everyone was supposed to begin, but it was the Gospel of Matthew that changed my life. For the first time, I wasn’t learning about the version of God other people described. I was encountering Jesus Himself. I saw how He loved, corrected,  healed, pursued people. How He met brokenness with both truth and mercy and something began to shift in me. I wasn’t simply gathering information anymore, but beginning a relationship. The Jesus I met in Scripture was the same Jesus I encountered in the Eucharist & that connection deepened my faith in ways I never expected.

Consistency Changed More Than Intensity

One of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking I needed to read Scripture perfectly. I would read for a while, get confused, become discouraged & stop. Then I’d start again. Then stop again, but eventually I realized something. Jesus was not inconsistent with me… I was the one being inconsistent & despite this He was always there, waiting, inviting and ready to meet me again. That realization changed everything. I stopped treating Scripture like a test I had to pass and started treating it like time spent with Someone who loved me, even when I didn’t understand or got distracted… I kept showing up. Over time, that simple faithfulness became part of the rhythm of my Catholic life, alongside Mass, prayer & the changing seasons of the liturgical year.

Reading Scripture Is Like Working Out

Reading Scripture reminds me of working out. You don’t walk into a gym on day one & immediately know every machine, movement or exercise plan. You don’t become strong because of one intense workout, you become strong because you keep showing up, open to learn and through that you grow & build consistency. Scripture is much the same… you don’t need to understand everything today. You don’t need ten different Bibles or the perfect study method, just begin. Open the Bible, read slowly, ask questions, pray and return the next day. Over time, God will do what only He can do.

Often, He does that work through simple practices like prayerfully reading the daily readings, reflecting on them through Lectio Divina & bringing what you discover into conversation with Him.

What Helped Me Most

As I developed a daily rhythm, a few resources became invaluable. The daily Mass readings, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops daily readings, study Bibles, devotionals, journaling, but more than any resource, what helped me most was praying before I opened Scripture. Sometimes I would follow the simple movements of Lectio Divina… reading, meditating, praying & resting with the Lord. The more I invited God into the reading itself, the less pressure I felt to understand everything. Slowly, reading Scripture stopped feeling like homework. It began to feel like sitting down with a Father, Friend, Savior.

If You’re Just Beginning

Maybe you’re reading this and feeling exactly how I felt, confused and unsure where to start. Hermana, I want you to hear me… you are not behind or late and you do not have to understand everything before you begin. EVERYONE at some point didn’t know a single Bible verse.  If you want a simple place to start, set aside five minutes tomorrow. Open to one of the daily Mass readings or a chapter from the Gospel of Matthew. Begin with a short prayer…  “Lord, help me hear Your voice today.” Then read slowly, notice one verse that stands out and sit with it for a moment. Write it down if you can. Take all day or as long as you need to meditate on the verse. Ask questions, look into the context, who is the author of the book, who was the audience, what was going on in culture during that time etc.  You might even spend a few minutes practicing Lectio Divina, allowing that verse to move from your mind into your heart when you finish, thank God for meeting you there… that’s enough. You do not need a perfect routine or hours of study. You simply need a willing heart and the courage to return again the next day, because the same God who spoke through Scripture is still speaking today.

He delights in revealing Himself to those who seek Him. Trust that even on the days when you feel distracted or unsure, He is at work. Every small step toward His Word is a step toward deeper relationship with Him. Turn on your cafetera, pour the cafecito and open the Bible slowly. Start with a few verses and show up tomorrow, too & let Him show you His heart.

Download the Free Companion Guide

If you’ve ever wanted to spend time in Scripture but didn’t know where to begin, I created this guide for you… start slowly and prayerfully one page at a time.

SeñorasitwithScripture.pdf

Download PDF • 927KB

The same God who spoke through Scripture is still speaking today. The same God who met me in His Word is waiting to meet you there too. You do not need to have all the answers or to know every book of the Bible.

I pray this guide helps you slow down, listen for His voice & fall more deeply in love with Christ through His Word. I love you and Jesus loves you more freely, faithfully & completely than you can imagine.

With love and prayers,

Chef Jerlynn 🤎