The Holy Bible 

Sister - Brother, Do you know the book that is translated into the most number of languages in the world? 

Brother - O, Yes I know, it is the Bible. 

Sister - Oh! don’t say like that. The Bible is a Sacred Book. It is the most Sacred Book for us Catholics. We should speak of it as the Holy Bible. The Word of God is found there. Therefore we must use it with great respect. We must take it and give it with both hands. 

Brother - Then sister, don’t we keep it on the book shelf? 

Sister - Yes brother, we shouldn’t put any other book on the Holy Bible. We should keep it in a clean special place with a vase of flowers and a lighted lamp. Let us also use it like that. 

Brother - How is it sister, that the Holy Bible is such a big book? 

Sister - All information regarding the history of Salvation is found in the Holy Bible. It is a library in itself, brother. There are 73 books in the Holy Bible. It is divided into two parts. The Old Testament and the New Testament. 

Brother - Why is it, that the Holy Bible is in two parts sister? 

Sister - The period before the birth of Jesus Christ is explained in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we find about the life of Jesus Christ and first Christian Church. In the Old Testament it is also recorded about the historical incidents about God and how God’s revelation was revealed through the patriarchs and prophets. There are 46 books in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we see how God’s revelation was brought into fullness through Jesus Christ. It also shows us that salvation of the whole human race brought to us through Jesus Christ. There are 27 books in the New Testament. 

Brother - Then the Holy Bible is a very valuable book, isn’t it sister? 

Sister - Yes, It is not only one book a library of books. The Holy Bible is the foundation of our faith, hope and also our Christian life. It took more than 1000 years for many Bible writers to compose it. Therefore there should be a Holy Bible in every home. 

The first five books of the Holy Bible are known as the Pentateuch. Many names are used for the Pentateuch. 

✴️ Torah 

✴️ The Torah of Moses 

✴️ The Law 

✴️ The Law of Moses 

In Hebrew the Pentateuch is called “Torah” These are the five books of the Pentateuch 

The Book of Genesis 

This is the first book of the Holy Bible. We learn from this book, how God created man, because of His infinite love and mercy; how God choose the people of Israel to save fallen man; how God fulfilled the promises made to our forefathers. Let us read the lesson attentively and try to understand how much God loves each one of us and how we too must love each other in the same way. 

The contents of the book of Genesis in brief: 

✴️ Creation of man and the universe by God 

✴️ The first sin of Adam and Eve 

✴️ The story of Cain and Abel 

✴️ Noah and the Great Flood 

✴️ The Tower of Babel 

✴️ How the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph placed their faith in God. 

The book of Exodus 

The content of the book of Exodus in brief 

✴️ The oppression of the Israelites by king Pharaoh 

✴️ God saves the Israelites from the slavery of King Pharaoh in Egypt and brings them back to the promised land 

✴️ Receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai 

✴️ Mission of Moses. 

God invites all of us to experience the love, care and protection as the Israelites experienced in the wilderness. Let us remember that we too must love God tenderly 

Out of 27 books of the New Testament the first four books are called the “Gospels”. They are named after the author who wrote them. Each author, using his own point of view, wrote about Jesus’ birth, His mission and teachings, and about His death and resurrection. These four Gospels; written by four Evangelists about the life of Jesus, are the focal point of all the Scriptures. 

1. Gospel of Matthew written by St. Mathew. 

2. Gospel of Mark written by St. Mark. 

3. Gospel of Luke written by St. Luke. 

4. Gospel of John written by St. John. 

1. Gospel of Matthew 

St. Matthew was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus. He was a tax collector before he was called by Jesus. After he was called by Jesus, he became one of the faithful disciples of Jesus and experienced Him in many ways. He wrote his Gospel to prove that Jesus was the Messiah who was expected by the Jews. He also showed how most of the Prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus. He begins his Gospel with the Genealogy of Jesus. The symbol of his Gospel is a figure of a man. 

2. Gospel of Mark 

Mark was not an apostle of Jesus. He was a disciple of St. Peter. He was also known as John Mark. He had been a translator for Peter. Therefore we can think that he received information about Jesus from St. Peter. He begins his Gospel with the preaching of John de Baptist. The symbol of this Gospel is a lion. Because he preached in a powerful voice M.K. 1:3 

3. Gospel of St. Luke 

St. Luke was not an apostle of Jesus. He was a Physician, a historian and a painter. The only ‘Gentile’ who wrote a gospel was St. Luke. He had been with St. Paul in his missionary journeys. He has written his gospel after gathering information from various sources. We come across some hymns of praise, prayers and also information regarding some pious ladies. In His Gospel he proves that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the whole human race and not only of the Jews. He begins his gospel with the sacrifice of Zechariah. Bull was a sacrificial offering at that time. Therefore his symbol is a bull (ox) 

4. Gospel of St. John 

St. John was an apostle of Jesus. His brother great St. James was also an apostle of Jesus. Before the call of Jesus they were fishermen. Sebadee and Salome were their parents. Mother Mary was a cousin of Salome. So both those apostles were cousins of Jesus. His teachings are very deep and unfathomable beyond human understanding. Therefore the symbol for this Gospel is an eagle. John himself said that the purpose of his Gospel was: “These things are written that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and by believing Christ's coming, you may have eternal life". 

Christ’s coming into this world is Good News. Because by Jesus' coming into this world the whole human race was saved.