Even though I was born and raised Catholic, Scripture didn’t become an integral part of my prayer life until I was around 12 or 13 years old. I owe this particular shift to the example set by my parents, who rediscovered their faith and relationship with Christ through their involvement in the Charismatic movement. Attending prayer meetings and Bible studies, my love of praise and worship, serving at retreats — this was the lens through which I experienced the Catholic Church as a teenager and young adult, and is a foundation that I find myself still drawing from as a wife, whose husband grew up in the Protestant church, and as a mother, who understands the importance of providing children with meaningful and rich experiences that honor their capacity for God.

I say all this by way of introducing today’s featured resource, which is a Bible translation that was published in 2013, The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition. 

When I first got into reading the Bible, the only translation that appealed to my teenage sensibilities was the Life Application Bible for Students: The Living Bible. Yes, it was a paraphrase translation and no, it wasn’t a Catholic translation (although, there is a Catholic version of it (with an imprimatur and everything!), called The Way: The Catholic Living Bible which I totally remember seeing copies of in my parents’ house). However, for someone that had never read the Bible on her own and needed something that was engaging and easy to understand, this translation was a great jumping-off point.

In the same way, The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition is a resource that can prove useful for those of you who are looking for fresh ways to introduce Scripture to anyone who may not think it’s at all relevant for their lives (I’m looking at you, RCIA team members, youth ministers, young adult leaders!).

To take a look at some reviews, click here, here, here, and here.

To download samples from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition, click here.

To purchase from Amazon ($24.98 for paperback, $30.90 for hardcover), click here.

Some disclaimers:

• This is not a study Bible…but rather a “reading Bible,” aimed at helping Christians see an old message in a new way or sparking interest in seekers who found traditional Bibles boring. | source
• The Catholic/Ecumenical Edition is meant for use by anyone who values the deuterocanonical writings as either an integral part of the Bible or additional sacred texts worthy of reading and discussion. As such, The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition is not intended to be an “official” Bible of the Catholic Church for use at Mass or for formal catechetics. It was therefore not necessary or even appropriate for us to seek USCCB approval or an imprimatur from a specific bishop. | source

Have any of you had any experience with this translation? Sound off in the comments!