X-ray technician writes Bible study for the masses

- WCR photo by Ramon Gonzalez Gwen Meding has published the first in a series of Bible studies on the Sunday readings.

By RAMON GONZALEZ
WCR Staff Writer
Hinton

Frustrated by the lack of user-friendly Bible studies in the marketplace, Gwen Meding decided to write her own.

Today, after seven years in the making, the first of Meding's three-part study is out in print and ready for use.

Published by Pleasant Word, a Washington-based publishing house, Come to Me follows the Sunday readings in the Catholic Lectionary and combines Scripture study, group discussion and prayer. Best of all, it is user-friendly and faithful to Catholic teaching.

"The Come to Me Bible study is a valuable aid to group Bible study and a sure way to a deeper understanding of the Sunday readings," says Basilian Father Brian Inglis, a former philosophy professor at St. Joseph's College who has been reviewing Meding's work.

"To study the readings in advance is to hear more clearly when they are proclaimed in the Eucharistic setting."

Starts in September

There will be 45 lessons in each of the three books. Next year Come and Drink will be released and Come and Rest the following year to complete the three years of the Lectionary. These studies cover from the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time in September until the Body and Blood of Christ the following June.

Meding, an X-ray technician at the Hinton Hospital and a mother of five, began writing her study after failing to find easy-to-use Catholic material. Every fall she would look for a Bible study for the following year but couldn't find anything user-friendly in Catholic bookstores.

The Protestant bookstore, on the other hand, would have many studies. But her ladies' group wanted a study with a Catholic approach. "So I started writing my own," she said in a recent interview.

She consulted the Scriptures, other Bible studies and got expert advice from scholars like Inglis, now pastor at Hinton's Our Lady of the Foothills Parish, to write her study.

Study and involvement

Meding is no Bible scholar but has learned a lot about the Bible through personal study, lectures, retreats and parish involvement. She has been involved in Bible study groups and has served in parish-based programs like the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults since 1984. Over the years she has taken countless courses, lectures and retreats.

For instance, she spent the weekend of Oct. 13-15 in Red Deer taking the Live In Jesus Retreat with her husband Ed. They have been attending the retreat for 23 years.

Meding's own Bible study group tried the Come to Me study and gave her an A plus, with group members saying it brings life to the Sunday readings for them. Other groups that have successfully tried the Come To Me study include ones in Bonnyville and Lloydminster.

The study uses simple language to explain each of the readings and uses reflection questions to apply the readings to daily life. The question that follows the reflection on the reading on wisdom, for example, is how important is wisdom to you and how do you seek it in your own life.

"This study is user-friendly to small groups," Meding says. "This puts it down to where the average person in the pew can relate and can relate it to their lives and grow."

Meding spent at least one day a week working on the study for the past seven years. "I averaged eight to 12 hours a lesson," she said.

To order Come to Me call 1-877-421-7323 or 360-802-9758 or go to www.amazon.ca.

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter