Report
The CCBI Commission for Bible organized an online meeting of the Regional Secretaries / Directors of the Bible Commissions. It was held on 10th November 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. It was attended by the Chairman of the Commission, Most Rev. Antonysamy Peter Abir, two member bishops, Most Rev. Raja Rao and Most Rev. John Rodrigues, the Executive Secretary, Rev. Fr. A. John Baptist and nine regional Secretaries. The purpose of the meeting was to review the situation of Biblical Pastoral Ministry at this Neo- Normal time of pandemic.
The meeting began with the reading from the Bible and a prayer led by Rev. Fr. Francis Xavier (Karnataka Region). Rev. Fr. A. John Baptist, Executive Secretary, welcomed the gathering. The Chairperson, in his presidential address, bringing to light the situation in which we live now, situated the Biblical Pastoral Ministry in India. What is the role of the Word of God at this time? According to him Word of God gives encouragement. The Pope exhorts us not to fear reminding us about the presence of God among us during this tragic situation. Drawing inspiration from Fratelli Tutti of Pope Francis He also insisted on living the Word of God,. He exhorted the participants to concentrate on these two levels and plan their Biblical Pastoral Ministry accordingly. He also welcomed the two new regional secretaries who are joining the group for the first time, Rev. Fr. Jose Joseph Kollemkunnel, SVD (M. P.) and Rev. Fr. Sylvanus Xalxo (Chhattisgarh Region).
Then the regional secretaries introduced themselves and briefed the Biblical Pastoral Ministry that they were doing during this pandemic. Rev. Fr. Kiran Babu of Telugu Region spoke of the printing and distribution of Telugu Bible. Most Rev. Raja Rao, the chairman of Telugu region spoke of the Revision of Telugu Bible and printing in different formats, commentaries on the Gospels, Bible apostolate in online platforms, Bible Diaries in Telugu, App for daily reading and biblical apostolate in print media. Rev. Fr. Laurence Culas of Kerala region briefed of the online meeting of the Diocesan Secretaries of this region. He also said about Lectio Divina of Sunday Readings, Yearly Logos Bible Competition, Bible Diploma Course, App for the daily reading, Bible Diary and hand written Bible. Rev. Fr. Ubald of Tamilnadu region narrated about the Bible Correspondence Course, Bible Quiz, plan of reading the Bible in a year, Bible Diary, Bible Month (month of September), Bible Week (last week of September) and Bible Sunday (last Sunday of September), sale of copies of Bible and revision of Tamil Bible. Rev. Fr. Wilfred Moras of Agra region reported about the Logos Bible Quiz, Bible writing competition, and lessons on Bible in the YouTube. Rev. Fr. Francis Xavier of Karnataka region narrated about the revision of Kannada Bible in collaboration with BSI (Bible Society of India) and Youcat Bible in Kannada, Bible Quiz, and Bible games in the online. Rev. Fr. Lui Heredia of Western region spoke of the Biblical Pastoral Ministry at the Diocesan level such as short term and long-term Bible courses, commentaries and publications. Fr. Sylvanus of Chhattisgarh Region spoke of distributing the Bible and his future plan of meeting the diocesan secretaries. Rev. Fr. Prasant Kumar Digal, Odisha Region, spoke of prayer and Bible Apostolate through Zoom platform.
Rev. Fr. A. John Baptist, Executive Secretary briefed about some of the activities of the National Bible Commission such as release of the Book, Faith Working through Love: Evangelization and its Horizons, Online Class once a month and you tube channel of the Commission. Then there was a discussion on how to promote the proposed Postal and Online Bible Correspondence Courses. The Regional Secretaries agreed that they would promote it in their respective regions. It was also agreed that when the sufficient number of admissions are reached and the present situation improves then we can start the postal Bible Correspondence Course. It was agreed that we can meet again some time in January and review the situation and decide on how to go about. Then there was a discussion on the theme for the Bible Sunday for the year 2021. Some themes were proposed and a team of three members was entrusted with the work of finalizing and preparing the draft of materials that are needed for Bible Sunday.
At the end the Executive Secretary thanked the bishops and priests for their participation and their contributions in the meeting. Rev. Fr. Jose Joseph Kollemkunnel, SVD said the final prayer and the bishops gave their blessings. The meeting came to an end around 12 noon.
Rev. Fr. A. John Baptist
Executive Secretary
CCBI Commission for Bible