ASIA/PAKISTAN - The Pakistani Church: the gift of the Word of God for the mission

Wednesday, 2 October 2019 evangelization   extraordinary missionary month   missionary animation   bible  

Karachi (Agenzia Fides): "We encourage the faithful, especially young people, to read the Word of God daily, at least two or three minutes each day, in order to become stronger in faith and to proclaim it to others. We hope that they will approach the Holy Bible, and that they can announce the Gospel": says to Agenzia Fides Fr. Benjamin Mushtaq, vice-parish priest in the Church of St. James in the Archdiocese of Karachi, on the occasion of the celebration of the Extraordinary Missionary Month in Pakistan.
Among the various initiatives organized by the local churches, the Church of St. James in Karachi organized a biblical exhibition and a biblical representation to encourage and motivate the faithful to live the Word of God and bear witness to it in their social lives. Fr. Benjamin Mushtaq states: "We Catholics cannot imagine our lives and our faith without the Eucharist and the Holy Bible. Our mission starts here". The parish has launched a special campaign to invite all the faithful to read the Holy Bible daily, especially within the family.
The biblical exhibition displays panels or presents scenes with living characters on all 72 books of the Holy Bible. The realization was possible thanks to the commitment and help of the parishioners which "was moving", says the priest.
On the occasion of the Extraordinary Missionary Month, the Catholic Church in Pakistan is actively working to bring Catholics closer to the Holy Bible through the active role of the biblical and catechetical Commission within the Pakistani Catholic Bishops Conference.
The Commission has launched a campaign entitled "One hundred thousand friends of the Bible", which welcomes those who are committed to reading the Bible from beginning to end, from the first to the last chapter consecutively. The campaign calls for a reading which must not be only "cultural" but "existential", allowing the Word of God to touch the heart of man. The Commission also offers courses and organizes pilgrimages to deepen the study of the Bible.
In the Archdiocese of Karachi, the Catechetical Commission publishes a video on the social media daily with the proclamation of the liturgical readings of the day, in Urdu. According to Fr. Aamir Bhatti, director of the Commission, "this is a way to stay in unity with the universal Church", adding to Fides that "our spectators increase every day". In the awareness that "communication is mission", in the Month of October 2019 the National Office of Social Communications, within the Bishops' Conference, publishes a reflection on the Gospel of Sunday, with a reflection in a missionary key every week. (AG) (Agenzia Fides, 2/10/2019)


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