«As baptized, we have the responsibility to preach the message of God, keeping the Word of God in our hearts and bringing it into our lives,» Bishop James Romen Boiragi of the diocese of Khulna and President of the Commission for Catechesis and Biblical Apostolate, told Fides News Agency within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh.
Underlining the centrality of the Bible in the mission of the Church, Bishop Boiragi explained: «The message of God present in the Bible must be preached with our lives, bearing witness of faith with life and behavior. If we allow ourselves to always be guided by referring to the Bible, every believer would become a living Bible, with great benefit for evangelization.»
The Bishop recalled the theme of the recent day of the Bible, celebrated last December «Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light on my path» and proposed it again as a leitmotif of the path of evangelization of the Church in Bangladesh for 2020.
He said: «In this new year let us ask the Catholics of Bangladesh to know and deepen their responsibilities as baptized, who are sent to announce the Good News, according to the Bible. May the Bible become our light, make our life divine: this is my prayer.»
Father Ripon Anthony D’Rozario, Tejgaon’s parish priest in Dhaka, also involved in the biblical apostolate in the country, said that Catholics should take care of the Holy Bible: «I have noticed that in many houses there is a Bible, but we do not read it often. I invite everyone to read the Bible every day because it is the Word of God and spiritual food for us». Proshanto Gomes, a lay Catholic, told Fides that «with the reading of the Bible, God stays with me. I spend my days with God’s blessings.»
The Episcopal Commission for Catechesis and the Biblical Apostolate is committed to promoting, in all the dioceses of Bangladesh, the Biblical apostolate, assisting and collaborating in the preparation and dissemination of catechetical and biblical materials in the local languages by providing the training of catechists and teachers of Catholic religion.
