“Scripture is at the centre of everything the Church does. The word of God shapes our prayer and worship. The Bible shows us how to understand the world, how we are called to live and relate to each other”
2020 is the 10th anniversary of Verbum Domini – Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation on ‘The Word of the Lord’ and the 1,600 anniversary of St Jerome’s death. These dates have inspired the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales to dedicate 2020 as a year of focus on the Bible and ‘The God Who Speaks’.
During the year, many parishes in England and Wales will be celebrating, living and sharing God‘s word with an exciting new Scripture initiative. Many catechists, chaplains and teachers will not only take this as an opportunity to enrich current practice of learning about the Holy Scriptures and preparing those who proclaim the Word at the Parish Liturgies, but also will see it as a chance throughout the year to develop and explore new ways of responding to ‘The God who Speaks’.
In a world that is more and more moving away from the influence of the Holy Scriptures, and becoming led by Individualism and “popularist” proclamations of “false news” often the model of our everyday life has become compromised or even distorted. This year it is hoped that the Word will be heard in a new way and that opportunities will arise whereby people will actually want to stop to hear God speaking in the language of the world today.
Throughout 2020 there will be a range of events, activities and resources in parishes around for you to participate in this remarkable year. To help achieve transformation in our hearts and in our communities there will be three themes of celebrating, living and sharing God’s word. Let us be alert and be ready to enter into this new initiative and continue the work of St Jerome to continue giving meaning to the Scriptures to people who hunger to hear “Good (not false) News!