On the second Sunday of Advent – 6 December 2015 – parishes in England and Wales are invited to celebrate Catholic Bible Sunday. This year’s theme is ‘Embracing the Gospel of Mercy’. Catholic Bible Sunday provides an opportunity for everyone to give thanks for the gift of the Bible, and also invites a deepening of understanding of its message.
Catholic Bible Sunday provides an opportunity for everyone to give thanks for the gift of the Bible, and also invites a deepening of understanding of its message.
The celebration of the Sunday, this year, comes just days before Pope Francis will open the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Pope desires that the Year “will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God!” He hopes that, “the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present in our midst!” (Bull of Indiction 5)
An important way in which believers and non-believers alike encounter the ‘balm of mercy’ is through the Bible stories and texts. It is therefore hoped that on Catholic Bible Sunday this year two things will be invited and encouraged:
To read the Gospel of Luke, also known as the ‘Gospel of Mercy’.
Once someone has read the Gospel, that they gift it to someone else who perhaps isn’t a Christian.
Some easy-to-use materials have been provided and can be downloaded from the top right corner of this page. Please do use them and consider how you, your parish and family, might give thanks for and share, in a new way, the gift of God’s Word in your life every day.
Materials for Catholic Bible Sunday have been offered by the National Scripture Working Group, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. thewordofthelord.co.uk
Sunday resource coordination: Home Mission Desk.
