Celebrating Bible Sunday around the parishes

Jul 10, 2015

In the parishes in Ipoh

The Catholic community plays a role in encouraging children on the importance of reading the Bible.

For this change to come about, each parish in Ipoh has every year come up with different ways for children to discover the significance of the Bible.

At OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH (OLOL) in Silibin, Ipoh, Bible Sunday on July 12 is first marked by the enthronement of the Bible before Mass starts. OLOL Liturgical chairman Patrick Louis, said the children, carrying lighted oil lamps, precede the procession in Church, with the Lecter carrying the Bible, before placing it on a special stand in front of the altar.

After communion, OLOL’s parish priest Fr Robert Daniel will say a prayer as each member of the congregation holds up their own Bibles, and they respond in kind, by pledging a covenantal agreement to read the Bible daily.

For the Sunday school children, OLOL also has a special Mass for Children on the first Sunday of each month, at the Bernadette Centre.

OLOL has about 100 children attending catechism and they range in ages from 7-12 years.

OLOL has about 6,000 parishioners.

ST MICHAEL’S CHURCH (SMC) Ipoh is having Bible games this Bible Sunday.

The games were mooted as a creative way of teaching the young teamwork, and learning the Bible at the same time.

SMC has about 90 children from Standards One to Six, and 48 in secondary school, for their Catechism.

Another interesting event which SMC has come up with is the Sunday School Talent show on Aug 16.

It encourages the children to show their skills by acting out bible stories, singing hymns, dancing, or playing music related to the Bible.

For this event, SMC has invited other parishes to encourage children to participate as well, so all can learn together.

The finals are on Sept 5 and the closing date is on July 19. OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP CHURCH (OMPH) in Ipoh Gardens will concentrate on having Bible-based class activities in its classrooms on Bible Sunday.

Its Sunday School coordinator, Angelyn Lalitha, said the actitivies will be story-telling, quiz and games based on the Bible.

There are 350 children and youths attending Sunday school at OMPH from Standard One till Form Four.

Angelyn said there are no special events as a collective group for Bible Sunday this year, because there are many camps organised at this time.

She added that earlier, OMPH had already organised a kids’ bible camp from June 3-7, including children from SMC and OLOL.

Seventy-nine children attended the camp which was conducted by the eight Sunday school teachers at OMPH.

The kids Bible camp, themed, Mass, taught the children the significance of the Mass through various activities.

It ended with a Mass.

In the KL Archdiocese

ST JOHN’S CATHEDRAL
All parishioners are encouraged to bring their Bibles during the weekend Masses. The Bibles will be blessed and it is hoped that this will serve as a commitment to read and live the word of God in our daily lives.

The Bible team will coordinate the 8.00am Eucharistic Celebration.

The activities planned for after the Mass are:

For the BECs, during the July gathering, a reflection sheet on the Mission of the 12 have been distributed to the coordinators. Members are to share their response.

For students in Sunday school, there will be colouring, crossword puzzles and a quiz on Mission.

For the parish community, after the Mass, there will be light breakfast served. Then there will be an engaging interactive session on the Bible message The Bible by the People of God FOR the People of God by Msgr Leonard Lexson. The sesion will conclude with a prizegiving for correctly answered questions on the Bible.

CHURCH OF THE VISITATION There will be the Enthronement of the Bible and a song on the Bible. There will be a blessing for children during the Eucharistic Celebrations. All families have been encouraged to bring their Bibles which will be blessed during the Masses.

There will be sale of Bibles, as well as promotion of Bible classes being organised by the parish. Banners and posters have been put up around the parish to remind parishioners of the importance of the Word of God.

Quotations from the Bible, as well as the Joy of the Gospel will be given to everyone during the weekend Eucharistic Celebrations.

GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH, SETAPAK
After the Mass in Tamil, there will be activities and questions from the Bible for both, chidlren and adults in the hall.

For the English-speaking catechism students, there will be activties in their classrooms. There will also be a Bible competition.

CHURCH OF ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI, CHERAS
Students in primary school are encouraged to attend the Sunday Eucharistic Celebration dressed as their favourite Biblical characters. They will be seated at reserved pews at Mass.

During Sunday school, there will be activities for those in Standards 3-6, Forms 1-4 and RCIT.

For the secondary section, each class will present a 10-minute skit based on a story from the Bible.

In Sabah

In most parishes in Sabah, the Bible Sunday message and reflection from the Regional Biblical Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei is printed in the bulletin for the benefit of the parishioners.

In addition to that, the Cathedral of St Francis Xavier in Keningau is organising a Bible exhibition, as well as a quiz.

There is also a recolleciton for all lectors and commentators in Keningau Diocese.

At the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Kota Kinabalu, a day of recollection for all lectors and commentators is being held in Bahasa Malaysia