"On January 20, 2007, the Archdiocese of Manila will host the launching of the 2007 National Bible Week, with the theme: ‘God’s Word: Standard of Justice and Right Living.’ This will be held at the Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"I enjoin all parish priests, school directors, principals and heads of parochial organizations in the Archdiocese of Manila to send delegations to this event, to participate in the activities prepared by the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission for Biblical Apostolate and by the Biblical Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Manila.
"This is one way of forming our people to become more responsive to the Word of God and to make it the standard of justice and right living."
The program has been carefully prepared. Musical entertainment will begin at 8 a.m. during the period of registration. At 9:00 the Bible will be enthroned by a youth group from Cavite, together with Vice-Mayor Bong Tolentino. The invocation will be an interpretative dance. The El Shaddai Chorus will sing for the flag ceremony. And the audience will be welcomed by Mayor Allan Panaligan.
Young dancers from the Diocese of Imus will interpret the "Power to Unite". And then the chairman of the Episcopal Commission for the Biblical Apostolate, Bishop Arturo M. Bastes, S.V.D. of Sorsogon, will deliver the keynote address on: "God’s Word: Standard of Justice and Right Living." Bishop Bastes is also the vice-chairman of the Philippine Bible Society.
After snacks and a song, Brother Mike Velarde will speak on: "How God’s Word Can Be Our Standard for Justice and Right Living as Individuals and as Agents of Social Transformation." Before lunch Bishop Punzalan of the Baptist Conference will share the Baptists’ view of the power of the Bible.
After lunch there will be a variety show headed by Marco Sison, a Bible Quiz, and song and dance numbers presented by the Diocese of Novaliches and by the Diocese of Pasig. At 2:30 p.m. Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, will give a Conference on "Biblical Responses to the Poor and the Marginalized, Then and Now." Bishop Pabillo lives and works with the poor in Tondo.
The event will end with Mass at 3:30 p.m. Similar celebrations will be held in every diocese, all over the country. This National Bible Week is not meant for Catholics only. It is meant for all the children of God.
Justice and Right Living, of course, does not depend only on the Bible. The law of God is written into the very nature of man. It is in our minds, our hearts, our blood stream. It is in the marrow of our bones.
If a child were born on a desert island, and was raised by the apes – like the original Tarzan – even though he was never taught anything about God, he would know the difference between right and wrong. He would know that he should not kill, or steal, or lie. And he would pray. He might pray to a great stone mountain, or to the sun, or to a tree – but in his heart he would be reaching out to God.
The great advantage of the Bible is that it shows us the way to right living so clearly! It is idiot-proof. And so beautifully!
For instance, the terrible mystery of pain. Everyone knows that life is a mixture of light and shadow, mountains and valleys, laughter and tears. But we are prone to pity ourselves when we suffer, and complain against God. Christ Our Lord gives us the answer so simply, so gently! He says: "Life is like having a baby." His exact words, in the Bible, are:
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a woman in labor.
When she is delivering, she is filled with agony, but
afterwards she forgets the pain, for joy that a man has
come into the world."
He is telling us that there is a place in the plans of God for pain. Not only that – the most beautiful gifts of God come wrapped in pain. God gives us pain like a gift. He gives us tears like jewels. And he showed compassion for us, even in our fear of suffering. In the garden of Gethsemane, on the first Holy Thursday, faced with the crucifixion, he prayed:
"Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass
from me. . . . .But not my will, but thine be done."
Then he bore the lash, the thorns, the spittle, the cross, the nails, the lance, the tomb. And he opened the gates of heaven for all of us.
On justice, the basic mistake that men are prone to make is that we are on this earth to take, get, have, keep, possess. But Our Lord made it so clear that our purpose is not to take, but to give! He dramatized it in his own birth. He engineered the census of the whole world so that Joseph and Mary would come to Bethlehem, find no room in the inn, and he would be born in a stable, wrapped in his mother’s veil, and laid in a manger on the straw, having nothing!
He came to give himself! And that is the most beautiful gift of all. And so the Gospel says:
"God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son. And the Son so loved us that he
gave himself for our salvation."
And the Gospel makes it crystal clear in the only description we have of the Judgment. Our Lord will not say to us: "How much money did you make?. . . . .How big was your house?. . . . How many cars did you have?" He will say:
"Come, ye blessed of my Father! Possess the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me. I was a stranger, and you took me in."
Each of us will ask: "Lord, when did I do this?" And he will say:
"So long as you did it to the least of these, my little ones, you did it to Me!"
It is so hard for as to forgive! We feel that justice demands that we take vengeance! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! But Our Lord taught the Apostles to pray, saying:
"Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us."
Not content with teaching forgiveness in words, he demonstrated it in his life. He forgave sinners so gently! Mary Magdalene, the woman taken in the act of adultery, Zacheus the tax collector, the thief beside him on Calvary, Peter, who denied him. And when the Roman soldiers were driving the nails into his hands, he said:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
On marriage, where men make so many mistakes:
"For this shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one."
"What God has joined together, let no man put asunder."
"If a man should divorce his wife, and marry another, he commits adultery against her."
On the love of children:
"Suffer the children to come unto me."
"Unless you become like a little child, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
"If anyone should scandalize the least of these, my little ones, it were better for him if a great millstone were tied around his neck and he was drowned in the depths of the sea."
His final instruction to all of us, just before he ascended to his Father in heaven:
"Little children, love one another, as I have loved you."
In these troubled times, we are all exhorted to hope. . . . .Our Lord said it so positively!
"I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly!"
"I have come that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be complete."
"Eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor hath it entered into the mind of man to conceive the joy that God has prepared for those who love Him."
No wonder the Bible is the world’s best seller!