The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Association of Catholic Publishers is encouraging families, parishes, and schools throughout the United States to participate in National Bible Week, beginning on Sunday, Nov. 15, and continuing through the following week.
During the middle of this week, the church celebrates the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of "Dei Verbum" (the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation of Vatican II) on Nov. 18. Catholic publishers are encouraging parishes to connect with various Bible studies and products to help Catholics take up the exhortation of "Dei Verbum," that the Scriptures be “open wide for all the people of God.”
"The Bible: A Book for the Family" is this year’s theme for Bible Week, building on the Synod of Bishops on the Family and Pope Francis's visit to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families.
Catholic biblical scholar and author Stephen J. Binz has offered three ideas for Catholic parishes to observe Bible Sunday, Nov. 15. These three elements connect the parish and the home, encouraging families to bring their Bibles to Sunday Mass and then bring them home to be read regularly. Here are his three steps:
1) Invite families to bring their own Bibles to Mass on Sunday, Nov. 15.
2) After the homily, the celebrant offers a Blessing of Bibles. This short ritual of commitment may be downloaded at the bottom of this page: http://store.pastoralplanning.com/thbist1.html
3) Invite everyone to bring their Bibles back from Mass to be enthroned in their home. The link below provides a history of Bible enthronement, an explanation, and a ritual for Catholic homes. This link may be emailed to every family in the parish, posted in the parish bulletin and on the parish website and social media: http://pastoralplanning.com/TBS/Enthrone_the_Bible_at_Home.pdf
The U.S.C.C.B. offers many articles, rituals, and suggestions for National Bible Week, and the Association of Catholic Publishers offers resources and ideas from publishers for incorporating National Bible Week into parishes, schools and other Catholic institutions during the week of Nov. 15.
