The event is known as "Proclamation" and is being offered through the archdiocese’s Office for Promoting Christian Unity and Religious Relations with Judaism, in collaboration with the Canadian Bible Society. With the hopes of strengthening bonds between ecclesial communities, people of all denominations, ages and languages are invited to join in reading or listening to God’s Word.
With Proclamation already being one of the many well-established offerings of the Canadian Bible Society, the Archdiocese of Toronto is delighted to be joining the initiative this year as part of this year’s greater Festival of Prayer for Christian Unity.
“Proclamation will be a welcome opportunity to give testimony to our commitment to the primacy of Holy Scripture for the restoration of the visible unity willed by Christ for the Church,” said Fr. Luis Melo, the director of the Office for Promoting Christian Unity and Religious Relations with Judaism. “We all know how Sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians. St. Jerome expressed it beautifully in his often-quoted words: ‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.' ”
Ignorance of Scripture is what the experience intends to combat when Christians from all walks of life gather to read selected portions of the Bible outside of Church in Toronto on Sheppard Avenue East in Toronto. The gatherings will take place on Oct. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m., Oct. 26 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Oct. 27 from 3 to 8 p.m.
According to the organizers, the practice of reading aloud selected portions of the Bible goes back to the time of the Book of Nehemiah, around the fifth century B.C.
“In the eighth chapter (of Nehemiah), Ezra and the priest read the law aloud to the whole assembly of Israel from beginning to end and spiritual renewal followed,” explained Melo. “This continuous reading of the Bible in public is a wonderful complement to our personal prayer, study and devotional reading of the Word of God; as well as the portions of the Word of God proclaimed at Mass and broken open for us in the homily.”
While the event is tailored toward the office’s mission of promoting the restoration of full visible unity among Christians, churches and ecclesial communities, Melo also commented on the inherent importance to Catholics of not abandoning Scripture as one of the main ways of connecting with God through Christ.
Referring to Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Aperuit illis’in 2019, Melo explains that while the institution of The Sunday of the Word of God is intended to be a day dedicated to the celebration, reflection and dissemination of the Word, the importance of Scripture can be found in all aspects of the Catholic faith.
“It is through the proclaimed Biblical readings in the liturgy that God speaks to His people and Christ Himself proclaims His Gospel. This proclamation takes various settings, from Mass, the sacraments and sacramentals, the Liturgy of the Hours (Lauds and Vespers) or other liturgies,” he said.
The same message is amplified by Pope Francis, whose letter states that Christians and Catholics alike “urgently need to grow in our knowledge and love of the Scriptures and of the risen Lord, who continues to speak His word and to break bread in the community of believers. For this reason, we need to develop a closer relationship with Sacred Scripture; otherwise, our hearts will remain cold and our eyes shut, struck as we are by so many forms of blindness” (Aperuit illis, n. 8).
Register at https://biblesociety.ca/proclamation/.