ATAMBUA, Indonesia (UCAN) -- A bishop recently called on Bible commission members in the West Timor region to continue to love the Bible so much that they totally imbibe it.

Referring to them as "Bible eaters," Bishop Pain Ratu of Atambua explained, "I know that every day you turn the pages of the Bible, you imbibe, absorb and spread them, as you invite others to do the same."

Their lives and work in the region, the prelate added, reflect "the spirit of loving and taking in the Bible as the best spiritual nourishment."

Bishop Ratu was addressing Bible commission members at an April 30 to May 4 regional workshop in Atambua, some 2,000 kilometers east of Jakarta in west Timor, under the theme Abram, A Blessing for All People.

The Bible commission members came from Ende and Kupang archdioceses, and Atambua, Denpasar, Larantuka, Maumere, Ruteng, Weetabula dioceses. Other participants included representatives of the schools of Theology and Philosophy of Ledarero and Kupang, the school of catechetics of Ruteng, and Bible commissions of Divine Word provinces in Timor, Ende and Ruteng.

In the past, Catholics did not usually bring along the Bible, "but now they bring it with them to the church and read together the Gospel during Mass, or during recollections and worship in Basic Ecclesiastical Communities (BECs)," the bishop recalled.

Each Sunday, Bishop Ratu continued, he is proud to see the congregation coming to Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Atambua with their bibles. "We read the Gospel together," he said. If he were to read the Gospel alone, he continued, the congregation would ask him, "what do we carry our Bibles for?"

Reading the Gospel aloud with all Massgoers does not only happen in the cathedral, but in all parishes of Atambua, he reported.

"This tradition technically violates the liturgical procedure but I let them do it. I do not urge nor forbid them to read the Gospel together with the priest," he said.

Since the National Bible Month of September 1980, it has become a practice in the diocese of Atambua to read the Gospel aloud together with the bishop or a priest.

Divine Word Fathers Lukas Djua and Ralf Huning, as well as diocesan priest Father Silvester San, all Bible teachers at St. Paul School of Philosophy and Theology in Ledalero, attended the meeting as resource persons.

Father San told the participants: "It is true that reading out the Bible during Mass might violate liturgical rules, but it is not a sin because the Word of the Lord has an important place as spiritual nourishment in the Eucharistic celebration."

The meeting evaluated last year's activities of the regional Bible commissions and formulated a working program for 2007. They arranged materials for catechism, Bible-sharing, and Mass for 2007 National Bible Month in September, which will also be guided by the workshop theme.

During the evaluation, Yosef Hello, secretary of the Bible commission of Atambua diocese, said in his report that some people did not participate in the catechetical meeting and Bible-sharing because they cannot read the Bible in Indonesian.

Hello wants to have Bibles available in local dialects to enable the parishioners who are not good in Bahasa Indonesia to understand, and implement in their lives. Especially, he thinks of Bibles in Tetum (for people in Belu district) and in Dawan (for people in North Central Timor), the two districts covered by Atambua diocese.

"The biblical pastoral workers must not only become the lovers of the Word of God but also lovers of local language, because it is easier for people to spread, receive and comprehend the Word of God in local idioms," Hello said.

The meeting also elected Father Fransiskus Dominggo, head of the Bible commission of Ruteng diocese, as their 2007-2010 coordinator of the diocesan Bible commission of Nusa Tenggara region to replace Father Laurensius Noi of Ende archdiocese.

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