by Adolf Washington
Bangalore, Oct 5: "I wish we could treat our Bible like the cell phone. We carry the cellphone everywhere and without it, we are very uneasy" archbishop Bernard Moras said, while referring to the pocket edition of the New Testament that the Karnataka Region Bishops Council is going to come out with.
He was presiding over the concluding celebration of 'vachanotsava' (the year of the word of God) and the inauguration programme of the 'Year of Priests' in the Archdiocese. Priests, religious sisters, seminarians and lay faithful were present for the celebration. To the lay faithful, he said "Pray for your priests when you feel they do not meet your expectations but also realize that we are all on the journey to perfection and so a priest comes to you with all his strengths and weaknesses. The kingdom of God will grow when there is a spirit of collaboration between priests and the laity".
Deans from all the deaneries of the archdiocese personally presented their reports of activity at the gathering. The activities during the year of the word of God ranged from quizzes and cultural programmes to Bible conferences and symposia. Several institutions also engaged in publishing booklets and tracts for free distribution. Over 10,000 bibles were distributed through the year.
"As priests, we are in the ministry of saving souls by helping people improve their spiritual life. But while being busy in our ministry, it is important that we find time for ourselves too. Take extra care of your spiritual health and your physical health. God wants to accomplish great things through you" Archbishop Bernard Moras told a gathering at a packed St. Francis Xaviers Cathedral, October 2nd. Over a hundred priests concelebrated mass with the Archbishop later in the evening. An elevating moment in the service was when the archbishop prayed the prayer for priests while priests held lighted candles in their hand. The light was symbolically given first to the archdiocesan curia members including vicars general Monsignori T S Amruthraj and Joe Francis, episcopal vicar Fr. Paul Puthnangady, Chancellor Fr. A MIchael, Finance Officer Fr. C Francis. The deans were also invited to receive the light from the Archbishop.
The archbishop later visited stalls set up by various religious congregations for vocation promotion. He launched gas baloons carrying a logo of the'year of priests' to mark the begining of celebrations in the archdiocese.