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The African Bible - Animation .... The Bible Day

What is the Bible Day?

The Bible Day is an answer to the invitation of Pope John Paul II "to try to put the Sacred Scriptures into the hands of all the faithful right from the earliest years."

The Bible Day is a day dedicated to the deepening of our understanding of the Word of God in order to be true witnesses of Christ. As we become more familiar with the Word of God and allow God to speak to us, we are transformed and renewed; we are given the strength that we need to be faithful to the message of life and to share it with others

It is a day set apart for animation on the Word of God. The animation can take place in various ways. It can be carried out through lectures on the Scriptures, Bible study and sharing, prayer, musical or drama or catechetical lectures.  

A day to listen to the Word of God, pray with the Word of God and act the Word of God.

A day to read, meditate and share on the Word of God.
A day to study and celebrate the Word of God.

It is a day to help the faithful to clarify some doubts in faith especially in issues regarding the Scriptures. H.E. Archbishop Giovanni Tonucci when he was the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya and after participation in the animation many Bible days in Kenya shared the following:

“One of the most beautiful experiences that I treasure in my heart is the great love for the Word of God that I have found in so many Christians in Kenya. Indeed, I was always overwhelmed to see cathedrals and churches completely full of Christians who had come for the Bible Day. They stayed there the whole day, often after a night vigil, in an attitude of openness and readiness to be introduced to the world of the Bible. In many eyes there were tears of joy as we went through the day and the richness of God’s love was unfolded and made visible. It is the Lord himself who has placed in our heart a deep and profound desire to encounter him. This encounter finds a privileged expression in the Bible, when we listen to the Word of God and allow it to shape our life.

Unfortunately many Catholics are not so familiar with the Bible. The positive experience of the Bible Days has made it possible for many people to become more familiar with the Bible and to begin to understand it in a better way. The African Bible, designed to meetthe cultural and religious experience of the African continent, was presented to the Christians as the ideal version that would help them grasp the message of Christ and to live it in their daily life. 
One important moment of the Bible Day was the time that we would spend trying to answer the often many questions that were raised on various issues concerning the Bible.  Sr Maria Rosa, (a Daughter of St Paul), with whom I travelled almost all over Kenya for the Bible Days, encouraged me to write down the various questions and answers. It was not so easy to do so, mainly because of the many commitments that I have. Now that the booklet is finished, I feel a great joy in my heart because, through these pages, I can still reach out to hundreds of people who keep on asking questions on the Bible."

Here are some of the questions and answers which were asked in the various bible Days in Kenya. (More is found in Tonucci" book- God's Letter to Me).

1. Why is the Bible considered as the most important of all books?

The Bible, in all its pages, presents the Word of God addressed to everyone of us. We can consider the Sacred Scripture as a letter that the Lord is writing to us, his children. It is not only the presentation of human wisdom, but brings to us the same teaching of God, and, as such it concerns everybody.

2. In what way can the Bible help us in our daily lives?

There are two ways in which the Bible can help us and guide us in our daily lives. First of all, there is the entire plan of the Holy Scripture, telling us about the story of relationship between God and humanity. In this long report, we understand how God is close to us, and how much he loves us and is interested in our happiness. Once we know the structure of the Bible, we are helped through the individual examples, stories and teachings that we find in every part of it. The entire Bible is inspired by God and, through its pages, God helps us to find answers to the many questions we can have. Ultimately, the Bible teaches us to know God, to be close to him and to live a good and meaningful life.

3. You talked about The African Bible. We do have other Bibles.

Since God is one, why not having a universal Bible?

The Bible is always the same, although we have different translations of the Bible. A first difference is in the language: there are Bibles translated into English, Italian, Spanish, Kiswahili and many other African languages, for the simple reason that not everybody speaks and understands the same language. God, of course, is one and his word is one. But we are many and we belong to many different cultures and use different languages. As a consequence, the understanding of the Bible may differ accordingly. Just to give an example, in Latin America, there is a “Latin American Bible” which is the same Bible, translated into Spanish, with notes and introductions to help the people of that continent to understand better the message of God. The African Bible is “African” because it has been prepared with introductions, notes and also drawings, to help people from different African cultures to understand the Bible in the best possible way.

4. What is the difference between The African Bible and The Jerusalem Bible? Why is The African Bible called so, yet it is written in English? Why was it not written in an African language?

The African Bible has been prepared for all the African countries, at least 19, where English is currently spoken. At this point in history, English is indeed an African language! If another African language had been used, like Kiswahili, or Lingala or any of the many languages spoken in this continent, then the use of the Bible would be limited to only those who can speak and understand that language.
The Jerusalem Bible presents a different translation, which has been prepared by scholars of the Biblical School of Jerusalem. The text is beautiful, but it was impossible to use it for The African Bible, only because of financial reasons.

5. Which is the first book in the Bible and who wrote it?

We do not know all the names of the writers who composed the different books of the Bible. In fact, especially of the writers of the books of the Old Testament, we know very little. An old tradition tells us that the first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses, but this cannot be fully true, especially in those pages that describe the death of the same Moses, or make reference to events that happened in later times. Some parts of the book of Genesis tell very old stories, which were probably transmitted from one generation to the other, long time before being written. It is possible to think that those are the first and oldest parts of the Bible. Also some of the psalms seem to be very old, but others are more modern. Most of the psalms are said to be the work of David, the king of Israel, but this attribution is not always accurate.

6. I am very good at reading the Bible but I find it difficult to meditate on it.

Could you give me a piece of advice?

Meditation is a special form of prayer, very traditional in Christian life, and there are many ways in which we can meditate. The choice of how to do it is very personal, but, all the same, let me give you some suggestions. Try to find a moment of silence and peace, to dedicate to the reading of a page of the Bible. Begin with a prayer, putting yourself in the presence of God and asking the Holy Spirit to guide you. Then start your reading, calmly and attentively. While doing so, it may happen that you are struck by something you have read: it is something that impresses you, makes you think, gives you an insight on something that concerns you too. So you read those words again, and, to understand them fully, you read the notes and everything that can help you to have a full knowledge of that page. Then you start a conversation with the Lord. Tell him that you find this page useful, and that you would like to do something to make it alive for you. You may ask God about what should you do, in order to translate that suggestion into something practical, concrete in your life. In this way, you can draw inspiration from what you read and then take some commitments saying: “Today I will do this,” or “From now on I will try to do such and such.” Finally you thank the Lord because you understood something new, you promise him your faithfulness and renew the desire to improve your Christian life day by day. With this commitment, you bring to an end your meditation. The following day you will do the same, as you continue to read, possibly going ahead with the following pages of the same book. This way of praying with the Bible will help you to grow in the understanding of your faith and to live a better Christian life.

7. Which are the relevant readings for the beginners of Bible reading and how can one be guided on how to start reading the Bible?

Considering that the Bible is such a big book, it is easy to understand that one may be lost, at the moment of starting to read it. I would suggest starting from the “Acts of the Apostles,” to be introduced in the life of the early Church and of its missionary beginning. From there, we can go to the four Gospels, to meet personally with Jesus, his life, ministry and teaching. For the Old Testament, the best thing to do is to start from the book of Exodus, the moment of liberation of the people of God from slavery, and the establishment of the great covenant between God and his people at Sinai. If we want to understand all the rest of the Scriptures, we need to know the book of Exodus, since it inspires the content of all the others.

In order to have a guide for our understanding of the entire Bible, in its two main parts, namely: the Old Testament and the New Testament, we must keep in mind a principle that was taught by the first Christians who studied the Scriptures: “The New is hidden in the Old, the Old becomes clear in the New.” This means that, reading the books of the Old Testament we can discover the direction in which God was accompanying his people, and so to be ready to receive Christ. Reading the New Testament we can understand how the coming of Jesus was prepared by the glorious history