The Word of God is always near to us
Each year our newly arrived Year 7 girls receive a Bible as a gift from the College. These Bibles are gifted to our girls for use in Religious Education lessons. It is also a form of blessing to have an actual Bible in one’s possession. I believe that many of our girls bring their Bible home and display it in a special way and place. Giving respect and prominence to Christianity’s Sacred Text is a reminder for us that our God’s Word is Truth and Life. The Bible is for us a guide to living a good life; it contains prayers and rituals; its messages inspire us; it is God revealing God’s Self to us; it is a profound way of encounter with God. St Benedict devised the “Lexio Divina” (“sacred reading”) method of reading the Bible so that the encounter is a profound and real experience.
If you have ever stayed in a hotel anywhere in the world, you would be aware that there is a Bible in every hotel room. These Bibles are provided and distributed by the Gideons Bible Society, which is an international, not for profit organisation whose aim is to give access to the Bible to as many people as possible—free of charge. Each year, the Gideons Bible Society offers St Patrick’s College the gift of their Pocket Testaments. The Pocket Testament, as the name tells, is a pocket-sized version of the New Testament (not the entire Bible) which includes also the Book of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs. It has a distinctive red cover. These Pocket Testaments are usually offered by the Gideons Bible Society to Year 7 students in all Australian schools. At St Pat’s, since our Year 7 girls receive the Bible, we invite the Gideons Bible Society to visit us in Term 1 to offer the Pocket Testaments to our Year 8 girls.
This week, during an RE lesson with my 8RE05 class, I was thrilled to be told by Maya M, Georgia O, and Scarlett N, that they had their Pocket Testaments with them! That moment is captured in the photograph. This thrilled me because these three girls are using the Pocket Testament for the very purpose for which it is designed—to be easily carried around all of the time. What an amazing thing: to have the Word of God close at hand all of the time.
Angelo Gattone - Mission Coordinator