Harvest is Plenty: Biblical Ministry today following the Footsteps of St. Paul

“Harvest is Plenty”: Biblical Ministry today following the Footsteps of St. Paul

 (Sharing at CBF meeting, Colombo)

Fr Johnson Puthussery CST

It is a humble sharing on the importance and challenges of the biblical apostolate with special reference to our context in Kerala. This southern state is blessed with a significant presence of Christians for centuries. The speciality of the church in Kerala is the presence of Catholics belonging to three different liturgical traditions – Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara. Perhaps the most important element that unites these three communities is the ministry of the Word.  The collaboration between these three groups in every aspect of biblical ministry helps the Bible Commission in Kerala to venture out in new and challenging fields.

As in many Asian countries, India also is known for its religious ethos, deep rooted religions and the powerful influence they exercise in the lives of people. The sacred scriptures have a special place in their life. In Kerala, the last month of the year ‘Karkidaka’ is known as Ramayanamasa (month of Ramayana) which is devoted to the devotional reading of the Hindu scriptures. Such a reverential approach to Holy books is deep rooted in Indian culture and Christianity in India is positively influenced by this Indian psyche. Thus the Bible, the Word of God, quite naturally, so to say, occupies a place of importance in many Christian homes. I would like to call this scenario “Harvest is Plenty”. The importance that our Christian communities give to sacred scriptures makes our ministry of the Word of God much easier. The question is: are we ready to take up this ministry of the Word of God seriously and how much are we equipped for this task? As a background for our approaches to biblical ministry, I would like to make a quick survey of the life of St. Paul, the greatest minister of the Word.

I.     Saint Paul, the greatest minister of the Word

Pope Benedict writes in Verbum Domini, “Paul’s life was completely marked by his zeal for the spread of God’s word. How can we not be moved by his stirring words about his mission as a preacher of the word of God: “I do everything for the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:23); or, as he writes in the Letter to the Romans: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith” (1:16). Whenever we reflect on the word of God in the life and mission of the Church, we cannot but think of Saint Paul and his life spent in spreading the message of salvation in Christ to all peoples” (VD 4).

St. Paul the Apostle, the greatest missionary of the Word in the Church, has an unrivalled place in the Church and is a great source of inspiration for all ministers of the Word of God. Clement of Alexandria and Origen placed him at the centre of the Christian theology and spirituality. The life and ministry of the apostle would highlight certain important areas  that we need to focus in our ministry of the Word. First of all, we shall draw out insights from the life and ministry of St Paul, and then I shall move on to what we are doing in Kerala in the field of biblical apostolate, which hopefully will be helpful in planning out biblical ministry in our contexts.

1.    Paul the Apostle of the Word Incarnate

Paul is called an apostle, though he does not belong to the circle of Jesus’ disciples. Though he says in humility that he is ‘the least of apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle’ (1Cor 15,9), in reality, he is only second to Saint Peter in stature as apostle and perhaps the greatest messenger of the Word. He earned this position in the church by his total surrender and commitment to Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate.

a.    Ignorance of the Word to a Persecutor

There are two contrasting pictures of Paul in the New Testament: Saul before the encounter of the risen Christ at Damascus and Paul after conversion. We know certain facts about the early life of Paul from his own writings and from the Acts of the Apostles, though much of it is shrouded in mystery. Basing on the reference to Paul, a young man at the time of stoning Stephen, some scholars say that he was born around 5-10 AD during the reign of Emperor Augustus. He was a Jew, born at Tarsus, the prosperous capital of Cilicia which had a considerable Jewish presence.

From Paul’s own letters and from the Acts of the Apostles we come to know that Paul the Pharisee was actively involved in persecuting the church. We first meet him amidst a furious crowd that was stoning Stephen to death. Saul ravaged the church by entering house after house, dragging off both men and women  and committed them to prison (Acts 8,1-3). Acts continues, ‘Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem’ (Acts 9,1-2). Paul himself testifies that he was a persecutor: ‘You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it’ (Gal 1,13; also1Cor 15,9; Phil 3,6).

Though Paul was certainly influenced by Hellenism, as he employs in his letters literary forms and concepts that come from this culture, his life can be better understood within Judaism. He considers himself ‘a Hebrew, born to Hebrews, and as to Torah, a Pharisee’ (Phil 3,5-6). Pharisees were influenced by the ideal of virtue as excellence, and believed that through their observation of the Law they could obtain salvation. Paul’s zeal for the Law made him turn against the new community of Christians. His persecution of the Christian communities arose from his ignorance of Christ, the Word incarnate.

b.    Encounter with the Word at Damascus

Paul’s experience of the Risen Christ on the way to Damascus transformed him radically. For Paul the encounter with the risen Lord meant a ‘conversion’, a radical change of thought, outlook, commitments and practice and a break with the past identity. He came to understand Jesus as the centre of God's saving purposes: God's personal saving intervention in the world was accomplished through his Son; we are now living in the new age inaugurated by Jesus Christ.

This new understanding of Jesus Christ and salvation of the humankind transformed Paul’s life totally. He describes this shift in life very beautifully in his letter to the Philippians: ‘I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ...’ (Phil 3,8-11). He now realizes that his life is centred on Christ. He experiences a deep rooted joy in his life and he wants to share this joy with others. Verbum Domini says, “Indeed, sharing in the life of God, a Trinity of love, is complete joy (cf. 1 Jn 1:4). And it is the Church’s gift and inescapable duty to communicate that joy, born of an encounter with the person of Christ, the Word of God in our midst” (VD 2).

Paul’s Christ experience, which was parallel to the appearance of the risen Christ to disciples, made of him a great messenger of the Word, an apostle of the Gentiles, a founder of Christian communities, an interpreter of the Christ-event and the first Christian theologian. This Damascus experience transformed this persecutor of the Church to a great warrior for Christ, armed with His gospel.

Personal encounter with Christ and experience of the power of the Word of God is the prime characteristic of a minister of the Word.

2.    Paul the Messenger of the Word

The Damascus Experience was not only a conversion from the old way of life, but a call to new identity and task as well. His experience led to a new self-understanding as an apostle of the gospel among the Gentiles. The transforming effect of Paul’s encounter of the risen Christ on the Damascus road is seen in his missionary endeavours. This experience was so liberating that he began to preach the good news of Jesus, the Lord and Christ, quite openly and boldly. With Paul, for the first time we find in the church the specific aim of proclaiming “the good news” throughout the world.

a.    Paul and euangelion

Paul uses terms as gospel, word, preaching, proclamation, or witness to refer to missionary preaching, and the most important among them is euangelion. Euangelion became Paul’s personal way of summing up the meaning of the Christ-event for human history and existence. The human being must respond to euangelion in faith. ‘If you confess with your lips that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your hearts that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ (Rom 10,9).

Paul was aware that a commitment of faith in people had to come from the preached word of the preachers. Paul asks, ‘How are they to believe in him about whom they have never heard? How are they to hear without a preacher (Rom 10,14b-15)? The urgent task before the apostle was to bring this message of salvation to the people. Paul introduces himself as ‘a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel’ (Rom 1,1). From the time of his conversion onwards Paul’s commitment to the gospel was the dominant and determinant focus of his whole life. He writes to the church in Corinth: ‘We preach indeed Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, whether Jews or Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God’. Every missionary is a messenger of Christ (2Cor 5,20), who spreads ‘the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ’ (2Cor 2,14-15). Paul claims that his life is totally dedicated to God's act of salvation in Christ, to the Word of God.

Through preaching Paul communicated the lived message of Christ so that those who listen might respond in faith. He thus became the perennial example par excellence for Christian preachers and those involved in biblical ministry.

b.    A Traveller for the Word Incarnate

Paul was a great traveller for Christ and went to the cities which had never heard of Christ. The popular biblical images of Paul present him as falling from a horse on the way to Damascus, debating with philosophers in the halls of a school in Athens, trying to convert Roman authorities, or escaping the shipwreck. Many of them are linked to his proclaiming the good news to the Gentile world. Paul, a fiery orator and, at the same time, tender and devoted servant of Christ, is fondly called the apostle of Gentiles.

Paul took the light of the good news to the Gentile world in the early phase of Christianity itself. It was from Antioch as his base that Paul made his so-called missionary journeys with the light of gospel to various regions of the Gentile world. He was a tireless traveller for the sake of Christ. Within a few years of his evangelizing activity, the Christian message spread far and wide. He also laid a strong foundation for the Christian communities through his letters. Thus Paul became the beacon of the Word ministry and the evangelizing endeavours of the early Church.

Paul the traveller is a fascinating person and an inspiration for all those involved in biblical ministries. For the sake of Christ he undertook many journeys which were certainly not that comfortable as a journey now-a-days. Paul may have rarely travelled by chariots, as it was costly. He may not have much travelled by horse, as it was not suited for long journeys. One could not often make use of donkeys, as it would be taken away forcefully by soldiers in those days. So we could imagine Paul as an itinerant traveller, carrying his baggage, talking and discussing with people on the way.

The missionary journeys that Paul undertook to preach the good news of Jesus Christ is breathtaking. His field of missionary endeavours covers the whole world, in the understanding of those days, from Jerusalem to Rome. Though Paul was a successful missionary, he had to fight against the odds. On his trips the attacks by brigands were always to be expected, especially in distant provinces and lonely countryside. The travel on ship at the dock with limited provisions and threatened by unpredictable weather conditions was often a nightmare. Paul himself refers to ‘danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters’ (2Cor 11,26). But nothing in the world could deter him from his resolve to preach the good news of Christ.

c.    Persecuted for the Word

The response of Paul to God who was pleased to reveal his Son Jesus Christ was ‘to count everything as loss for Christ’ (Phil 3,8). His single-minded devotion to Christ was manifested in his going through all kinds of persecutions, hardships and sufferings, becoming ‘all things to all men’ for the sake of the gospel of Christ’. Both Acts and his own letters bear witness to the fact that Paul, once the arch-persecutor, became the most persecuted apostle for the sake of Christ. With heart-throbbing feeling Paul could say ‘who will separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8,35)? Suffering, according to Paul, is a noble expression of one’s love for Christ. It is sharing the suffering of Christ and, through it, the power of God (Gal 2,19; 6,14). It is through suffering that the Word of God takes roots in a community.  

The journeys that he undertook and the persecution that he underwent in those days for the sake of the word of God should inspire us to venture out with the beacon of the Word of God into nook and corner of the dioceses where we work.

3.    The Word and the Churches

a.    Pauline Churches and the Word

Paul not only proclaimed the gospel and accompanied many hearers to conversion, but also founded churches as an essential dimension of his ministry of the Word. Conversion to Christ meant incorporation into him, and thus membership within a Christian community. He spells out the goal of his apostleship as making himself a slave to everyone ‘to win as many as possible’ for Christ (1Cor 9,19). Paul was engaged in primary evangelisation which he expresses in metaphors like planting, laying foundations, giving birth and betrothing (1Cor 3,6-9; Rom 15,20; 1Cor 4,15; 2Cor 11,2).

For Paul, preaching the Word does not mean merely the initial or primary evangelization, but also building up of believers and grounding them firmly in the faith. By ‘gaining’ or ‘winning people’, Paul does not merely mean conversion into Christ. His goal of winning Jews, Gentiles and the weak Christians has to do with their full maturity in Christ and thus winning them completely. From his practice of residential missions at Corinth and Ephesus and nurture of churches and from his description of his assignment in relation to admonition and teaching believers to bring them to full maturity in Christ, it is clear that the nurturing of emerging churches was understood by him to be an integral feature of his missionary task (1Thess 2,10-12; Rom 1,1-15; Col 1,24-2,7).

b.    Paul’s care of the Word communities

Paul was not only interested in establishing the communities, but dedicated himself to the full blossoming of these churches (1Cor 4,15; Gal 4,13). He took care of ‘what was entrusted’ to him (1Tim 6,20). The church is to be characterized by holiness as was ancient Israel. As the members of the church are ‘holy ones’ (1Cor 6,2), Paul spent his whole energy to bring them to this ideal of holiness. Paul says to the elders of Miletus, ‘I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house … for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears’ (Acts 20,20.31). He was aware that the gospel should be maintained without pilfering. There was always a threat of deceiving people by another gospel (Cf. 2Cor 11,4-5; Gal 1,7-8; 1Tim 1,3). He was committed to the true teaching without compromising and to maintain the purity of the gospel.

c.    Pauline letters: Word interpreted

Pauline letters are unique in the history of Christianity as they are the first Christian written documents. Paul wrote primarily as a pastor and in these letters we see the apostle’s passionate concern for the Gospel and churches entrusted to him, for the faith and ethical life of the Christians, based on the authentic and authoritative doctrine delivered by him and other apostles. Paul’s letters are to be understood as missionary minded, written for newly formed congregations of converts whose faith and witness he was committed to maintaining and nurturing. His letters are an abiding witness to his pastoral care of the churches by helping them to grow in the Word of God.

The ministry of the Word necessarily means building up of communities. Making the Word of God available to all sections of the believing community in its purity is a priority in our Word Mission. It is also the task of the pastors to help the believing community to delve into the true meaning of the Word of God.

Saint Paul, the messenger of the Word occupies a unique place in the entire history of the church. Immersed in the mystery of Christ, he successfully toiled to communicate his experience and knowledge about Christ to others who otherwise would never have heard of Jesus. He laboured relentlessly to bring the light of gospel all over the world. He founded churches, toiled to nurture them and to form them into the likeness of Christ. Our dream is to follow the spirit of St Paul, his zeal for the spreading of the Word.

II.   Ministry of the Word in Kerala church

1.    Word of God and present scenario

A. Situation within

a.    Sunday Christians who are devout, regular at pious activities but with little knowledge of the Word of God  - these are certainly majority in our land, especially in villages

b.    Vigilant Christians: Interested in learning the Word of God – people have time and great desire, especially the educated in cities

c.    Hallelujah Christians: People with some biblical consciousness- influenced by charismatic movements – some from good families to Pentecostal groups in search of the Word

d.   New Age Christians: New generation – entangled in new way spirituality – do not know the Word

e.    The presence of three different liturgical traditions in Kerala

B. Challenges from outside

a. Distortion of and attacks against the Bible  - some are perplexed, some join the opposite camp or abandon faith altogether

b. Aggressive propaganda from Non-Christians - Especially with regard to our fundamental beliefs in Trinity and divinity of Jesus Christ (Recently there was a flood of leaflets and books in a village in Kerala posted from Egypt, followed by aggressive house-to-house propaganda by Muslims).

2.    Different activities in Biblical Ministry

The ministry of the Word of God is the exercise of the prophetic mission of Christ, which continues in the Church. It takes on different forms, according to the different conditions under which it is practiced and the ends that it strives to achieve. There is a primary level of introducing the Bible, of helping the believers to discover its importance in daily life, of strengthening their knowledge of the Bible and of deepening their spirituality. The ministry of the Word has to take care of different areas and levels of needs.

As I had mentioned at the beginning, the specific and the most beautiful aspect of Christianity in Kerala is the presence of three different rites with different traditions which is enrichment for the church. The Bishops’ Council is very active in the field of biblical ministry in all churches. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Bible is the key factor that fosters unity among these churches in Kerala. The Bible Commission has ventured into various activities meant to initiate the faithful into the Scriptures, to deepen their knowledge of the Bible, to make the Word available to all sections of the society, to make the message of the Bible attractive to the youth, etc.

a. Preparation of the Bible and Study materials

The Bible commission is engaged in a mammoth task of translating the Bible directly from the original text. We have completed the preparation of the New Testament and now this is published as Study Bible. The preparation of the Old Testament is progressing. Six Bible scholars are directly involved in this translation and they have been working for the last four years (total manpower is already 24 years!). Apart from this, we publish every year at least three books on the Bible. We have published elementary books on the biblical Greek and Hebrew for the laity. The preparation of the Interlinear in our vernacular language is progressing.

b. Logos Quiz: A Model for New Evangelization

The idea of Bible Quiz for Bible study was taken up by the Bible Commission and Bible Society under Kerala Catholic Bishops Council in the great Jubilee Year 2000. Since then it has spread like wildfire, even beyond the boundaries of this small state and even country. The Bible Society conducts every year this quiz programme for different age groups in various languages with the support of zealous leaders. Now we have around 600,000 participants every year from all dioceses in Kerala, some from other states and also from Canada, making it perhaps the biggest bible learning programme of the world.                    

Methodology for quiz, though simple, requires meticulous planning and organisation. Every year different sections of the Bible are prescribed for the quiz. This year, for example, study material consists of sections from Deuteronomy, Sirach, Matthew and Revelation. First, preliminary examination is conducted at diocesan level and then the winners participate in a National level competition. The Grand Finale of the quiz is telecast in Christian TV Channels to popularise studying the Bible. The winners are given prizes at parish, diocese and state level and the topper is offered a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Interestingly, often the first prize has gone to the youth.

The diocesan and parish level co-ordination of children and the youth is the life-line of this Bible learning programme through Logos Quiz. Though the competition is conducted for all age groups, most of the participants are children and the youth. The eldest participant last year was 100 years ‘young’. This Bible Quiz makes even elderly people young!

The young participants of the Quiz often make Bible study part of their normal curriculum. ‘Though I spend time on learning the Bible, I lacked nothing. My school studies and extra-curricular activities flourished as well’, proudly shares 11 year old Mettilda Johnson who bagged first prize this year. Her desire is to pursue her biblical studies in Biblicum, Rome. Often the whole family with children prepare for the Bible Quiz and make it a part of Christian education at home.

We have also introduced Family Logos Quiz in which the whole family takes part. Now we have started bible quiz also for the differently abled. This has created interest among them to open the Bible.

c.    The Word beyond Boundaries

Sign Bible: To bring the Word of God to everyone is the cherished dream of KCBC Bible Commission. Realising that the differently-abled section of the society is often left out from mainstream activities, the Commission has brought out the first Video programme Ephphatha of a series that contains Bible narrations in sign language, meant for hearing-impaired children.              

Accessible Bible, a computer programme that can be freely downloaded to computers or mobile phones, is another initiative to bring the Bible in Malayalam, the vernacular language in Kerala, to the youth who have vision deficiency.

Braille Bible: The Catholic Braille Bible in Malayalam is now being prepared to be distributed freely in Kerala.

Audio Bible: We have prepared Audio bible of the whole Bible and now we have brought out a Bible Audio player in collaboration with Mega Voice.                              

d.    Bible Art Fest

Art is the best medium to bring the Word of God to the children and the youth. All Kerala Bible Art Festival offers the youth an opportunity to present Bible themes and messages in creative media such as drama, folkdance, classical dance, storytelling, singing, painting, etc. Along with this, literary competitions are also conducted for different age groups. This art festival which brings youth groups from all over Kerala offers an occasion for exchange of creative presentations of Bible themes and also various art forms.          

e.    Various Bible Reading Experiences

The written Word seeks readers. Motivating the people to read the Bible is one of the most important tasks of a Bible apostolate. We prepare a Liturgical Bible reading Calendar for the whole year and distribute it all over the State. It helps the faithful in their preparation for the daily Mass.

The month of December is observed as the Bible Reading Month, in order to prepare the faithful to welcome ‘the Word become flesh’. Of course, this is also a cultural adaptation of the Hindu tradition to dedicate a month for reading Ramayana, their Sacred Scriptures. The Bible Commission prepares a Bible Reading Chart that helps many faithful to read the whole Bible in a month dedicating almost three hours per day. Many parishes arrange continuous reading of the Bible during December. This proposal by the Bible Commission is executed in various parishes and institutions, adapting to their situation. There are parishes which arrange Bible reading 24 hours all through the month of December. The last Sunday of December is celebrated as Bible Sunday for special Bible related programmes in parishes.

f.      Bible Short Film Fest

We started also short film making courses and short film competition for biblical themes. The idea is to get the talented youth to turn them to biblical messages and to prepare them spread biblical messages through modern media.

g.    Bible Correspondence Course

We started Correspondence course in our language 25 years ago, inspired by a similar course started by NBCLC, Bangalore. Now we have 42 booklets in six units and around 13000 have joined this study programme. There are even participants from other countries.

h.    Regular Bible Courses

Pope Benedict  in his exhortation is unambiguous about the quality of the ministers of the Word: “Provision must be made for the suitable preparation of priests and lay persons who can instruct the People of God in the genuine approach to Scripture”(VD 73). What happens when the pastors are not well equipped is described in Verbum Domini:  “Where the faithful are not helped to know the Bible in accordance with the Church’s faith and based on her living Tradition, this pastoral vacuum becomes fertile ground for realities like the sects to take root.” (VD 73). Lack of true shepherds leads to disarray among the flock. Here I would like to emphasise the importance of training personnel for biblical ministry.

The Bible Commission conducts Wednesday Bible course for the last 25 years and every year around 100 regular participants are there for this programme. There are many such programmes in different parts of Kerala. It is amazing to see that there is great demand for such courses all over. Harvest is plenty! There are one/two years bible courses conducted in some dioceses. This is apart from theology courses organised by some institutes.

i.      Other Initiatives

Bible materials for children: Bible Games help the younger ones to learn the Bible and its background through games. We have also prepared preliminary texts that introduce Biblical languages as well as Biblical Geography to children. We have also published Illustrative Bible Story books for children.

Scriptura : Copying bible – individually, in families, in groups, ...

Casa Bibbia: Family based bible groups have come up in some dioceses.

Bible Art: Initiative among the artists; for children

Bible Film Festival : Screening of biblical films

Bible Games

The Bible Commission in Kerala has ventured into creative initiatives to popularise reading and studying and praying the Bible. These efforts to keep the symbolic world of the Bible alive in the minds of the children and the youth have now begun to reap rich harvest. Now-a-days one is not surprised when even children freely recite verses from the Bible or answer questions related to the Bible.  Familiarity with the biblical text, its symbols and story opens the door to the world of the Bible and, then, to the kingdom that Jesus preached.

Fr Johnson Puthussery CST

Secretary

KCBC Bible Commission

Pastoral Orientation Centre

Palarivattom  – 682 025

Kerala, India

pjohnsoncst@gmail.com