Bangalore Archdiocese

Media Release

Bengaluru, Aug 5 : The Suvartha Konkani Bible Marathon that was started at 9 in the morning of 26th of July, was concluded successfully at 5.15 in the morning of 31st of July 2021. It was a feast of continuous 116 hours of the Word of God online in Konkani. The entire Bible was proclaimed at a stretch which gave a unique experience to proclaimers and viewers that has strengthened their faith as being shared by many of them.

The Bible Commission of the Archdiocese of Bangalore and the Federation of Konkani Catholic Associations (FKCA) had jointly organized the Suvartha Konkani Marathon, a proclamation of the entire Bible. 49 proclaimers took turns at every half an hour to proclaim the Word of God. They were assisted technically by a team of 13 Admins. All felt that there was the hand of God throughout the proclamation as everything went on smoothly.

In order to celebrate the bond created by the proclamation of the Word of God and to share the experiences with the Word of God, a gathering of all the proclaimers, with their Admins, the WhatsApp Assistants along with Committee members was organized on the 1st of August 2021 at the Paalana Bhavana, the Pastoral Centre of the Archdiocese of Bangalore. The Archbishop Most Rev. Peter Machado celebrated the Holy Eucharist and presided over the short programme that followed. Fr. Faustine L. Lobo preached a meaningful homily on the Word of God. Fr. George V. Lobo was also present as the concelebrant.

The Admins , the proclaimers were invited to share their testimony on the Word of God. Six members came forward and gave heart warming witness to the gifts they received from the Lord during the proclamation. The Archbishop gave away a memento each to all the Committee Members and the Council Members of the FKCA.

In his message the Archbishop invited the participants to follow Jesus and not the proclaimers, who are the messengers. He gave away a few suggestions to them as a follow up of the marathon. He advised, “We should now get into a Personal Marathon where everyone has to read a chapter each from the Bible every day; a Family Marathon – Motivating the family members to read the Bible one after another; a Bible Learning – Group Discussion among the Bible readers and Bible Correspondence Course – To join the Bible Correspondence Course conducted by the CCBI Commission for Bible", thereby all should start thinking about the Bible. Quoting Mother Theresa, he said "Thinking becomes word, words become habit, habits become character and character becomes our life. Our life should be based on the Bible".

Fr. George V. Lobo too was present and conveyed his prayerful wishes. While FKCA President Mr. Silvian Noronha warmly welcomed the gathering, Mr. Nigel Fernandes, the Joint Secretary of the Bible Commission of the Archdiocese proposed the vote of thanks to those who were instrumental in making the Marathon fruitful. Mr. Kiran D’Souza, one of the Admins, compered the programme.

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