"Man shall not liveby bread alone, but by every word
that proceeds out from the Mouth of God."
( Mt. 4 : 4 )
During the meeting on 27 - 30 March 2007 the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand passed the motion on making a campaign between 2007 - 2010 so that all the Christians in every walk of life: priests, religious and the laity will effectively live the Word.
This is to be in consonance with the national pastoral planning of the Church in Thailand for the year 2000 - 2010 as stipulated in the Mission which invites all the faithful to "Renew their lives in closeness with Christ through His Word and the Sacraments" This offers a good opportunity for the remaining 4 years of the 10 years pastoral planning to renew the Christian lives through the Word of God along with the Eucharist which has been always deemed a sine qua non.
It is well known that during the past 2 - 3 years pastoral letters have been continuously issued by the Church in Thailand inviting the faithful to renew their family life making the
- A.D. 2004 "The Eucharist: Light and Life of the Family",
- A.D. 2005 "The Eucharist and Vocations" and
- A.D. 2006 "Year of the Evangelization".
The purpose is to continue to enkindle the awareness of our faithful to renew their mature faith and be more active in telling the story of Jesus to those who do not yet know Him.
At the Universal Church level there was the Synod of Bishops on 2 - 23 October 2005 on the theme: "The Eucharist: Font and Summit of Life and Mission of the Church" with the subsequent Pontifical Admonition of "Sacramentum Caritatis" of Pope Benedict XVI. The next Synod will be again convened in October 2008 on "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church" parallel to the previous theme.
Within the context of importance given to the various themes as mentioned above, it is but appropriate that all the Thai faithful dedicate and participate themselves in making the Word of God the center of "Life and Mission of every Christian" through reading and listening to the Divine Word in the Bible both individually and collectively. They should also bring the inspiration of the Word into one's daily living, family and the BEC of every parish and in every diocese, so that, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the faithful will enter into contact with Christ the "Word of God" and center of every community by dedicating the years of 2007 - 2010 the years of response to the call of the Universal as well as the local Church.
Bishops of the Conference expect that the next 4 years of lives. The important agenda of each year have been designed as follows
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AD. 2007 "Word of God in the Christian Life" (1) campaign emphasizes on the Christian life renewal in a close relationship with Christ through familiarization with the Word through reading, praying, studying, reflecting and continuously willing to live the Gospel value.
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AD. 2008 "Word of God in the Christian Life" (2) campaign continues further from the previous year through renewal of the Christian life to be close to Christ by regularly, continuously and more forcefully encountering with the Word at an individual, family and institutional level of the parish community.
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AD. 2009 ‘Word and Sacraments in the Christian Life" campaign focuses on making listening to the Word and receiving the Holy Communion carried out practically in the life of the individual, family, community and neighboring society.
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A.D. 2010 "Word, Sacraments and Communion in Love and Faith of the Christians" campaign focuses on living the Word and Value of the Gospel in line with the teaching of the Church, witnessing to faith through mutual sharing, love and service to the poor and by being in good relationship with people of other faiths through life dialogue.
In order to make this "The Word towards Life" campaign successful the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand urges that the Office for National Pastoral Planning together with the Catholic Commission for the Bible serve as the core of coordination of all the related Catholic institutions to promote and support this project through activities and practical actions for each individual, family, institutions and schools in every diocese. Detailed guidelines of concrete practices will be further proposed.
May the Word of our Divine Master who told us individually before His ascension into Heaven be fruitful: "Teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age", because only through living the Word of God that we will always encounter with His presence in our daily lives.
We, therefore, make this announcement of this message of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand be known to the Christian faithful, priests and religious and it is requested that everybody unanimously partake of this campaign throughout the following 4 years.
Given on this 20th day of May, 2007
Solemnity of the Ascension
H.E. Bishop George Yod Phimphisan
President
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand
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