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UST Invites Community to Continuous Bible-Reading
12/19/2008
 The University of St. Thomas invites faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends and the Houston community to attend an inspiring ecumenical demonstration of faithful unity when they host, “Word of God: The Bible Unites,” from Friday, Feb. 20 to Sunday, Feb. 22 at the Chapel of St. Basil.
This inaugural event offers guests the opportunity to witness a public proclamation of the Word of God through a continuous reading of the Bible. People of all faiths including various Catholic and non-Catholic religious leaders, community leaders, Catholic high school and grade school principals, UST faculty staff and students will unite around the clock to read the Bible aloud from Genesis to Revelation.
An opening ceremony featuring all special guests including religious and civic leaders will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 20. At the opening ceremony, each special guest will read from the Bible. Readings will proceed continuously with volunteer readers, stopping only for regularly scheduled Masses Friday at 12:30 p.m., and Saturday at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. The Bible will be read in Spanish both Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. A closing ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 22.
UST Chaplain Father Mike Buentello, CSB, said he was inspired when the recent Senate of Bishops started the session in Rome with a non-stop reading of the Bible. “I thought, we can do that,” Fr. Buentello said. “We are a Catholic institution. Let’s unite under the reading of the Bible.”
The decision to host a continuous reading of the Bible was born out of a collective desire to recover unity of all Christians as a gift of Christ and a call of unity of the Holy Spirit, he said.
“One criticism and misconception that you often hear about Catholics is that we all have a Bible in our homes, but we seldom open and read it,” Buentello said. “It’s very important that we are comfortable with scripture. Too often, we talk about what divides us, and we overlook what we have in common. We should concentrate on what unites us, what brings us closer together and closer to God – and that is our Bible.”
The event is free and open to the public. Guests are welcome on campus to hear the public proclamation of the Word of God around the clock during the duration of the event. Parking is available for $2 in the Moran Center Parking Garage, 3807 Graustark.
For more information, contact Fr. Mike Buentello, CSB, at http://buentem@stthom.edu or call 713-525-6981.
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