Lahore: October 2, 2012. (By Fr. Inayat Bernard) “It is a special gift of God to read the Bible, to listen and above all to act upon it”. These were the words of the Apostolic Administrator Bishop Sebastian Francis Shaw OFM of the Archdiocese of Lahore in an inaugural mass of Bible Marathon 2012 organized at the National Martian Shrine of Mariamabad in the Punjab province. Some 95 km west of Lahore he recited a story about the love of the Bile that an uneducated old lady had requested him, when he was a priest, that she wanted to read the Bible and asked him to arrange for the adult literacy course. Bishop Sebastian appreciated her love for the Bible and also asked the inter-denominational over 300 faithful gathered from 4 provinces of Pakistan to promote the recitation of the Bible. He was amazed to see the young kids and said that they will make a history to participate in the first ever Bible Marathon in Pakistan. Referring to the book of Azra and the two disciples going to Emmaus he said when they were in the presence of the Lord and listen to him their loves were changed in the OT and NT. They direction of lie was turned and they are close to the Lord and were willing to follow His commandments. He asked the Priests, Sisters, catechists and the faithful to deepen their love for the Bible and they will become effective evangelizers. He referred to the closing ceremony for the 125 years jubilee of the Archdiocese on the 17th November that the new evangelization will help them to be the promoters of the Holy Bible. After the inaugural mass al the faithful raped to the stage set outside the church near the Marian Grotto to honor and Bible. The missionaries and several inter-denominational participants read the first five verses from the book of Genesis in their respective languages. The foreign languages of the missionaries in Pakistan included Hebrew, Latin, German, French, English, Italian, Maltese, Spanish, Arabic, Singhalese while the languages in Pakistan included Marvari, Balochi, Punjabi and Urdu. The General Secretary of the Pakistan Bile Society Mr. Anthony Ijaz Lamuel showed his ardent satisfaction that the Holy Bible was given such an importance by the Catholic Church. The present Urdu edition was printed and computerized with the cooperation of the Catholic Bible Commission Pakistan and Pakistan Bible Society in 2007. It is for the first time in Pakistan that the Holy Bible is being read from the book of Genesis to Revelation from 30th September night on the feast of St. Jerome till 6th October evening. Fr .Emmanuel Asi, Executive Secretary of CBCP referred to his printed material that the idea of the Bible Marathon Pakistan was born in 2010 and dates and place were fixed. He said that the choice of Mariamabad was for the reason that Our Lady born the baby Jesus , eternal Word, in her womb and this was an ideal place that the faithful come together at her national Shrine. Fr. Asi said that the Bible will be read but for the other people religious activities will go in the church and the stage which include Holy Mass, Confession, Bible Study, Holy Rosary, Biblical witnesses, Biblical processions and Bible films. Different religious houses, parishes, and individuals will read the Bible for six days and seven nights.