A Reading Marathon

There is something a bit unusual going on starting at 9:00 today and lasting all week-end. A group of volunteers will be reading the Bible out loud all weekend. It will be streamed live on one of our tv station's website, abc13.com. Reading aloud, I think can help some people get a real feel for a story. I know that , for example, Shakespeare seems to come alive more when we hear the words rather than try to read it. Maybe the same will be said for people who read the Bible. Personally, I think even non-readers would find interesting.

The University of St. Thomas will host, "Word of God: The Bible Unites," an ecumenical event where people of all faiths will continuously read the Bible aloud from Genesis to Revelation around the clock for the duration of the three-day event.

WHO: Various Catholic and non-Catholic religious leaders, civil leaders, Catholic high school and grade school principals, UST faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends will read the Bible aloud for 15-minute intervals

WHEN: This three day event begins 9am on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 and ends at approximately 9:30am on Sunday, Feb. 22 at the Chapel of St. Basil on the University of St. Thomas campus.

The Opening Ceremony will begin with Bishop Rizzotto, Pastor Lawson, and Rabbi Weiss speaking briefly about the Word of God and then following the reading of the Bible will begin in this following order:

Order of readers of Bible for opening ceremony (also listed in front of name is the chapter from Genesis they will be reading):

1. Rabbi Kenneth Weiss, Executive Director of Houston Hillel
2. Most Reverend Vincent Rizzotto, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
3. Rev. Dr. William A. Lawson, Senior Pastor, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
4. Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, Bishop of the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
5. Adrian Garcia, Harris County Sheriff
6. The Right Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, Bishop Adjutor of Texas, Episcopal Diocese of Texas
7. Todd Smith, UST Director of Athletics
8. Gwen James, Coordinator of UST Student Affairs
9. Deacon Joe Rubio, Vice President of Community Relations and Development for Catholic Charities
10. Sister Mary Roberta Connors, FSE, Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist
11. Thomas Mendez, UST Senior
12. George Strake, President and CEO of Strake Energy Inc.
13. Dr. Robert Ivany, President, University of St. Thomas
14. Father Patrick Braden, CSB, President Emeritus of the University of St. Thomas
15. Bernard Hebinck, UST Alumnus
16. Tom Horan, UST Alumnus
17. Larry Payne, UST Alumnus
18. David Wood, Director, Office of Worship, Archdiocese of Galveston Houston

I have never seen this happen in a large city like Houston. Maybe it has been done in some churches but to have so many people of different faiths do this in public is inspiring.