St. Malachy ‘Bible Marathon’ connects Christ’s presence in ‘the word and the Word’

Francis Ray reads aloud from the Bible in the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in St. Malachy Church in Brownsburg early on the morning of March 12 as part of the parish’s The Word Became Flesh Bible Marathon from March 10-14, an event designed to highlight Christ’s presence in the word and in the Eucharist. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

BROWNSBURG—Nathanael Rea wanted to offer the members of his parish—and those beyond—a unique way to experience the Eucharist.

He took the matter before God in prayer, and “the Lord sent me an idea,” said Rea. It even came with a name: The Word Became Flesh Bible Marathon.

The idea was to read the Bible aloud from cover to cover in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, said the director of faith formation and evangelization for St. Malachy Parish in Brownsburg, “highlighting Christ’s presence in the word and the Eucharist.”

Rea spoke with passion about the Bible in an interview with The Criterion before the marathon.

“To fully encounter Jesus in the Church, we need to know his story—which is also our story—which is found in sacred Scripture,” he explained. “It’s the story of God’s children from creation, to the fall, to exile, to the time when Christ came on his amazing rescue mission to bring us back to the Father.”

While the Bible contains many books, said Rea, “It is one long letter of God’s love and affection for his people. And in that sense, it’s our story. It’s the things God wants us to know about him and ourselves.”

Even more effective is reading that love letter aloud, he said, noting “there is power in proclaiming the word, even when no one is listening. There is a unique grace that happens when we use our voice to proclaim God’s word, as opposed to it just being on the page.”

That word “shows how God never left us,” he added. “And he is with us now—not just in the word, but in the Word made flesh, the Eucharist.”

Hence the proclamation of the Bible in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

Rea planned for the marathon to begin after a eucharistic procession in the church following the 10:30 a.m. Mass on March 10.

When it would end was a mystery.

He found some Protestant websites that estimated reading the entire Bible aloud would take about 48 hours.

“But they don’t have as many books as the Catholic Bible,” Rea noted. “And we’ll be stopping for a few Masses. Plus, not everyone will read at the same pace.”

A few weeks before the event, he created an online sign-up with 30-minute slots for readers and one-hour slots for adorers, with a minimum of two adorers per hour. He estimated the marathon would end sometime on the morning of March 13.

It finished at 6:20 a.m. on March 14. Not counting two Masses, The Word Became Flesh Bible Marathon lasted about 89 hours. Nearly 130 volunteers read, with some signing up for more than one slot.

“I have been overwhelmed by all the positive feedback,” Rea said afterward. “People also expressed how special it was to have adoration around the clock. I think it’s that experience of God in the word, the [Blessed] Sacrament and his people.”

In his interview prior to the event, Rea expressed his hope that, “through the proclamation of the word in the presence of the Word, people will have a true encounter with our Lord.”

Such was the case for Barbara Burton. She read Scripture aloud from 9-9:30 a.m. on March 11.

“I was nervous,” she admitted. “You don’t know what you’re going to read, so there’s no preparing like before reading at Mass. But it was really good. I read from [one of the books of] Samuel, which is my son’s name.

“Of course, I got some of the names that are so hard to pronounce. I think every time I got them, I pronounced them differently,” she said with a laugh.

But Burton’s tone became serious when she spoke of listening to the word proclaimed during two separate hours she spent in adoration.

“When [they] were reading, it was just so moving,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “It was like Jesus talking.”

Her fellow parishioner, Kevin Hinkle, read aloud from 1-1:30 a.m. and 2-2:30 a.m. on March 11, and again in the evening of March 12, splitting an hour with his wife Susan.

“It was a fulfilling experience for me, just to be able to read the word in the presence of the Word, the Word made flesh,” he said.

Hinkle is no novice when it comes to proclaiming Scripture—he’s served as a lector since 1980.

“But this was a different experience,” he said, adding it was also likely a “unique experience for each person that read. You don’t know what you’re going to read, so you might get a chapter or verse that really speaks to you and where you are in your life.”

If anyone has a chance to participate in something similar to The Word Became Flesh Bible Marathon, “You should do it,” Hinkle said.

“You’re proclaiming the word of God, so it’s going to have a positive effect on you and anyone who listens. And you’re in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, so you’re going to get special graces from that.

“It’s proclaiming the word in the presence of the Word. It’s just profound. The word and the Word—I don’t know how better to describe it.” †