Knights and Ladies of Marshall encouraged to read the Bible prayerfully

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Salifu, the parish priest of St. Patrick Catholic Church, Atomic, has shed light on the enduring power of the Bible during his submission on the topic, “The Bible, a two-edge sword in our world of chaos” at the 4th edition of the New Year School organized by the Accra Central Regional Court and Council of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall.

The 2025 New Year School which was held on 31st March, 2025 at the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Adabraka was attended by members of the Noble Order including senior brothers and Sisters as well as juniors.

Addressing participants at the seminar, Fr. Salifu touched on the approach in understanding the Bible.
He said, “Scholars attempt to recover the most original version of biblical books, because no originals exist, only copies. These scholars compare different translations of the Scriptures to understand more clearly the meaning of a given passage”.

“Scholars work to uncover the historical situation, or Sitz im Leben, of the writer at the time a particular book or story was written. Scholars look at the Scriptures and seek to understand them as a work of literature”, he added.

According to him, scholars attempt to identify if the biblical authors used an existing story, myth, or other literature as the basis for their work.

During the plenary session, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Salifu, engaged the participants on the topic “The Holy Bible, Treasure to renew the spirit, body, mind and soul.”

Members were advised on how to read the Bible prayerfully, continuously and thematically and were also told to start with the short books and to read not just a verse but to read in context.

Fr. Salifu encouraged members to read and understand the Bible in a practical way
He asked, “how do I apply this in my life, how does the message apply to me, what areas of my life is this relevant?”

Members were divided into groups for a workshop session to discuss practical tools to read and interpret the Bible.

Participants shared their thoughts on how educative the session was and called for more active participation from other members.

Speaking to the host council and court, Brother Grant Desbordes, Grand Knight, and Sister Dr. Agartha Debrah, Noble Lady, expressed their experience as a privilege for being the host of the 2025 New Year School as this year marks their 25th anniversary.

The leadership of the Noble Order seeks to open its doors to other society of the church to participate in the New Year School program in subsequent years.

By Celestine Edem Gbologah // DEPSOCOM Accra