Indonesia Catholics Turn to Gospel of Matthew for National Bible Month

Catholics across Indonesia are observing September as National Bible Month 2026, with a focus on listening to Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew and bringing his teachings into daily life.

Organized through parishes and small neighborhood Catholic communities known as lingkungan, National Bible Month 2026 carries the theme, “Jesus, the Teacher with Authority: The Face of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.” Its theme verse is Matthew 17:5: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country and home to a significant Catholic minority, has a long tradition of promoting Scripture through parish and community-based programs. During National Bible Month, Catholics gather to read and reflect on biblical passages and connect them with experiences of family life, work, forgiveness, mission and solidarity.

At the grassroots level, the program is centered on lingkungan, small Catholic communities within a parish where members pray together, know one another and share their experiences. These gatherings provide a setting for Scripture to be discussed in relation to everyday realities.

The Indonesian Biblical Association (LBI) organized the 2026 materials around four meetings during September. Participants reflect on Jesus’ teaching about true life, the mission entrusted to his disciples, fraternity in faith and the call to eternal life.

LBI Chairman Fr. Albertus Purnomo, OFM, a Franciscan friar who studied biblical studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and teaches Scripture at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, emphasized in his introduction that studying Scripture should lead to personal growth and transformation.

Jarot Hadianto, one of the contributors, prepared the Supporting Reflections section to help participants understand the context and message of the biblical passages and apply them to daily life. Jarot studied philosophy at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy and theology at Loyola School of Theology at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.

National Bible Month developed from the Indonesian Church’s growing efforts to promote Scripture in the decades after the country’s independence. The Franciscan Order in Indonesia established the Biblical Association of the Friars Minor (LBSSD) in 1965 to translate and publish Scripture and related materials.

In 1970, the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference recognized the association as a national Church institution responsible for biblical matters, later known as the Indonesian Biblical Association.

The initiative was also influenced by the Second Vatican Council’s Dei Verbum, which encouraged wider access to Sacred Scripture among the faithful.

In 1977, the Catholic Church in Indonesia established National Bible Sunday on the first Sunday of September. The initiative later expanded into a month dedicated to Scripture study and reflection.

Over the years, dioceses, parishes and Catholic communities developed their own forms of biblical ministry, including gatherings in homes, parish halls, classrooms and, more recently, digital platforms.

For Indonesian Catholics, National Bible Month is intended to go beyond Bible reading. Discussions on forgiveness, fraternity, mission and justice allow participants to bring their own experiences into conversation with the Word of God.

The 2026 observance invites Catholics to return to the Gospel of Matthew and hear the Father’s call: “Listen to him.”

The invitation also calls them to put that Word into practice in their families, communities, Church and wider society.