The Sunday of the Word of God!
The Sunday of the Word of God!
On September 30, 2019, on the Feast of St. Jerome, Pope Francis declared the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time as Sunday of the Word of God. On this day he published an Apostolic Letter, Motu Proprio "Aperuit illis" which also marks the 1600 death anniversary of St. Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin. St. Jerome said: "Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ." The Sunday of the Word of God is dedicated to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the Word of God. The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum solemnly promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. Pope Francis says that Dei Verbum makes clear that “the words of God, expressed in human language, are in every way like human speech, just as the Word of the eternal Father, in taking upon himself the weak flesh of human beings, also took on their likeness” (No. 13).
In No. 8, Pope Francis says, “As the Second Vatican Council teaches, “the Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she has venerated the Lord’s body, in that she never ceases, above all in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the word of God and the body of Christ” (Dei Verbum, 21).” The Gospel of John chapter 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1) … “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (1:14).
As we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God, the readings are about the importance and the power of the Word of God. The first reading from the book of Nehemiah (8:2-4a;5-6;8-10), Ezra reads from the book of the Law of God – covenant renewal at the feast of Tabernacle after the completion of the walls. A public reading of the Law was called in the Book of Deuteronomy (31:9-13) during every sabbatical year to make Judeans mindful of the law as well as to reestablish its full observance. The book of Ezra and Nehemiah have been merged to some degree and chapter 8 includes one of the Ezra memories. King Cyrus of Persia liberates Israelite, who were in Babylonian exile for seventy years. Then they rebuilt the ruined Temple (Ezra 6:15-17), finished rebuilding the walls under Ezra, the priest and Nehemiah, the governor. Ezra came to the WaterGate and proclaimed the Word of God and led the people in the covenant renewal and gave the instruction to the people.
The Mosaic Law of the Old Covenant is the first stage of revealed law. Its moral prescriptions are summed up in the Ten Commandments (CCC1980). The fullness of Divine Revelation through the New Covenant in Christ. In the Gospel (Luke 4:14-21), Jesus reads from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue and Christ, the anointed one, said, Jesus will lead people into the definitive covenant renewal.
Jesus came to the synagogue according to their custom and stood up to read. The Gospel reading tells us that reading the Scripture and interpreting was common practice among the Jews. Jesus read the Isaiah’s prophecy about himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Then he said, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing" (21). This short sermon inaugurates the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection are the fulfillment of the Scripture. In the Gospel of Luke 25:27 reads, “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.”
We are in Eucharistic Revival and Maintenance to Mission Years. In Bishop Powers Pastoral Letter on Evangelization, he quotes Pope St. John Paul II, “I sense that the moment has come to commit all the Church’s energies to a new evangelization…No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all people.”
Today, we have thousands and thousands of missionaries proclaiming the “Word of God” around the world. We are the missionaries sent out in our neighborhood. Through the Baptism, we are called to continue Jesus' ministry – proclaiming the Good News – freedom, joy, healing and so on. Every time we gather to celebrate Eucharist, we receive Jesus, in the “Word of God,” and in the “Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.” Then we are sent out to live the Eucharist and share with many – our mission.
Mission requires preparation. We need to participate in the Eucharistic celebration, we need to learn the scripture. Reading the Bible and learning the story of our faith is very important. Jeff Cavin in a video presentation, says that reading the Bible is not easy. Each one of us might have experienced this reality. There are 73 books in the complete Bible: 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Jeff Cavin reveals a secret to reading the Bible. He picks 14 books as narrative books and tells the story of salvation history. And he placed the rest of the 59 books in the historic context. There are many sources to do a personal/family Bible study. The FORMED web website will be one resource.
As we celebrate “The Sunday of the Word of God,” the readings invite us to take with us three points: 1. Find time to read, study and meditate the “Word of God”; 2. Live and Proclaim the Word of God in our daily life; 3. Pray for missionaries around the world and for one another.