The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Catholic Church is known as “Sunday of the Word of God”, established by a papal decree, it is be observed a as a special day devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God.
On September 30th, 1990, the Feast of St Jerome, Pope Francis established “The Word of God Sunday” to be celebrated on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, beginning 26th of January 2020. St Jerome is credited with the translating of the Old Testament scriptures directly from Hebrew into Latin, becoming what we now know as the Vulgate the basis of our current Bible. A Quote from St. Jerome “ Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of God."
Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter, “Aperuit illis” which translates “He open their minds”, wrote; “Devoting a specific Sunday of the liturgical year to the Word of God can enable the Church experience a new how the risen Lord opens for us a treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world.” In St Luke’s gospel “the Road to Emmaus” Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to understand the scriptures; in their joy they could not wait to spread the Good News, Jesus still wants to speak to us.
This Sunday the Church wants to stimulate all Christians not to just place the Bible on the shelf as one of many books, perhaps filled with dust, but as an instrument that awakens our faith.
As Ordained Clergy and faithful alike, today renews the importance and value of Sacred Scripture for the Christian life, as well as the relationship between the word of God and the liturgy.
A day devoted to the Bible should not be seen as a yearly event, rather a year-long event, for we urgently need to grow in our knowledge and love of scriptures and of the Risen Lord, who continues to speak his word and to break bread in the community of believers. For this reason, we need to develop a closer relationship with Sacred Scripture ; otherwise, our hearts will remain cold and our eyes shut, inflicted as we are with so many other forms of blindness. I ask you to find your Bible and read it draw closer to God
Blessings
Deacon Larry
