Sunday of the Word of God
“The Bible is the book of the Lord’s people.” - Pope Francis
On the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 26, 2025), we celebrate the "Sunday of the Word of God." This special day, established by Pope Francis in September 2019, is intended to remind us of the gift that sacred Scripture is to all of us.
In his apostolic letter “Aperuit Illis,” Pope Francis said, “The relationship between the Risen Lord, the community of believers, and sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians. Without the Lord who opens our minds to them, it is impossible to understand the Scriptures in depth. Yet, the contrary is equally true: without the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of his Church in this world would remain incomprehensible.”
Pope Francis envisioned that special attention would be paid to the word of God during Masses celebrated on this day, as well as by catechists and all the faithful. While he left it up to priests and individual communities to best determine how they wanted to celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God, he noted the importance of enthroning the sacred text on the day in order to focus the attention of the assembly on it. In "Aperuit Illis," the pope also suggested that priests use their homilies to help people better appreciate the gift that has been passed to us in sacred Scripture, and he suggested introducing people to lectio divina, which is a contemplative method of reading the Bible.
"The Bible is the book of the Lord’s people, who, in listening to it, move from dispersion and division towards unity," the pope said. "The word of God unites believers and makes them one people."
Although he established this special celebration, the pope emphasized that appreciation for sacred Scripture should not be limited to just one day.
“We should never take God’s word for granted but, instead, let ourselves be nourished by it, in order to acknowledge and live fully our relationship with him and with our brothers and sisters,” he said.
The Sunday of the Word of God is a beautiful opportunity to find your Bible, open it to a favorite passage, and appreciate the words and faith that have been passed on to us, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
