VATICAN CITY — The newly established "Sunday of the Word of
God" is an invitation to Catholics across the world to deepen their
appreciation, love and faithful witness to God and his word, Pope Francis said.
By papal decree, the third Sunday in Ordinary Time — Jan. 26 this
year — is to be observed as a special day devoted to "the celebration,
study and dissemination of the word of God."
A day dedicated to the Bible will help the church
"experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his
word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world,"
the pope said in the document establishing the special Sunday observance.
Dioceses and parishes have been invited to respond with creative
initiatives, helpful resources and renewed efforts for helping Catholics engage
more deeply with the Bible at church and in their lives.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council
for Promoting New Evangelization, said added emphasis on the importance of the
word of God is needed because "the overwhelming majority" of
Catholics are not familiar with sacred Scripture. For many, the only time they
hear the word of God is when they attend Mass, he told Vatican News Sept. 30,
when the papal document, titled "Aperuit
Illis," was published.
"The Bible is the most widely distributed book, but it's
also perhaps the one most covered in dust because it is not held in our
hands," the archbishop said.
With this apostolic letter, the pope "invites us to hold the
word of God in our hands every day as much as possible so that it becomes our
prayer" and a greater part of one's lived experience, he said.
In his letter, Pope Francis wrote, "A day devoted to the
Bible should not be seen as a yearly event but rather a yearlong event, for we
urgently need to grow in our knowledge and love of the Scriptures and of the
risen Lord, who continues to speak his word and to break bread in the community
of believers."
"We need to develop a closer relationship with sacred
Scripture; otherwise, our hearts will remain cold and our eyes shut, struck as
we are by so many forms of blindness," he wrote.
Sacred Scripture and the sacraments are inseparable, he wrote.
Jesus speaks to everyone with his word in sacred Scripture, he said, and if
people "hear his voice and open the doors of our minds and hearts, then he
will enter our lives and remain ever with us."
Pope Francis urged priests to be extra attentive to creating a
homily each Sunday that "speaks from the heart" and really helps
people understand Scripture "through simple and suitable" language.
The homily "is a pastoral opportunity that should not be
wasted," he wrote. "For many of our faithful, in fact, this is the
only opportunity they have to grasp the beauty of God's word and to see it
applied to their daily lives."
Pope Francis encouraged people to read the Second Vatican
Council's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, "Dei
Verbum," and Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic exhortation on the
Bible, "Verbum Domini," whose teaching
remains "fundamental for our communities."
The pope also suggested pastors provide parishioners with the
Bible, a book of the Gospels or other catechetical resources,
"enthrone" the Bible in order to emphasize the honor and sacred
nature of the text, bless or commission lectors of the parish and encourage
people to read and pray with Scripture every day, especially through "lectio divina."
"The Bible cannot be just the heritage of some, much less a
collection of books for the benefit of a privileged few. It belongs above all
to those called to hear its message and to recognize themselves in its
words," the pope wrote.
"The Bible is the book of the Lord's people, who, in
listening to it, move from dispersion and division toward unity" as well
as come to understand God's love and become inspired to share it with others,
he added.
The celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God also "has
ecumenical value, since the Scriptures point out, for those who listen, the
path to authentic and firm unity," he wrote. The third Sunday in Ordinary
Time falls during that part of the year when the church is encouraged to
strengthen its bonds with the Jewish people and to pray for Christian unity.
The document was published on the feast of St. Jerome, patron
saint of biblical scholars and doctor of the church, who said, "Ignorance
of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." The title, "Aperuit
Illis," is based on a verse from the Gospel of St. Luke, "Then
he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."
The pope said it is impossible to understand the Scriptures in
depth without the Lord who opens people's minds to his word, yet "without
the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of his church in this
world would remain incomprehensible."