In 2019, on the memorial of St. Jerome, September 30th, Pope Francis called the Church to celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God on the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the Preamble of the Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass we are reminded, “the word of God proclaimed in the celebration of God’s mysteries does not only address present conditions but looks back to past events and forward to what is yet to come. Thus God’s word shows us what we should hope for with such a longing that in this changing world our hearts will be set on the place where our true joys lie.” (Preamble, 7).

The word of God, our reading of it, our hearing of it, is a central part of who we are as Catholics. The words that we read and that we hear proclaimed remind us of where we’ve been and who we are called to be. I want to thank, in a special way, our Lectors, who commit to proclaiming the word to us on a regular basis. If you are interested in learning more about this ministry, please let me know. We have some great Lectors, but we can always use some more help. Please pray about it!

I would invite us all, also, to spend our own time in prayer with the word of God outside of hearing it proclaimed at Mass. One way that we can do that is through a prayer form called, Lectio Divina. There are four simple steps to this process and we don’t need a theology degree or specialized training to do it. First, is Lectio, when we slowly and prayerfully read and reread the Scripture text. After we read and reread the text, then we enter into Meditatio, we look for a word or phrase of the Scripture that jumps out at us and we “chew” on it. We reflect on what interests us about that particular text, what attracts us and why, what do we find pleasant in it, what troubles us about it, we allow the text to speak to us in a personal way. Next we enter into, Oratio, we enter into a prayerful dialogue with God about what this text means to us and how God is speaking to us through it. The final step is, Contemplatio, where we rest in God, beyond thoughts and words, we simply rest with the word and with God.

If you have never done Lectio Divina, an easy way to start is by using the upcoming Sunday Scriptures, or even the daily Mass readings. Or maybe you might even take one Gospel and read one chapter of it a day, seeing where God leads you. There are many possibilities, but on this Sunday of the Word of God we are invited to make the word a central part of who we are and what we’re about.