Celebrating the Word of God by reading it with new eyes
On Jan. 26, 2025, the Church celebrates the 6th Sunday of the Word of God: “I hope in your Word” (Ps. 119:74)
This is no ordinary Sunday for Christians. Today, the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, is the Feast of the Word, that on which our life of faith is based. “Sunday of the Word of God” is a day established in 2019 by Pope Francis, with the apostolic letter in the form of Motu Propio ”Aperuit illis.”
This year, the theme chosen is in line with the Jubilee slogan and takes up a verse from the Psalms, “I hope in your Word” (Ps. 119:74).
Very often, the Bible is left to get dusty in a drawer, when instead Scripture should be our daily bread. For that is where it all starts.
The story of our salvation history needs to be known, heard, welcomed, witnessed. For this reason, a day like this can prove to be a precious occasion.
As the Pope argues, “the Word of God unites believers and makes them one people,” bringing them together around listening and deepening what the Lord has suggested over the centuries.
On this Day, we need to recover the deep meaning and value of the Word, discovering the special bond between God the Father and His children.
Therefore, moments of reading, deepening and reflection should be promoted in the community. The reading – even individually – of one biblical passage a day should be encouraged.
The same goes for children, who especially at home, in the family, should be helped to read the Bible, to familiarize themselves with the life of Jesus, with everything in both the New and Old Testaments.
The 6th Sunday of the Word, in particular, emphasizes the discourse of hope, linking back to the theme of the Jubilee year and inviting everyone to put the Lord at the center of life. Not only the Eucharist, but also the Word.
In Africa, but also in Latin America, there are already Word groups: small grassroots communities where together we listen to and read the Bible and give each other directions to put it into practice.
This is also done in various parish and diocesan communities in Italy and Europe, but we need to re-learn how to read, that is, how to welcome the Word of God with new eyes.
And from the Word we will move on to deeds. Feeling loved, the recipient of a special message, each person will, in fact, take care to put it into practice, performing works of mercy and pouring out God’s love on his neighbor.