Word of God Sunday

Word of God Sunday

With the motu proprio Aperuit Illis, Pope Francis has instituted this Sunday as “Word of God Sunday” as a way to “enable the Church to 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” (Aperuit Illis, 2).

In devoting a Sunday to the Word of God, we are reminded that as Christians, the scriptures are part of our identity. We often want an encounter with Christ, and hear His voice, yet Christ Jesus speaks to us in the words of Scripture. “If we hear his voice and open the doors of our minds and hearts,” Pope Francis writes, “then he will enter our lives and remain ever with us” (Aperuit Illis, 9).

Pope Francis invites us to consider how we celebrate, study, and disseminate the Word of God. We celebrate the liturgy of the Word at Mass thanks to our excellent lectors, who are truly ministers of the Word, and with deep faith and confident voice announce God’s saving word to us.

We have a couple of groups at the parish who meet on a regular basis and together read and study scripture, such as Men in Christ, and the Young Professionals. I am grateful to Michel Ramirez for his leadership of the Men in Christ, and Fr. Philip Yang, OSA for his leadership of the Young Professionals.

Fr. Phil has been training a core group of leaders, who will lead new groups of Bible study for adults of any age and gender. He has called the program Amici, and I am told that it will start soon. If you are interested and want to be placed in a group, please e-mail him at associate@stpatsd.org

God bless, Fr. Carlos, OS