HONG KONG (SE): Two important Church celebrations occur in the third week of January. In his apostolic letter, Aperuit illis, issued on 30 September 2019, Pope Francis instituted the celebration of Sunday of the Word of God, which is held every year on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Pope Francis wrote, “I hereby declare that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God.”
This year, it will be celebrated on January 22.
The Dicastery for Evangelisation of People announced that Pope Francis would preside at Mass on the Sunday of the Word of God in St. Peter’s Basilica. It issued details on the annual celebration, which this year draws as its theme a verse from John’s first epistle: “We proclaim to you what we have seen” (1 John 1:3). The special celebration aims to give new life to the responsibility of all believers to deepen their knowledge of Sacred Scripture. As part of the promotional effort, those attending the papal celebrations will be given a booklet of the Gospel of Matthew.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is celebrated between January 18 and 25, which usually coincides with the Sunday of the Word of God. This week is the octave of St. Peter and St. Paul. This year’s observance Unity Week is based on the theme: “Do good, seek justice” [Isaiah 1:17].
The Church is called to be the sign and instrument of the unity that God desires for the whole of his creation [cf. Lumen gentium, 1] but the division between Christians weakens the Church’s effectiveness.
The special celebration aims to give new life to the responsibility of all believers to deepen their knowledge of Sacred Scripture. As part of the promotional effort, those attending the papal celebrations will be given a booklet of the Gospel of Matthew
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches calls on Christians worldwide to pray together and share their faith experiences to be united in one Lord.
During the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Sunday of the Word of God, the Ministries of Reader and Catechist will be conferred on 10 laypeople, men and women. Three persons as readers and seven as catechists, coming from Italy, Congo, the Philippines, Mexico and Wales in the UK, will be commissioned during the liturgy.
The resource material supplied by the dicastery for celebrating Word of God Sunday reads: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ, taught St. Jerome. An encounter with God’s Word is an encounter with the one we love, so we need to have frequent contact with God’s Word and place it at the centre of our lives.”
Sharing some practical guidelines on how to celebrate the Sunday, the document says, “The cellphone has become not only an everyday device but also an extension of one’s person, especially for younger people, who cannot leave the house without it, carrying it everywhere and at all times. It has become indispensable. Pope Francis invites the faithful to carry the Bible with them everywhere, just as we do with our smartphones. Our challenge as Christians is to ensure that this device, now part of our lives, helps us in our faith journey.”
It says, “As we well know, you can easily have the Bible on your cellphone to refer to it at any time. There are different applications and Internet pages in different languages, not only with the Bible but also with the daily readings for Holy Mass, pages where you can read or listen to the Word of God, and pages with commentaries and reflections. Some texts from Holy Scripture are combined with the Catholic Church’s Catechism and some reflections, for example, YOUCAT Daily, are available in six languages.”
It is suggested that you have one of these apps [the one that is most helpful to you] on the main page of your cell phone and put a reminder in your notifications to have one moment a day to encounter God’s Word so that it is with you wherever you go.
