Sunday of the Word of God

Pope Francis instituted a new observance on the third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Word of God Sunday is dedicated to the celebration, study and spreading of the Word of God. It is interesting in our family that over the last 5 months we have found ourselves focusing more on the gift of the Word of God. One of the things that has helped us was the discovery of a book. Occasionally we order used religious books from a convent. Sometimes we have heard of the books, sometimes we take a chance and order a few books we know nothing about with hopes we will be pleasantly surprised. We have found many gems in this way. Recently, we obtained a book that was new to us and I began reading it to my children. It is called: Surrounded by Angels. It is the true story of a Bible courier behind the iron curtain. It takes place in the late 60s or early 70s in Eastern Europe. An individual finds himself given a large number of Bibles in Bulgaria and takes the chance of crossing the border to return home to Romania. This crossing becomes the first of many he will make in order to secure and bring Bibles to those who were in need of them. As the story unfolds, many of his trips are mostly unplanned but the families and people he meets often share that they have for years prayed they might receive a Bible. Often there are tears shed by those given a Bible of their own. Hearing these stories has created an increase awareness of the gift we have been given to have access to a Bible from which we can freely read.

Sometimes it seems that Our Lord brings different things together in a short period of time to teach a person or family. Such it seems has been happening with the Word of God in our family. Even with this new attention to the incredible gift of the Word of God there is still the appreciation that we have only just begun to scratch the surface of the blessings and graces available to us through study and reading of Scripture.

Our personal experience has been one where my husband reads the Old Testament to our family each night. As he is Jewish, he reads to us the Old Testament. This has been a tremendous gift since so often through my own childhood as a Catholic I often heard the Gospels but knew far less about all the old Testament stories. 

Initially when we began family prayer with our children my husband read a Children's Bible but as the years have gone by we progressed to an adult Bible. We keep a Bible out in our Living Room.  I have included a picture of it above. 

One of the things that has beautifully complemented the reading of the Bible has been the praying of the Rosary. Since the Rosary is based in Scripture it has helped our kids contemplate the Life of Jesus. 

Everything is a process and we have seen in our family that consistency with any endeavor has been important. So we humbly invite families to try to integrate the reading of Sacred Scripture into their evening routine and also the prayer of the Rosary as a family.