Sunday of the Word of God: 'A day of awakening'

By Vatican News staff reporter

Importance of Sacred Scripture in our lives

A note released on Saturday by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and signed by the prefect, Cardinal Robert Sarah, explains that The Sunday of the Word of God is a means to help people “reawaken an awareness of the importance of Sacred Scripture for our lives as believers, beginning with its resonance in the liturgy which places us in living and permanent dialogue with God.”

It adds that the day is also "a good opportunity to reread some ecclesial documents, especially the Praenotanda of the Ordo Lectionum Missae."

The note itself is divided into ten points, the first of which points out that “through the proclaimed biblical readings in the liturgy, God speaks to his people and Christ himself proclaims his Gospel.” It indicates  that “One of the ritual possibilities suitable for this Sunday could be the entrance procession with the Book of the Gospels or simply placing the Book of the Gospels on the altar.”

The document then specifies that the biblical readings arranged by the Church in the Lectionary should not be replaced or suppressed, and that versions of the Bible approved for liturgical use should be used.

"The proclamation of the texts of the Lectionary constitutes a bond of unity between all the faithful who hear them," says the note, which also recommends the singing of the Responsorial Psalm.

The Homily

Focusing on the homily, it invites bishops, priests and deacons to "explain and enable all to understand Sacred Scripture" and to "make it accessible to their communities", carrying out this ministry "with special dedication, treasuring the means proposed by the Church". The importance of silence in liturgical celebration is also emphasized, because, "favouring meditation, it allows the word of God to be received inwardly by the listener.”

With regard to those who proclaim the Word of God in the assembly - priests, deacons and lectors - the note specifies that "specific interior and exterior preparation, familiarity with the text to be proclaimed and the necessary practice in the way of proclaiming it” are required.

It also insists on the care of the ambo from which the Word of God is proclaimed, and while "the homily and the intentions of the universal prayer can be proclaimed from it", "it is less appropriate to use it for commentaries, announcements or for directing singing."

There is also a request to take care of the material value and the good use of "books containing the readings of Sacred Scripture", adding it is "never appropriate to resort to leaflets, photocopies, and other pastoral aids as a substitute for liturgical books."

Formation meetings

In order to make Sacred Scripture and its value in liturgical celebrations better known, the Congregation urges the promotion of formation meetings, in proximity to or in the days following the Sunday of the Word of God, to highlight in greater detail “the criteria for the liturgical distribution of the various biblical books in the course of the year and its seasons, as well as what the structure is of the Sunday and weekday cycles of the readings for Mass.”

Finally, the document identifies the Sunday of the Word of God, where the community celebration of Lauds and Vespers is promoted, as “a fitting occasion to deepen the link between Sacred Scripture and the Liturgy of the Hours, the praying of the Psalms and Canticles of the Office, as well as the biblical readings.”

St. Jerome

It also suggests that St. Jerome be proposed as an example "for the great love he had for the Word of God."

Take the time to read the story of Joseph from the Old Testament in Genesis 37-50. That account contains adult stories, but some children's bibles tell the story in a useful way, for instance, The Golden Children’s Bible and Joseph, the Dreamer by Clyde Robert Bulla. Here are some suggestions about how the scripture show that Christ was always with us. 

• Joseph dreamed that he would rule over his family and that even the sun, moon and stars would bow down before him. What earthly king could make the sun bow down before him? None. This is a prefigurement of King Jesus:
  • "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." Jn. 1:3
  • "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him." 1 Cor. 8:6
  • For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him." Col. 1:16

Help your children make a habit of looking for Christ everywhere: Here are some more ideas

St. Paul used typlogy to help the Corinthians understand the Eucharist:
 

"I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them,^* and the rock was the Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert." 1 Cor. 

Rocks do not generally follow us around but sit in our front yards, quite still. St. Paul was referring to the Rock that Moses struck annd water came out on two different occasions. Ex. 17:1-7, Num 20:1-11  The Book of Deuteronomy understood the rock as God's care for Israel.  

"They forsook the God who made them and scorned the Rock of their salvation...  You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you,  you forgot the God who gave you birth. Dt. 32:15-18. 

St. Paul tried to convince the Corinthians that what they did with their bodies matters and the God or gods they eat with matters also. Typology is how our imaginations about ourself and God are formed. Dr. Anthony Pagliarini discusses typlogy and "The Eucharistic Nature of the Scriptures." In the following video. In this session from the 2018 Sacramental Catechist Symposium, Dr. Anthony Pagliarini (Visiting Associate Professional Specialist, University of Notre Dame Department of Theology) offers a rich and holistic view of scriptural typology, in which the entirety of the Old Testament narrative points to and is fulfilled in Christ. 

Scripture tells us that God spoke to St. Joseph in a dream. 

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.  Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord^* appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.  She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,^* because he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,”  which means “God is with us.”  When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. Matthew 19:24

In the Old Testament, God spoke to Joseph, the son of Jacob in dreams also. Joseph, son of Jacob, had a dream that made his brothers jealous. Gen. 37:11.  They then sold him into Egypt. 37:38. While in Egypt, Joseph interpreted Pharoah's dreams. Gen. 41. 

In the New Testament, Joseph had a dream that he was to take his family to Egypt to escape King Herod

"When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,^* and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”  Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt.  He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet^d might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

The mystery of Christ is prefigured in Old Testament typology, which is the study and interpretation of types and symbols presented in the Old Testament that prefigure and illuminate the New Testament. St. Joseph and his dreams are and example of Old Testment typology that helps us understand God's action in the New Testament. The Joseph of the Old Testament also is a type of Jesus in the New Testament. Joseph saves his father and brother from famine, Jesus saves God's family from sin.