Last Updated on July 27, 2022 by Brad
This post was originally written on January 26, 2020, but another act of Providence in the time of COVID quarantine is that many people actually did turn to reading the Bible more often and attending virtual Bible studies where they may never have attended otherwise. Also, 2021 saw the launch of the Bible-in-a-Year program that has proved to be wildly popular, and not just with the intended Catholic audience.
Today, Catholics around the world are celebrating Word of God Sunday for the first time ever. I think there are some particularly Providential aspects to this celebration occurring on this particular day.
As Catholics, we’ve always thought of ourselves as scripture people (I mean, the argument can solidly be made that we literally wrote the Book), but the truth of the matter is, like the vast majority of society, we probably don’t get into it very often these days – at least, not knowingly. For centuries, the Church’s prayers and liturgies, the ways in which things like hymns are written and stained glass windows were designed have always been about relaying scripture and our Christian heritage. These were the primary means of teaching and handing on the faith.
In fact, there was a statistic I read a few years back that said a one hour visit to a Catholic Church for Sunday Mass would give you somewhere near 70% more scriptural immersion than the average visit to an non-Catholic Christian Church. The remarkable thing is: most people wouldn’t know it! That’s why Pope Francis (a Pope of firsts) instituted this particular day; we need to be aware of the scripture around us. We need to know it when we hear it and when we see it, and more importantly, we need to know how to live it.
If ever there was an argument made against Catholics, it’s that we “aren’t Biblical”, and (while I disagree and think there’s plenty of proof to the contrary), those making the argument get the win because on average, we don’t know our stuff very well, or at the least, we don’t make a practice of actually reading the Bible. It’s not that hard. The Church even lays out texts daily for you. If we were to do so in a demonstrable way, I think it would be a huge step toward the Christian unity Jesus prayed for and Paul preached.
(By the way, it’s always bothered me since I was old enough to understand what I was reading how people used the phrase Word of God. John chapter 1, verse 1 even says quite explicitly that the phrase does NOT refer to written text:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
No mistake there. He’s not talking about a Bible. Yep, he means Jesus.)
It’s interesting to me, then, that today’s scripture readings at Mass worldwide (coincidentally) are these:
- Isaiah 8:23-9:3 — the people in darkness have seen a great light
- Psalm 27 — the Lord is my light and my salvation
- I Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 — may there be no divisions among you
- Matthew 4:12-23 — Jesus begins preaching and calls his first disciples
The calling of the first disciples is a really interesting way to wrap this up. This is the key transformation of the Gospel message. We are to utilize scripture to learn about Jesus, but we’re also supposed to be learning our mission. If we’re to get into the idea of Word of God Sunday, we should spend some time in the Bible, because that’s one of the primary places we’ll learn, but it’s not the end. The Word isn’t that page or that book. The Word is what we learn about, and we believe in-dwells us, calls us, and we respond by living accordingly.
So, as Providence would have it, it’s also the beginning of Catholic Schools Week here in the U.S. Catholic Schools Week is an annual celebration that recognizes the Church’s long held commitment to education, not just in matters of faith, but in all areas of learning. The Church has always been a patron of the arts and sciences. Catholic education fosters the beliefs that a high quality education is a vital benefit for even the most vulnerable, and we don’t shy away from integrating our faith with the study of the world around us. (For example, the current “buzz” in most curricular programs lately is STEM education – bringing together science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In Catholic education, we get to approach it as STREAM – science, technology, religion, engineering, arts, and math.)
Through education, both in the formal, traditional sense and in the historical immersive nature of scripture, we are prepared for mission; not just a mission of solitary faith and behavior that we hope leads us to a someday eternal reward, but also a mission of here and now among the people around us to be their light and help.
That’s why St. Francis of Assisi is often (mis)attributed as saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” The Church was on the right track. We should be so immersed in scripture that we live our relationship and mission with the Word that it’s not an effort or something else we do, but a natural part of living. Somewhere along the way, we got off track. Today’s our call to get back on the right track by taking concrete steps to make the automatic meaningful again. May God grant me the grace (and courage) to do so.