Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday of the Word of God
Sunday of the Word of God is celebrated today on the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time. This annual celebration was announced by Pope Francis in a document entitled Aperuit Illis, published on 30 September 2019, the Feast of St Jerome. Pope Francis said, ‘The Word of God Sunday is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God’.
I believe that it is vitally important for every Catholic home to have a Bible. This may sound self-evident but it is surprising just how many homes do not have a Bible, let alone one which is actually read. At the back of our Church copies of St Matthew’s Gospel are available; please take one home and read it. In the course of this year it is St Matthew’s Gospel that we will be following in the liturgy so it is important to have a copy at home for reference. In the liturgy we have read to us only very short sections of the Gospel and so it is good for us when we go home to read the relevant passage in context so helping us to understand the text much better.
The Gospels in particular give us much fruit for meditation since they are the inspired Word of God. The Gospels then ought to be an important element of our life of prayer. Taking a passage from the Gospels and turning it over in our mind is a very good way of enriching our life of prayer. Please do make some effort this Sunday to become more familiar with sacred scripture. As St Jerome, the famous translator of the Bible, said, ‘Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.’
                Father Alex