Sunday of the Word of God
January 21, 2024
This year too I invite everyone to celebrate Sunday of the Word of God on the third Sunday of the year. In the previous two years, the participation of the entire Church of Jerusalem, together with other Churches, was exceptional: priests and parishes, families, religious institutes, and youth participated with a truly edifying enthusiasm, making clear how much the Word of God is vital in the life of our diocese.
We celebrate this day during a time of immense tragedy for Gaza, and for the entire Holy Land. A tragedy that needs our heartfelt supplication to the Lord, like the widow in the Gospel, capable of tiring the unjust judge who has always denied her the justice she deserves, but who in the end, just to get rid of her, listens to her and grants her what she asks for. It is the same word of Jesus that gives us hope when He comments on the parable: “Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you: he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” (Lk. 18: 31)
The theme chosen for this year is from the gospel of John: “Abide in my word.” (Jn. 8, 31). The Word of God is a love letter written for us by Him who knows us like no one else: by reading it, we hear His voice again and receive His message for us. Pope Francis said: “Let us give it (the Word of God) a worthy place in our homes. Let us set the Gospel in a place where we can remember to open it daily, perhaps at the beginning and at the end of the day, so that amid all those words that ring in our ears, there may also be a few verses of the word of God that can touch our hearts. To be able to do this, let us ask the Lord for the strength to turn off the television and open the Bible, to turn off our cell phone and open the Gospel”. (Homily of 24 January 2021).
Each parish or religious institution is therefore invited to choose the most convenient way to celebrate Sunday of the Word of God, based on the following suggestions:
- Entrance procession: the priest will carry the Book of Gospels raising it before the Altar, enthroning it thereon, and incensing it in the presence of the community.
- An hour of adoration on the theme of the Word of God may be held on the Sunday itself or a suitable day during the following week: guidelines in Italian and Arabic will be available in the coming days. A lectio divina can be organized around the Gospel of the Sunday of the Word of God and the homily should be prepared on the theme of the Word of God.
- Invite the faithful to download an application of the biblical readings for each day’s Mass on their mobile phones. (i.e. evangelizo or the liturgical committee site liturgicaloffice.org.)
- Invite the faithful to read these texts, and to pray the responsorial psalm, in the morning or evening, in private or with their family.
Wishing many fruits to all those who joyfully participate in this Sunday, I entrust our lives and our hopes to Mary, our Mother, Queen of Palestine, and of the Holy Land, who listened to the Word of God and pondered it in her heart.
+ H. B. Pierbattista Card. Pizzaballa,
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
