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On September 30, 2019, Pope Francis published a document called “Aperuit illis” which, in Latin, means “He opened to them.” In the document Pope Francis declared that the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time would henceforth be known as “Sunday of the Word of God.” The Biblical basis of this special day comes from St. Luke’s Gospel in which the newly-risen Jesus appears to some disciples and “opens their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24: 45).
Every time we come to Mass, we are treated to selections from the Bible. After we hear the Scriptures proclaimed, the priest tries to answer the question, “So what? What does that have to do with me today?” In other words, the priest is supposed to identify the “moral of the story” so we can incorporate that in our everyday life.
In this week’s Gospel selection (Matthew 4: 12-23), for example, we hear about the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and his call to Peter and Andrew, and later to James and John, sons of Zebedee.
From the first part of the passage (4: 12-17), we learn about how the actions of Jesus were done to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, and in the second part of the passage (4: 18-22), we learn something about vocations and how, when we are called by the Lord, we should follow him.
In a good homily, the priest focuses on just one part of the Scripture and develops that theme.
For all of us who can read, the Bible is a treasure trove of riches – all free. Are you dipping into the treasure chest on a regular basis?
