Dear Parishioners:
This Sunday is “Word of God” Sunday. Today, the Church marks the sixth year of the Word of God Sunday. On September 30, 2019, Pope Francis instituted this Sunday to emphasize the significance of Sacred Scripture. The theme for this year’s edition is taken from the Psalms: “I hope in Your Word.” Pope Francis has asked us to focus on God’s word, the Scriptures.
Sunday after Sunday, we come to Mass to be challenged by the Word of God and then nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion. Just think, every Sunday (in fact, every day when we celebrate Mass) I, as the priest, ask Christ to come down from heaven and be with us in Holy Communion. That is an extraordinary event!
As you may already know, this church year, we will be reading largely from the Gospel of Luke; last year we largely read from the Gospel of Mark. Luke was written about 70 AD, approximately 10 years after the writing of the Gospel of Mark. Luke wrote to a community in which the large majority of the readers were pagan converts to Christianity.
Matthew, in contrast, wrote to a community in which the majority of readers were Jewish converts to Christianity. I would like to offer you the following quotes concerning the Scriptures:
St. Jerome: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
St. John Chrysostom: “To become an adult Christian, you must learn the Scriptures.”
Pope St. John Paul II: “Learning to read the Scriptures is fundamental for the believer: It is the first step of a ladder, which continues with meditation and thus, real prayer. Prayer based on biblical reading is the principal way of Christian spirituality.”
Vatican II: “Through the Scriptures, therefore, the invisible God, out of abundance of his love, speaks to His people as friends and lives among them, so that God may invite and take them into friendship with Himself.”
I strongly believe that every Catholic home should have a Bible in it; the Word of God should be in your home, blessing your home. I also encourage you to google: “Bishop Robert Barron: free daily homily.” He will send you a free homily based on the Gospel reading for the day; it will arrive by email. Read the Gospel for the day and then read his reflection. I, myself, do it every day. It will help you to grow in your spiritual life.
Remember: Together, we can do something beautiful for God.
In Christ,
Fr. Brian
PS: Our raffle winners:
Pat: $6,320
(Nocturnal Adoration Society)
Grove: $1,810
Egan: $ 905
Thank you to everyone who supported the Parish through the raffle!