Are you as surprised as I am that we are (already) preparing to celebrate the SIXTH “Sunday of the Word of God?” Or, perhaps, are you more surprised that this could be the first time you are hearing about the “Sunday of the Word of God?” For regular readers of this column, I think that I may owe you an apology because I don’t think that I have referenced or written about Pope Francis’ establishment, on Sept. 30, 2019, of an annual “Sunday of the Word of God,” on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. In his Apostolic Letter, Motu Proprio “Aperuit Illis,” he wrote:
“At the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, I proposed setting aside ‘a Sunday given over entirely to the word of God, so as to appreciate the inexhaustible riches contained in that constant dialogue between the Lord and his people” (Misericordia et Misera, 7). Devoting a specific Sunday of the liturgical year to the word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world …”