Blessing of Bibles in 2020 at St. Anne Church in Richmond Hill, Georgia:
Is your parish celebrating “The Word of God Sunday” which, for the last five years, is on the Third Sunday of Blah, I mean, Ordinary Time?
Was it even mentioned?
I saw no advertisements about it or suggestions to celebrate it from either the Dioceses of Charleston or of Savannah.
When I was pastor at St. Anne’s in Richmond Hill, we encouraged parishioners to bring their home bibles to Mass on this Sunday for their Bibles to be blessed. There was a Gospel procession and the Gospel was chanted.
The homily made reference to the Word of God in our Catholic life and spirituality.
I wonder how many parishes throughout the world celebrate the Word of God Sunday instituted by Pope Francis. Why is it being ignored?
14 comments:
The week of prayer for Christian unity was mentioned multiple times, "Word of God Sunday" (whatever that is) not even once. But, our parish usually has a Gospel procession at Sunday Masses, and (at the principal Mass) incensation.
Perhaps of interest, the week of prayer for Christian unity was established by an Anglo-Catholic (before he converted to Catholicism), starting on January 18, which was the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter until 1960 (it was abolished as redundant). In the new calendar, it starts on St. Feria's Day, another great locus of Christian unity.
First, I consider *every* Sunday Word of God Sunday.
Second, I'm curious about blessing a bible. When I looked, I could find no specified blessing for the Bible, and that struck me curious if there isn't one. Is it possible some things cannot be blessed because they don't need a blessing? Who am I to bless the Scriptures?
Good question but if we can bless gay couples… but what about the rubrics for the TLM Roman Canon? We blessed the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ a few times after the consecrations.
First, I consider *every* Sunday Word of God Sunday.
Well said, Fr. Martin.
Second, I'm curious about blessing a bible. When I looked, I could find no specified blessing for the Bible, and that struck me curious if there isn't one. Is it possible some things cannot be blessed because they don't need a blessing? Who am I to bless the Scriptures?
How do you bless a Catholic Bible?
"We honor your presence in these Scriptures, and we pray that the words of this sacred book may become more deeply the living word of God, forming our thoughts, desires, and actions. We ask your blessings on these Holy Bibles + in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
I'm not finding a blessing for bibles specifically in the East, however, there is a blessing of any object that exists.
Fr. Fox,
Good points. I'm not sure how to answer your questions.
Nick
@Fr Fox. BooYah. 👍😎
Pope Francis has noted the roles that Vatican II, as well as Pope Benedict XVI, played in the development of Word of God Sunday.
Pope Francis noted also that he had received many requests "from the people of God" that Holy Mother Church celebrate a Sunday of the Word of God.
From Pope Francis' 2019 A.D. Apostolic Letter, Aperuit Illis. Instituting the Sunday of the Word of God:
"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."
"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."
"With this Letter, I wish to respond to the many requests I have received from the people of God that the entire Church celebrate, in unity of purpose, a Sunday of the Word of God."
"It is now common for the Christian community to set aside moments to reflect on the great importance of the word of God for everyday living."
"The Second Vatican Council gave great impulse to the rediscovery of the word of God, thanks to its Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, a document that deserves to be read and appropriated ever anew."
"To advance this teaching, Pope Benedict XVI convoked an Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2008 on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”, and then issued the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, whose teaching remains fundamental for our communities."
"That document emphasizes in particular the performative character of the Word of God, especially in the context of the liturgy, in which its distinctively sacramental character comes to the fore."
"It is fitting, then that the life of our people be constantly marked by this decisive relationship with the living word that the Lord never tires of speaking to his Bride, that she may grow in love and faithful witness."
"Consequently, I hereby declare that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
In 2019 A.D., when he instituted Sunday of the Word of God, Pope Francis had offered the following:
"The various communities will find their own ways to mark this Sunday with a certain solemnity. It is important, however, that in the Eucharistic celebration the sacred text be enthroned, in order to focus the attention of the assembly on the normative value of God’s word."
"On this Sunday, it would be particularly appropriate to highlight the proclamation of the word of the Lord and to emphasize in the homily the honor that it is due."
"Bishops could celebrate the Rite of Installation of Lectors or a similar commissioning of readers, in order to bring out the importance of the proclamation of God’s word in the liturgy."
"In this regard, renewed efforts should be made to provide members of the faithful with the training needed to be genuine proclaimers of the word, as is already the practice in the case of acolytes or extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion."
"Pastors can also find ways of giving a Bible, or one of its books, to the entire assembly as a way of showing the importance of learning how to read, appreciate and pray daily with sacred Scripture, especially through the practice of lectio divina."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Via his Sunday of the Word of God homily today, Pope Francis offered the following:
"Finally, let us ask ourselves a few questions. What room do I make for the word of God in the place where I live?"
"Amid so many books, magazines, televisions and telephones, where is the Bible?"
"In my room, do I have the Gospel within easy reach? Do I read it daily in order to be faithful to my path in life?"
"Do I carry a little copy of the Gospels so that I can read it?"
"I have often spoken about always having the Gospel with us, in our pockets and purses, on our telephones. If Christ is dearer to me than anything else, how can I leave him at home and not bring his word with me?"
"And one last question: Have I read through at least one of the four Gospels? The Gospel is the book of life. It is simple and brief, yet many believers have never even read one of the Gospels from beginning to end."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
MT did your parish celebrate the Word of God Sunday or any parish in your diocese or your cathedral? Also, since pope Francis opened the ministry of lector and acolyte to men and women has your bishop installed any in these formal ministries? And what about catechists?
Father McDonald, my parish did not mention Word of God Sunday. I watched an online Mass offered at a nearby parish. That parish did not mention Word of God Sunday. I did not encounter any Word of God Sunday celebration during the Mass from the Cathedral that I had watched online.
I found a parish within the Diocese where, during a Mass posted online, the priest mentioned Word of God Sunday, then blessed and thanked lectors.
The brief ceremony begins at the 33:33 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0un0V9q7RSU
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Two good reasons (and one meh reason):
1. We are not a "religion of the book" - we worship 3 divine persons. The more we focus on the bible the more we confuse the faithful.
2. The Deposit of faith is both sacred tradition and sacred scripture. To elevate only one portion of that is misguided (at best) and smacks of protestantism.
3. It was instituted by Francis
Monkmcg,
I suspect those reasons are part of it. Another odd thing is that the focus of "Word of God Sunday" is all about the Book, the readers, the texts, etc. But Catholicism gets much closer to God than holy texts--we encounter God-come-to-Earth every single time we celebrate Mass, go to Adoration, and so on. And all of this focus on the Bible seems to elide over the very important idea in Catholicism that the Word of God is much more than the Bible, it's Jesus Christ, the Logos. How is that not too confusing for the faithful when things like Septuagesima are?
Nick
CCC80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."40 Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".
The blessing of a book that contains Holy Scripture seems to me to be a good thing.
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