The Sunday of the Word of God is a new opportunity to embrace Jesus’ invitation to listen to, welcome, and keep his Word. It reminds us that Scripture is our “spiritual GPS” for navigating life with hope and trust.
This initiative, desired by Pope Francis, aims to promote “the celebration, reflection, and dissemination of the Word of God” and is intended to help us understand how important it is to refer to the Word of God in daily life. Before moving on to some practical advice, let us discover this year’s theme and its connection with the Jubilee.
“I Hope in Your Word”
The motto chosen by Pope Francis for the 2025 edition, as part of the Jubilee Year, is “I Hope in Your Word,” a verse from Psalm 119. “It is a cry of hope: in moments of anguish, tribulation, and meaninglessness, people cry out to God and place all their hope in him,” writes Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who continues: “Everyone hopes; we all have hopes, but what is communicated to us in this Jubilee is ‘Hope,’ in the singular. It is not an abstract idea or naive optimism, but a person, alive and present in everyone’s life: Christ, crucified and risen, the only one who never abandons us.” Christian hope is founded on the certainty that nothing and no one can ever separate us from the love of Christ, our peace.
To foster “the religious and assiduous familiarity with the Sacred Scriptures” (Aperuit illis, 15), here are some practical tips accessible to everyone (cf. Liturgical-Pastoral Aid I Hope in Your Word (Ps 119:74).
1. Carry a small Gospel in your pocket
In a very practical way, Pope Francis offers this suggestion: “Make it a habit to always carry a small Gospel in your pocket, or in your bag, so that you can read it during the day. There are various editions of the New Testament or the Gospel, in handy little pocket-sized booklets that easily fit in our bags or backpacks and that we can always carry with us.”
Indeed, his desire is that all Christians may “learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ’ (cf. Phil 3:8) through assiduous reading of the Word of God, since the sacred text is the nourishment of the soul and the pure, perennial source of the spiritual life of us all. We must therefore make every effort so that every believer reads the Word of God, because ‘ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,’ as Saint Jerome says” (Pope Francis).
2. Having the Word on Your Phone
The Bible can also easily be accessed on a phone for consultation at any time. There are various apps and websites, not only with the Bible, but also with the readings for Holy Mass each day, pages where one can read or listen to the Word of God, and pages with commentaries and meditations.
3. Reading and Learning About Dei Verbum
The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum addresses the very foundations of the Church’s faith - the Word of God, its revelation, and its transmission through Tradition and Sacred Scripture - so it is logical that all Christians are invited to read, study, and meditate on Sacred Scripture in order to nourish their lives with faith and charity. To learn about and explore this precious document on the Word of God, one could read the first booklets in the Council Notebooks series, prepared by the Dicastery for Evangelization on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council and for the Jubilee 2025.
4. Meditated Rosary
Another way to pray with the Scriptures could be the Rosary. As we all know, it is a Gospel-centered prayer, defined by Saint John Paul II as the “compendium of the Gospel,” because it leads us into meditation on the mysteries of the Lord’s life, accompanied by Mary, who is closest to the Lord. To bring out the biblical foundation of these mysteries, it is important to follow the announcement of the mystery with the proclamation of a corresponding biblical passage. At this point, it is good to pause for a few minutes to reflect on the mystery being meditated upon before beginning the vocal prayer (cf. Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, nos. 30-31).
Let us take courage, then, and celebrate Sunday of the Word of God as another opportunity to open our hearts to God’s voice and to his call. But above all, let us commit ourselves to creating daily spaces for prayer in the family, so as to awaken the desire to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus.
Do you own a Bible or a Gospel? Do you read the Word of God as a family? Is it the true light that guides your steps? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
A treasure to share with the family
Every family should have its own Bible, to read every day. The family, in fact, is “one of the privileged places” for conversation with God through the Scriptures. How many families are aware of this extraordinary truth? And above all, how many know how to place the Word of God at the center?
In the meantime, it is necessary to choose a quiet place in the house, away from the distractions of television and mobile phones, gather everyone together around the Word of God, read a brief passage from Scripture aloud, such as the Sunday Gospel, and then allow some time for reflection, with the help of the parents, before sharing your impressions or the phrase that struck you most. Finally, this moment can conclude with a prayer together, so that the Word read and meditated upon may bear fruit and help the family journey toward holiness.
