Word of God Sunday

Isaiah 8:23-9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23

You’ve probably never heard of The Christian Traveling Men of the United States of America.  But you’re probably familiar with their work.  They were formed over 120 years ago because of a chance encounter between two traveling salesmen at a hotel in Boscobel, Wisconsin.  The hotel was booked solid that night, and there was only one room available.  Although the men didn’t know each other, each was just tired enough that he was willing to share a room for the night.

It turned out that they were devout both Christians and were looking for a way to share their faith with others.  A year later, they called a meeting for other traveling salesmen who were interested in joining them.  Just one person showed up.  But he had an idea that would change the fortunes of the group forever.  He didn’t like their long name and he suggested something much simpler:  the Gideons—another small group of men who, with the help of God, overcame tremendous odds to be victorious.

After 10 years, the group decided on a project that they thought would support the faith of those who had to travel frequently for business and draw other travelers into a relationship with Christ.  They called it “The Bible Project.”  The first 25 Gideon Bibles were put, free of charge, into the 25 rooms of a hotel in Montana in 1908. Since then, the Gideons have donated and distributed over 2 billion Bibles in 95 languages in over 190 countries.  Anyone, by the way, who wants to take a Gideon Bible from their hotel is free to take it, no questions asked.

Terry O’Reilly, the host of the CBC podcast Under the Influence, cites the work of the Gideons as “amazing branding.”  We might call it something else:  evangelization. 

Last year, Pope Francis designated this Third Sunday of Ordinary Time as Word of God Sunday.   Today a special opportunity to reflect on the role of the Bible in our lives as disciples and as a community of faith.  Our readings remind us that: 

• The word of God is hope and light.  Preaching to a nation frightened by the invasion of the ruthless and arrogant Assyrian army, Isaiah in our first reading promises light amid their darkness.  One day God’s people would again experience the joy of the harvest and victory over their enemies.  One day the instruments used to oppress them—the yoke, the pole and the rod—would be destroyed by God.
• The word of God reminds us of our story as a Church and teaches us lessons we should not forget.  In our second reading, St. Paul confronts the young church of Corinth about their many divisions over class, charismatic gifts, and particularly leadership.  There are, he admonishes them, no Paul Christians, Apollos Christians or Cephas Christians, just as there should be no Francis, Benedict or John Paul II Catholics today.  The body of Christ cannot—or should not—be divided.  We ultimately have only one head:  Jesus. 
• The word of God, especially the gospels, is where we encounter Jesus, the Word made flesh. It is where we learn and come to share in his mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God, to become “fishers of men,” to teach and to bring God’s healing to others.

Beyond what you read in the missalette and hear in church on Sunday, what role does the word of God play in your life?  Do you have a personal or family Bible?  How often do you read it and pray with it?

St. Jerome, a Doctor of the Church while lived in the 4th and 5th centuries and translated the Bible from its original languages into Latin, wrote that “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”  We give thanks to God for him and for the many other scholars who, over the centuries, have helped bring God’s word alive on the page.  We pray that this same word will become more and more alive in us. +