RESOURCES FOR SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD
In September of 2019 Pope Francis declared that “the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God (Aperuit Illis, 3).” On this day we devote ourselves to delving deeper into scripture. Here are a few resources beyond the Bible itself to help us form a deeper relationship with the Word of God. This is a personal inventory of resources that I have been touched by or have helped to create.
We can take university courses in the Bible even though we do not have any post-secondary education. I have facilitated a 5-week online “Bible Basics” course offered by the University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation through the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Catechist Formation Program (ACFP). It has been a rewarding course to facilitate as adult participants draw closer to God by understanding scripture from different perspectives. You do not have to be a participant in the ACFP to take the course, it is open to all who are interested.
Novalis offers many Scriptural resources including my own 25 Questions About the Bible. This book was written for pre-teens but later reformatted as part of the Foundations of Faith series intended as plain-language explanation of faith questions particularly suitable for English-language learners and those new to the faith. There is a wealth of materials in the Bibles and Bible Studies subsection of the Novalis online catalogue: https://en.novalis.ca/collections/bibles-and-bible-studies
Pope Francis explicitly mentions Lectio Divina as a valuable prayer practice in Aperuit Illis. This is a reflective approach to praying with scripture. Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Cardinal Collins of Toronto has an excellent video series that guides us into deeper relationship with specific Bible passages. You can view them on the Archdiocese of Toronto’s YouTube channel.
A Jesuit approach to scripture embraces the gift of our imagination. We contemplate a scriptural scene and imagine the story ourselves within it, paying attention to the sights, sounds, smells and sense of the event. We place ourselves in the scene, perhaps revisioning the story into our own circumstances. This is one of the approaches that I used in my Northern Light: A Canadian Prayer Book. I contemplated the Visitation from Luke’s Gospel and placed myself in the scene as an onlooker. I further imagined the story being set in Toronto’s Pearson Airport and wrote the results along with a photograph that evokes the passage.
Pearson Airport Visitation
A shaft of light shines down through Terminal 3 on a greying, pregnant woman.
That same light shines on Mary as she picks up her bags at the luggage carousel.
Quickened with anticipation, she steps through those doors to arrivals.
A fleeting wave of apprehension – would her cousin scowl in judgement at her swelling belly?
Then a glimpse and a widening smile and a joyful laugh as eyes meet.
A rush into communion with arms wide.
In that moment, when the world came to Toronto, joy reigns.
And Elizabeth’s sacred welcome stretches wide beyond Mary
to the limping and aged and ragged and forlorn,
to the twinkling eyes of the grandmother and the excited eyes of the young boy,
to the newcomer and the jaded traveller.
You are with me and we belong to you in your divine hospitality.
And the sacred within leaps.
And the sacred in Elizabeth leaps in communion.
And this joy leads to gratitude which leads to blessing,
And this blessing leads to song:
History turns again as old words clothe this holy longing for justice and hope.
Visio Divina builds on Lectio Divina and Jesuit engagement of the imagination in a visual way of entering into the Word. There are many artistic depictions of Biblical scenes that can make Scripture more accessible for visual learners. Visio Divina is a relatively new term for an old practice. Since the time of the early Church, we have been praying with art. These images give us a visual language through which God speaks to us. You can see examples of Visio Divina on my website lesmiller.ca.
In this Jubilee Year, we look to the Gospels to feed us on our pilgrimages of hope. May some of these ways of sacred listening to God’s Word ever more attentively bring nurture to our souls. May we who hear the Word of God become closer to being the Word of God to our own circles. As Pope Francis wrote in Aperuit Illis, “the sweetness of God’s word leads us to share it with all those whom we encounter in this life and to proclaim the sure hope that it contains (12).”
Les Miller is a husband, dad, grandfather and catechist. He has served the Catholic education community for 40 years as teacher, chaplaincy team leader, Department Head. AQ Instructor, textbook writer, and Religious Education and Family Life Consultant. Les authored the 25 Questions Series, Words for the Journey and award-winners Catholic Teacher’s Companion and Northern Light. Currently, he is an instructor and advisor with the Archdiocese of Toronto’s online Catechist formation program and lead contributor to the St. Monica Institute’s series on praying with art, Abide in Beauty.
