The Word of God: a light for Pilgrims of Hope
January 22, 2025
Thursday January 23rd: The light of the Holy Spirit
January 23, 2025

Hope, and God’s Word

Q: Archbishop J, why a Sunday of the Word of God?

At the end of the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis designated the third Sunday in Ordinary Time as the Sunday of the Word of God. This was consistent with his first encyclical, The Joy of the Gospel, where he highlighted the Word of God as vital for Christian living.

In a section centred on the Word, Pope Francis writes:

The study of the sacred Scriptures must be a door opened to every believer. It is essential that the revealed word radically enrich our catechesis and all our efforts to pass on the faith. Evangelisation demands familiarity with God’s word, which calls for dioceses, parishes and Catholic associations to provide for a serious, ongoing study of the Bible, while encouraging its prayerful individual and communal reading…Let us receive the sublime treasure of the revealed word. (Joy of The Gospel, 175)

The Word of God is central to all dimensions and stages of the life of grace, from first evangelisation to maturity as a saint. St Jerome has famously said: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of God.”

From first encounter through all the steps, to be “filled with the utter fullness of God” (Eph 3:19), the Word of God is “a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

This means that God’s Word illumines where our feet walk so we do not stumble. The Word also illuminates our path as we journey together towards Christ. The Word of God illuminates both the individual step and the path of the community.

In instituting the Sunday of the Word of God, Pope Francis said: “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” (Francis, Aperuit Illis, 2).

Further on in the apostolic letter, Pope Francis speaks of the Bible as essential for the encounter with Christ. He says: “The Bible, as sacred Scripture, thus speaks of Christ and proclaims him as the one who had to endure suffering and then enter into his glory (cf Lk 24:26). Not simply a part, but the whole of Scripture speaks of Christ. Apart from the Scriptures, his death and resurrection cannot be rightly understood.” (7)

I Hope in Your Word

Each year, a theme is chosen for the Sunday of the Word of God. This year’s theme, I hope in your Word (Psalm 119:74), combines the themes of the Jubilee and the Word of God. Throughout the 176 verses of Psalm 119, God’s Word and hope are intertwined, revealing the multifaceted nature of hope, which is based on reliance on God’s Word, law, and guidance.

In the psalm, the connection between the suffering and affliction of the psalmist and hope in God through meditation on God’s Word is reinforced over and over. This is a theme that St Paul distils in the Letter to the Romans, stating, “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope … and hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:3-5).

Psalm 119

Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem, with each section corresponding to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalm celebrates faith and hope by reflecting on God’s law and commandments and the psalmist’s testimonies. The psalmist delights in God’s Word, laws, promises and wonderful deeds. We are invited to move beyond reading to an inner pondering and habitation in God’s Word.

Here, we see the impact of meditation on God’s Word; it brings delight to the soul. From this delight, a desire grows for more of God’s law, His Word and His commands. The inner dynamic of the believer shifts, and now there is a new desire: “Direct me in the path of your commands.” In this plea, we hear both the new desire and the recognition of helplessness.

If God does not direct us, we will continue in our errant ways—in rebellion against Him. Here, we hear an echo of another psalm: “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labour in vain” (127:1).

From beginning to end, it is the Lord who gives us the desire, the motivation and the grace for the spiritual life.

In one of his general audiences, St John Paul II commented on the inner working of the psalm:

Each of the 176 verses which make up this praise of the Torah, of the divine Law and Word, contains at least one of the eight words used to define the Torah itself: law, word, witness, judgment, saying, decree, precept, and order. We celebrate divine revelation this way because it is the revelation of the mystery of God and the moral guide of the life of the faithful. In this way God and man are united in a dialogue composed of words and deeds, teaching and listening, truth and life. (John Paul II, 14 November 2001)

Hope

In this psalm, hope comes through affliction. Verse 74 says, “May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.” It is an expression of trust in the faithfulness of God through trials. In the face of this affliction, there are two sentiments around hope. The more dominant is the psalmist’s action: “I have put my hope in your word”. It reflects the conscious choice of the believer.

The second sentiment is different: “… you have given me hope” (49). The psalmist recognises that hope is a gift from God. This gift comes from meditating on God’s Word, taking delight in God and the things of God and allowing God to change our inner desire from earthly things to God Himself.

Hope is intimately connected to meditating and delighting in the Word and God. But it is not about the individual alone. In verses 74 and 79, the psalmist incorporates all those who fear the Lord, thus recognising the bond or relationship among those devoted to God by meditating on His Word. They will rejoice when they see each other, for they will recognise what God has done in them.

The hope of Psalm 119 is a shadow of what we have in Christ Jesus, the anchor for our hope that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain (cf Heb 6:19). Christian hope connects us with the very life of the Trinity and ultimately with eternal life in God.

 

Key Message:

As pilgrims of hope, we are invited to meditate on God’s Word as a path to strengthen our hope, shift our desire and find our delight in God.

Action Step:

As an individual or family, read the psalm slowly and meditate on the delight the psalmist has for God’s Word and allow that to stimulate your desire for God. Enrol in the Catholic Bible Institute to study Scripture. Sign up to formed.org It is available for free through catholictt.org (the Archdiocese of Port of Spain) or your parish.

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 119