This Sunday, the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, has been declared a feast day in the Church calendar by the Holy Father and forever more will be known as the feast of
THE SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD.

Pope Francis made this announcement on
the feast day of Saint Jerome September 30th, 2019 (Saint Jerome is famous for his translation of the bible from the original Greek into Latin).

Jerome said “Not to know the scriptures is not to know Christ”. Pope Francis is passionate about Jesus and passionate about the Word of God. By inviting us to read the Word of God for ourselves he hopes to help us all encounter Christ and catch again the energy and vision of the very first believers. “The Bible is not meant to be placed on a shelf but to be your hands, to be read often – every day, both on your own and together with others.”

On this Sunday of the Word of God, it is fitting that the gospel passage we hear marks the start of Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee. His opening message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand,’ lays the foundations for everything that follows in His mission. He summons His first disciples and they immediately lay down their nets to follow Him. We
think today of the things in our own life from which we need to disentangle to help us to commit wholeheartedly to following Jesus and embracing the
gift of the Word of God.