Getting the Word Out: Weekly Message for 03-22-2022

Dear Friends in Christ,

In March of 1455 (source) the Gutenberg Bible was published on the newly invented movable type printing press. Before this, producing a copy of the Bible required a year of work at a Scriptorium, by hand. Gutenberg is believed to have printed 180 copies in a year, of which only about forty copies still exist, most incomplete. It marked the beginning of the mass production of books in the West. Today, if you had the text ready to copy and paste, you could post it on the Internet, and within minutes of uploading it would be accessible by countless people with digital access. 

It seems sometimes that convenience breeds indifference. Pope Francis encouraged us to keep a copy of Sacred Scripture with us and read it daily, and there are plenty of apps to facilitate that, as well as pocket editions of the Bible. The Word of God is addressed to us daily at every celebration of the Eucharist, and the Holy Father established the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time as the Sunday of the Word of God. So what keeps us from cracking open the good book or opening that Bible app every day?

It could be that we’ve read it a hundred times, and we don’t feel we get anything out of it anymore, or just the same thing, over and over. The Word of God is exactly that: God is speaking. God is revealing Himself in every passage, every story. Sometimes it is as simple as what He is saying in His earthly ministry (“love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”), but the Lord communicates on many levels, and the most important level is what He is trying to say to ME. We hear the Word of God, but do we listen? The Holy Spirit will help you listen and understand if you ask.

It could be that we know the Lord is speaking to us loud and clear through Sacred Scripture, but He is telling us something we don’t want to hear. Is He asking us to change something in our lives, our attitudes, or even a complete spiritual “makeover”? There are plenty of people in salvation history who have told the Lord they don’t feel up to what He is asking of them, but Sacred Scripture shows us many who trusted the Lord and accomplished amazing things because the Lord helped them and walked with them. He will help you and walk with you if you let Him.

The way to get the Word out is not just making it readily available; it is by giving testimony to its power and effectiveness in our lives by letting it shape our lives. Then everyone will listen.

May the Word of God be living and active in your life this week.

Father Nikola Derpich, L.C.
Author
Maximizing the Mass