As the Second Vatican Council teaches, “the Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she has venerated the Lord’s body, in that she never ceases, above all in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the word of God and the body of Christ” (Dei Verbum, 21).
The word of God is in no way less than the Body of Christ; nor should it be received less worthily.
I ask you, brothers or sisters, tell me: which to you seems the greater, the word of God, or the Body of Christ? If you wish to say what is true you will have to answer that the word of God is not less than the Body of Christ.
Therefore just as when the Body of Christ is administered to us, what care do we not use so that nothing of it falls from our hands to the ground, so should we with equal care see that the word of God which is being imparted to us shall not be lost to our soul, while we speak or think of something else.
For he who listens carelessly to the word of God is not less guilty than he who through his own inattention suffers the Body of Christ to fall to the ground.
Resources for the new publication of Lectionary for Mass
Pope Francis has issued a ‘Motu Proprio” instituting the Sunday of the Word of God. It will be marked each year on the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time.
The Holy Father had proposed the idea at the conclusion of the Year of Mercy when he wrote: a Sunday given over entirely to the word of God, so as to appreciate the inexhaustible riches contained in that constant dialogue between the Lord and his people.
The document provides a summary of the Church’s teaching on Scripture and the place of Scripture within the Liturgy. It suggests a number of ways that the day might be marked. (See News page for more information.)
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has an ongoing project in collaboration with the Bible Society on the Bible and ‘The God Who Speaks’.
The Bishops of England and Wales, and of Scotland, have prepared a teaching document, The Gift of Scripture, in which the teaching of Dei Verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council, and subsequent Church documents are explained. What the Catholic Church has to say about the Holy Scriptures builds on ancient insights as well as utilising modern understandings. This document is offered to Catholics, to other Christians, and to all who value the ‘gift of Scripture’, so that we may be more richly nourished at ‘the table of God’s word’.