In the Liturgy of the Word, we are entering the auditorium of God’s speak.  It is a transforming Pilgrimage, if we but open ourselves to God’s Word.  Christ is present in the Word.  When we embrace and savor the Word, we enter into communion with Christ!

    Over the past fifty years we have been exposed to much more of our story as told in sacred scripture.  What have we learned of who our God is?  One theologian suggested that sacred scripture is one extended love chronical of the heart of God, of God’s relentless pursuit of us!  If we look at the Bible as a whole, and indeed that is the Catholic approach to the study of the Bible, his description is on target.  A helpful practice, when studying scripture or listening to it proclaimed, is to ask the question, “What is this telling me about who our God is?”

    When the priest proclaims, “A reading from the holy gospel according to…” we have the practice of making a small sign of the cross on our foreheads, lips and over our hearts.  This simple gesture is a profound prayer asking that Christ’s word be in my mind, on my lips and in my heart.  Am I conscious of what I am saying by this gesture?  Can I find ways to make sacred scripture more central in my life?

    We bring the Liturgy of the Word to a conclusion by exercising our priestly vocation in the Prayer of the Faithful.  Recall that when we entered the church building, we were urged to remember our baptism.  On that special day we were anointed with chrism bringing us into the community of priest, prophet and king. *  Intercessory prayer is first and foremost about profession of faith.  It is a gesture of believing that God is faithful to his promises.  By offering our prayer we are saying that God is trustworthy.

    How can I develop a greater consciousness of what we are doing and what God is doing?

Another inspiring hymn: Open my Eyes, Lord