Sunday of the Word of God
On this Sunday of the Word of God, the Church invites us to pause and to listen—truly listen—to the Word that has been spoken into our darkness and continues to call us by name. Today’s readings remind us that Scripture is not simply words on a page, but the living voice of God, capable of calling, uniting, and transforming those who hear it with open hearts.
The reading from Isaiah sets the tone with a powerful image: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” God’s Word is first proclaimed to those who dwell in shadow—those burdened by fear, uncertainty, division, or fatigue. The light Isaiah speaks of is not abstract. It takes flesh and walks among us in Jesus Christ. Scripture reveals a God who does not shout from a distance but enters our history, speaks our language, and shines precisely where hope feels most fragile.
The psalm echoes this confidence: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” To delight in the Word of God is to discover that we are not alone, that our lives are held steady by something greater than our own strength. To “dwell in the house of the Lord” is not only about a physical place, but about allowing God’s Word to make its home within us—shaping our thoughts, our choices, and our courage.
In the Letter to the Corinthians, we are confronted with a challenge that feels strikingly contemporary. Paul pleads for unity and warns against division rooted in personalities and preferences. Scripture, when received humbly, draws us back to what matters most: not who baptized us, not whose voice we prefer, but Christ crucified. The Word of God does not reinforce our factions; it calls us into communion.
That call becomes concrete in the Gospel. Jesus walks along the shore and speaks a simple command: “Follow me.” Peter and Andrew, James and John hear that Word—and they act. They leave their nets, their boats, their familiar securities. The Gospel does not suggest they fully understood what lay ahead. What mattered was that they recognized the authority and promise in Jesus’ voice.
This is where the Sunday of the Word of God meets our own lives. Scripture is not meant only to be read; it is meant to be heard as a call. Each time we open the Scriptures, Christ stands at the shoreline of our daily routines, inviting us to loosen our grip on whatever keeps us from following more freely—our fears, our habits, our divisions—and to trust that his Word leads to life.
To appreciate the Word of God is to allow it to question us, console us, and send us out. Like the first disciples, we may not know every step ahead. But if we listen attentively, the same Word that brought light to Galilee will continue to shape us into people who walk in hope—and who, in turn, become light for others.
Mackenzie-Fort Smith 