Immersed in Christ: Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Liturgy of the Word: The Living Voice of God

The Liturgy of the Word opens up an encounter with the living voice of God. During the Scripture readings at Mass we are not just listening to another human being reading to us out of a book.

“When the Sacred Scriptures are read in church,” the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (29) says, “God Himself speaks to His people, and Christ, present in His Word, proclaims the Gospel.”

We come into church out of a world where we are constantly bombarded with lies, “spin”, false assumptions and philosophies. We live in a secular culture where, sometimes by law and more commonly by mutual consent, religious truths are denied expression. We absorb distorted values and false attitudes so unconsciously that for the most part, we do not even call them into question.

Then we enter into the real world of the Eucharistic celebration and hear the Word of Go. It is the Word of all Three Persons. The words of the Father, Son and Spirit are reality.

Take Action: Take concrete steps to learn more about the Mass so that you can enter more fully into the celebration. You might read the General Instruction on the Roman Missal, available online. Or, read the full text of A Fresh Look at the Mass. (These recent reflections on the Mass are adapted from A Fresh Look at the Mass by Father David M. Knight © 2015, available from Twenty-Third Publications and from Immersed in Christ.)