As the Church celebrated the Second Sunday of the Word of God, Pope Francis launched an appeal to all the faithful to keep the Sacred Scriptures close at all times and to read them frequently.

“One of the greatest gifts of our time is the rediscovery of Sacred Scripture in the life of the Church and the faithful,” he said at the Sunday Angelus address.

“Never before as today,” added the Pope, “has the Bible been so accessible to all and in all languages, now even in audiovisual and digital formats.”

Pope Francis also recalled a saying of St. Jerome, the great 5th century Biblical scholar and Doctor of the Church: “Whoever ignores the Scriptures ignores Christ.”

And, the Pope added, the reverse is also true: “It is Jesus Christ—the Word made flesh and Resurrected—who opens the mind to understand the Scriptures.”

He said we come to comprehend the Word of God especially in the liturgy, but also when we pray alone or in groups.

Pope Francis then thanked and encouraged the many parishes which seek to educate the faithful to listen to the Scriptures.

“May we never lose the joy of spreading the Gospel,” he said.

The Pope then repeated his frequent invitation for everyone to carry a small book of the Gospels in our pocket or purse.

And he urged us to read a least three or four verses of the Bible every day.

ENDS