What great nation has a god so near to them as our God is to us when we call upon Him? (Dt 4:7).
If today, here and now, we ask ourselves this question What would you answer?
This Sunday, the Liturgy gives us a wink: it is the Lord’s Day, the conversion of Saint Paul, and the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Saint Paul heard the voice of the Lord, converted, and his life changed. He devoted his life to bearing witness to the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Different Christian denominations agree in their love for the Word of God.
This Sunday is also celebrated as the Sunday of the Word of God. It was an initiative of Pope Francis in 2019, through the apostolic letter in the form of a motu proprio Aperuit illis. Francis intended to promote and encourage the reading of the Word of God among the faithful and in ordinary pastoral ministry. The biblical expression chosen this year for this Sunday is taken from Saint Paul’s letter to the Colossians: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you” (Col 3:16). The verb dwell implies time, preparation of the inner house, and permanence.
The intention of Pope Leo XIV for this month of January is to pray with the Word of God. “The Pope prays that all Christians find in the Word of God strength and guidance, and that the Church always proclaims the Gospel with joy.” “May our faith grow in encountering you through your Word, driving us from the heart to go out to meet others, to serve the most vulnerable, to forgive, to build bridges, and to proclaim life”[1].
We remember the Roman centurion and his profound faith when he exclaimed, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Mt 8:8). What does the Word of God mean in your life as a believer? Perhaps you can say that it is light, anchor, strength, balm, joy… each day the Lord gives us His Words of eternal life. Perhaps your memory keeps the recollection of having exclaimed, “Lord, to whom shall I go if you are the Word!”
We, as heirs of Saint Mary Eugenia, are very fortunate. Our Mother told us: “Admire the Word of God. Receive it as a treasure to keep in the heart.” (Instr. 03.03.1878). And: “While reciting the psalms I felt the presence of Jesus Christ beside me, offering to His Father the words of my mouth” (N. 240/01). From always and forever, the Word is part of our daily life, and the prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours gives us time to pray the words of the Psalms with so many believers. Thus, our day is accompanied by the Incarnate Word throughout the world and history.
Mary Eugenia has left us, not silver or gold, but Jesus Christ and the treasure of His Word. The sisters carry engraved on our covenant a Word chosen at the time of our perpetual vows. At that moment, we express the reasons why we chose this Word. The Word of God is living and effective; therefore, our ring phrase, upon fulfilling our vows in the presence of our brothers and sisters and in our mission places, acquires new meanings: meanings full of life, experience, and faces. Through His Word and ours, we can invoke God.
The Word of God is a promise that endures because heaven and earth will pass away, but your Word is eternal. Don Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher and writer, wrote: your word, Lord, does not die, it never dies, because it is life itself, and life, Lord, not only lives, not only lives, life vivifies[2].
Let us live this Sunday with deep gratitude because we believe in a Son, true God and true man, who speaks true Words and whose words are not carried away by the wind because they are the Incarnate Word.
Here and now. For you.
Ana Alonso, ra
Community of Ponferrada – Province of Spain.
[1]https://www.vaticannews.va/es/papa/news/2026-01/pray-with-the-pope-intencion-oracion-enero-2026-papa-leon-xiv.html. Página web consultada el 22-1-26
[2]En el encuentro de Madrid de Taizé el hermano Jean-Marie puso música a las palabras del pensador español. https://youtu.be/_M-y8DcD8Cw