January 26, 2025
Today, the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, is celebrated by Catholics worldwide as Sunday of the Word of God. It is a day that we in a special way celebrate and venerate the living and active Word of God found in the Bible. We recall that our God is a God who has revealed himself to us “by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and words.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 69) God is revealed to us both by his works (creation, covenant, and redemption) and through his words (inspired scripture). God’s greatest revelation is Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. (John 1:14) When we listen to, study, pray with, and heed the inspired Word of God in Sacred Scripture, the heart of the Father is revealed to us in words at once human and divine through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Today also is Jubilee Day of the World of Communications. The human gift of being able to intelligently communicate through visual imagery, music, and words is part of what it means to have been created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27). Other animals may be able to communicate through sound, movement, etc., but only humans tell stories and compose prose, poetry, films, songs, and symphonies. This is an amazing gift, but it also comes with awesome responsibility.
The ancient Greeks had a couple of related concepts that are very compatible to a Biblical worldview: belief that all things have an end or purpose, telos, and a logic or meaning, logos. For us as Catholics with a worldview rooted in God’s revelation, we believe that all God’s creation has a purpose and meaning given to it by God that we are called to receive and steward. As Americans, we don’t generally like to think along these lines. We tend to think that we decide what the purpose and meaning of things are. For example, in the Supreme Court decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) we find the following statement, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Which concept is correct, though? Is purpose and meaning a gift to be received or a human invention to be achieved? As any OSHA inspector would remind us, the purpose of a chair is to be sat upon, and the purpose of a ladder is to be climbed upon. If we climb on a chair or sit on a ladder, someone is eventually bound to get hurt. Similarly, if we try to pound nails with a wrench or try to pry a nail with a screwdriver, it’s not going to work well, and someone is highly likely to get injured. Each tool has a purpose that we don’t get to choose for ourselves. The wise and safe worker uses each material and tool according to its nature and purpose.
The gift of language also has a logos and telos: to communicate the truth in love. When we use the gift of language according to its purpose, we grow in knowledge, understanding, and communion with each other. Disciples of Jesus are called to walk in truth and love (2 John 1:4–6). When we don’t, someone is bound to get hurt.
We are living in precarious times where the various structures of public communication outlets, government, social media, and AI seem to use language and imagery to obscure the truth rather than reveal it, to sow discord rather than authentic human connection. Language, as practiced by those who either do not believe in objective truth or believe that purpose and meaning are human constructs, simply becomes another instrument of manipulation and domination (lies, misinformation, and propaganda). This abuse of language threatens to pull us apart as a society. The Catechism of the Catholic Church warns us of this danger, we “could not live with one another if there were not mutual confidence that we were being truthful with one another. The virtue of truth gives another their just due…as a matter of honor, we owe it to one another to manifest the truth.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2469) No society, including marriages and families, can survive without openly communicating the truth in love. It is getting more difficult each day to discern truth and falsity amongst all the information constantly bombarding us.
May this Jubilee Day of the World of Communications, coinciding with celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God, become an opportunity for us to reflect upon how each of us uses the gift of language, to build up or tear down intimacy and communion with God and our neighbor, and upon how we are engaged with the modern communications and media landscape. May we always receive this gift with gratitude and steward it to grow closer in peace, compassion, and unity with God and all people according to God’s meaning and purpose.