Welcome to this week’s Living Word. Our theme is Scripture. We often treat the Bible like a history textbook or a rulebook. We leave it on the shelf until we need to look something up. But in the Catholic tradition, we call Scripture “The Living Word.” It isn’t just ink on a page. It is alive. It has a pulse. And if you look closely enough at the words, they don’t just tell you facts; they show you a face.

The Foundation

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John
R./ Glory to you O Lord.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R./ Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

St John calls Jesus “The Word.” This is a massive claim. It means that God doesn’t just have a book; He is the message. When we read the Bible, we aren’t just reading ancient literature. We are meeting a Person. Sometimes we find the Bible boring or confusing because we are looking for the wrong thing. We are looking for rules or science. But the point of Scripture is to reveal the character of Jesus. Every story, every psalm, and every letter is like a pixel in a digital image—when you put them all together, they form the face of Christ.

Discussion Questions:

• Do you own a Bible? If so, is it gathering dust, or do you read it?
  
• “The Bible isn’t a book of rules; it’s a love letter.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
  

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The Art

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross. Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Becoming a disciple requires a shift in mindset. We are used to being the centre of our own universe—my phone, my feed, my grades. In the Marvel movie Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange is a brilliant but arrogant surgeon. He has to travel to Nepal to learn that the world is much bigger than he thinks. He has to stop being a “master” and become a “disciple.”

That drawing is made of nothing but words. Specifically, the name “Jesus” written 14,942 times, with 50 hidden Bible verses in the details. From a distance, you see a face. But when you get close, you see the words that built it. This is exactly how our faith works. The “Big Picture” of our life is made up of the thousands of small words, thoughts, and actions we choose every day. If we fill our lives with the words of Scripture—if we write them on our hearts—they eventually form the image of Jesus in us. We start to look like Him.

• If someone looked closely at your life (the words you speak, the texts you send), what image would they see forming?
• Jayce Hall took time and patience to create that image. Are you patient with your own faith?

The Action

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Jayce Hall used 14,000 words to make his masterpiece. We aren’t asking you to do that! But we are going to challenge you to try his technique on a smaller scale. We want you to experience what it takes to build an image out of words

The Activity: Mini-Micrography You have been given a Post-it Note. We want you to create a tiny piece of art using the “Micrography” style.

Choose a Shape: Draw a very faint outline of a simple shape on your note.

Suggestions: A Heart, a Cross, a Star, or your own Initial.

Choose a Word: Pick one word from the Bible that fits that shape.

Examples: “Love” (for a heart), “Faith” (for a cross), “Light” (for a star).

Fill it: Instead of colouring the shape in with ink, write that single word repeatedly inside the outline until the shape is full.

The Challenge: As you write the word over and over, focus on it. Let it sink in. Stick your “word-shape” on the door or your planner as a reminder that our lives are built out of the words we choose.