When you're doing your "homework" (reading over the scriptures for the coming weekend) a little Intro to the Lectionary 101 might be helpful.
The Lectionary is the book in which the scriptures for Sunday and daily Mass are arranged. On Sundays, every Catholic church in the world proclaims the same set of three readings (lections, lessons). During the week, on some days of the year, there are options for choosing the lections but on Sundays all Catholics hear the same Word.
How is the Lectionary arranged for Sunday readings?
The Sunday readings are spread over three years, A, B and C. We hear principally from the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke: Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, and Luke in Year C (then it starts all over again).
The church year begins with the first Sunday of Advent so in December we'll go from Year C to Year A (Luke to Matthew).
The gospel readings in a given year are semi-continuous which means that pretty much where we left off last week is where we pick up this week.
The first reading is chosen from all the books of the Hebrews scriptures (Old Testament) and is chosen to be thematically related to the message of the gospel of the day.
On most Sundays for the second reading we read semi-continuously from the letters of Paul (or other epistles or from Revelation) The second reading is independent of the theme connecting the first reading with the gospel.
On a given Sunday, the Lectionary's pairing of the first reading with the gospel runs from being excellent to poor, in terms of a thematic connection. (I'd say this weekend's pairing of Wisdom with Luke was not terribly successful!)
What, you might ask, happened to the gospel of John? Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels (Greek for "seeing with one eye"). That's to say that they are similar in they way tell us the story of the ministry of Jesus. John's gospel is different in how offers us the good news and his writing is more poetic and philosophical than the other three. Readings from John are heard in the big seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter - and occasionally in the course of the year.
In those special seasons, there is an effort made to make all three texts consonant with one another and with the season.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have questions about it, please leave them in the comment box and I'll be happy to respond.
I just wanted to say thank you for explaining this information. I found it helpful- I am actually a Lector, and sometimes feel that I should already know all of this- but, there is a lot I do not know, and often I do not know what to ask; but I am learning every week and every time I stand up to read God's word.
ReplyDeleteMany Sundays on my way to Mass I listen to the Service of Worship from BU's Marsh Chapel. This is a Methodist service, but I'm always impressed that many of the readings are the same as ours--especially the epistle and the gospel. Is this true with other Protestent churches? Maybe there really is hope for us all being one some day.
ReplyDeleteMainline Christian churches use the Revised Common Lectionary as the source for Sunday texts. This effort is under the aegis of the Consultation on Common Texts (google that title for more info).
ReplyDeleteThe RCL is very similar to the Lectionary of the Roman Catholic Church in plan and execution although not entirely so. Another feature of the RCL is that it offers options the Catholic lectionary does not provide- but which I wish were available to me as a Catholic preacher.
Thus, the commonality of what you hear on the radio from Marsh Chapel and what you hear when you arrive at Holy Family Parish.
This for me was VERY helpful.
ReplyDeleteThank you