April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
REFLECTION
Our Sunday readings, Part I: a structure with a purpose
Our Sunday readings, Part I: a structure with a purpose
At Mass, this Word of God also serves as a way to prepare us for another inspiration, challenge and closeness: namely, receiving God in the Eucharist.
Why do we have Scripture readings at Mass? How are they chosen?
The readings we hear at each liturgy are carefully organized. Our first reading -- usually from the Old Testament -- is meant to reflect the Gospel that we will hear. It is like a pointer to the Gospel reading: The Gospel is presented to us as a fulfillment of the Old Testament reading.
The document on Divine Revelation from the 1960s' Second Vatican Council put it this way: "God, the inspirer and author of both testaments, wisely arranged that the New Testament be hidden in the Old and the Old be made manifest in the New."
During the 34 Sundays of "Ordinary Time" (the Sundays outside of special seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter), the Gospel Readings follow a three-year cycle, unimaginatively called Cycles or Years A, B and C. Each of the years takes one of the Gospel writers as a guide, so we spend those 34 Sundays working our way through that particular Gospel.
Year A (the year that we are currently in) uses the Gospel of St. Matthew; Year B uses St. Mark's Gospel; Year C uses St. Luke's Gospel. St. John's Gospel is read especially in the season of Easter and at certain other times of the year. The idea is that, over the three years, we will have heard more or less all four Gospels in their entirety.
What about the psalm and the second reading at Mass? Like the Old Testament reading, the psalm normally is related in some way to the message of the Gospel reading for that Sunday. The second reading, usually taken from one of the letters of St. Paul, has a three-year cycle of its own and does not necessarily connect exactly with the Gospel reading.
As with the Gospels, the idea is that we have heard almost all of St. Paul's letters (and other letters, such as that of St. James) over the three-year cycle.
Incidentally, the Acts of the Apostles are not left out: We hear from them especially during the season of Easter.
There is a very definite and rather complicated structure to the readings we hear each weekend (and at weekday Masses). The reason we hear almost all the Scriptures over the three year cycle is so that we can take the "Word of the Lord" or the "Gospel of the Lord" into our hearts and live by that Word.
The year 2017 is still fairly young. A great resolution might be to try to become more familiar with the Word of God so we can deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ, the "Word made flesh." As St. Jerome once said, "to be ignorant of the Gospels is to be ignorant of Christ."
There are many excellent books and websites to help. They offer short reflections on the Scriptures for each day, or give a relevant Scripture passage that relates to a particular situation or decision we have to make.
Spending even five minutes a day with Scripture can make a radical difference in our lives. Make good use of all these great resources, and have the "Word of the Lord" and the "Gospel of the Lord" as your guide and strength.
(Father Barratt is director of the diocesan Office of Prayer and Worship. He holds a doctorate in theology and was a professor at St. John's Seminary in England before coming to the U.S. in 2004. Read previous columns at www.evangelist.org.)[[In-content Ad]]
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