When you enter an old-style Church, it usually has stained-glass windows. In medieval churches, for a populace that couldn’t read, they often beautifully communicated biblical truths essential to the Catholic Faith.
While literacy is no longer rare, we sometimes remain like the medieval faithful. If we are a bit lackadaisical, it can happen that we are mostly exposed to the essential narrative of our Faith at church. That means the readings we hear from Scripture must be selected like stained glass windows.
The narrative of biblical history can’t fit into individual window frames, so scenes are chosen, capable of imprinting themselves on the mind and stirring the imagination to meditation. If the only place we hear the Word of God is at Mass, the Church in her wisdom does something similar for us. She selects complementary scenes.
On Sundays, these consist of a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, a Psalm, a New Testament reading, and a reading from the Gospels. These are chosen to fit beautifully into the frame of the Mass. We’re obligated to be present on Sundays, so the Church knows this is her chance to reach us with an exposure to God’s Word that will leave a lasting impression on our hearts, usually with an apprehendable theme.
Did you ever notice how the readings we hear at any one Mass seem to make special sense when taken together? On the seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary time of Cycle B, we heard about Solomon as a youth (1 Kings 3:5-7). Daunted by his own inexperience, he asked God for wisdom. So moved by the humble insight of his prayer, which sought God’s will above material things, God grants him the surpassing wisdom for which he is remembered.
When we then hear God’s Word from his very own lips in the Gospel, it is after meditating on this wisdom. Jesus speaks to us about the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:44-46). Its value is such a treasure—like a pearl of great price—that one who recognizes it would rid himself of everything else he has to obtain it. This recognition is wisdom par excellence, and the sentiment echoes the Psalm, which joyfully exclaimed that God’s law “is more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (Psalm 119).
It’s quite amazing how often this happens. To do it, while also meeting the goal of ensuring that even the most lukewarm souls present are guaranteed as complete an exposure to the whole of the Bible as possible if they meet their minimal obligations as a Catholic, the Church has organized the Lectionary .
In short, Sunday readings repeat every three years, called A, B, and C. In year A, the Gospels are mostly from Matthew, year B is mostly Mark, and year C is mostly Luke. The Old Testament reading is selected to reflect a theme from the Gospel, and the Psalm often does the same. The second reading, usually an Epistle, typically follows in order of the Sunday preceding. Where’s John’s Gospel, you may ask? We mostly hear the Gospel of John during the Easter season of every year.
Let’s be attentive every Sunday to the Word of God, Lectures, Psalm and Gospel as they are being read, as our mother Church has prepared them to fit a theme of the history of salvation and to elevate our soul to our God and Savior.
Cardinalli, AnnaMaria. “How to Understand the Cycle of Readings at Mass”, Ascension Press, 20 August 2020, Accessed 19 August 2024, https://media.ascensionpress.com/2020/08/20/how-to-understand-the-cycle-of-readings-at-mass/