Happy New Year! Perhaps this sounds like a premature greeting, and yet it is appropriate. This weekend, we are entering a new Church Year. On the First Sunday of Advent, the Lectionary Cycle changes. This means that we will be using Cycle C for the Scripture Readings to be proclaimed at weekend Masses. For the weekday Masses in Ordinary time, we will be using Cycle II for the first Reading to be proclaimed at weekday Masses.
As Catholics, we are encouraged to read and to study the Bible. The Lectionary Cycle offers us an opportunity to do this in a helpful way. To read the books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation can be a very tedious endeavor. Many of us would break down in an effort to complete this task.
Reading the Bible according to the Lectionary Cycle can make this endeavor manageable and attractive. In the Lectionary Cycle, the weekend Readings are on a three-year cycle. During the A Cycle, many of the Gospel selections for weekend Masses come from Matthew. During the B Cycle, the bulk of the Gospel Readings are from Mark. Because Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, selections from John's Gospel occur during the B Cycle. During the C Cycle, into which we are now entering,the Gospel selections come from Luke. For weekday Masses during Ordinary time, we are on a two-year cycle for the First Reading. Over a three year period, one can read a significant part of both Testaments of the Scriptures by utilizing the Lectionary Cycle.
Regardless of the Lectionary Cycle that we are in at a given time, I encourage us to prayerfully read and reflect upon ahead of time the Readings that are to be proclaimed at a given Mass.
Doing this can serve to strengthen our attentiveness and comprehension of the Readings when they are proclaimed at Mass. Oftentimes, by reflectively reading the designated selections ahead of time, we can see a sense of relatedness in the Readings that have been designated for a given Mass. I've observed that oftentimes for weekend Masses, there is a common thread or theme in the First Reading and in the Gospel.
An advantage to using the Lectionary Cycle as a guide to reading the Scriptures is that our attention is directed to God's revealing love as a whole. The Scriptures announce that which is joyful, sorrowful, comforting and challenging. If our faith is to remain vibrant, we need to be continually reminded of all facets of God's revealing love.
Using the Lectionary Cycle to guide our reading of the Scriptures can serve as a tool for measuring spiritual growth. As we start each three year cycle, the Readings on a given weekend may have a different meaning for us at this time than they had for us three years ago. This is due first of all to the richness of God's Word. For example, there is no one homily that can exhaust the meaning of any one, let alone all three Readings designated for a given weekend Mass. The other reason that the Readings may have a different meaning for us now is that, hopefully, in a number of ways, we have grown spiritually over the past three years.
As our determination to read and to reflect upon the Scripture Readings that have been designated to be proclaimed at Masses continues to grow and deepen, our participation in the Eucharist will become ever more meaningful.
Sincerely yours in Christ, Fr. Nelson Beaver - Pastor