Lectionary Statistics - How much of the Bible is included in the Lectionary for Mass? (Popquiz!)

catholic-resources.org ^ | Updated on January 2, 2009 | Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

[GonzoII]

Not quite the whole Bible in three years but still a lot of Scripture for a daily Mass attendant.

[GonzoII]

Okay Murphy, here are the Stats...

[papertyger]

Any way you cut it, just going to Mass will NOT give a functional knowledge of Scripture.

[GonzoII]

"Any way you cut it, just going to Mass will NOT give a functional knowledge of Scripture."

I don't think it is meant to, one needs to do the homework also.

[Mad Dawg]

Totally cool post. Thanks!

[Mad Dawg]

Absolutely. It WILL, however, help us with the right disposition, with infused graces, etc. etc. so that we wilklbe more moved to study and our ears will be all the more open to hear the Word.

And, on a more mundane level, with Mass and office, one finds that especially the psalms but also paragraphs from Scripture have burrowed into our hearts ....

[GonzoII]

"Totally cool post. Thanks!"

No problem Dude! Ehemmm...

[vladimir998]

Nothing from 1 Chronicles, Judith or Obadiah?

Sad.

How could anyone pass up Judith 13 (especially these days)?

[GonzoII]

"How could anyone pass up Judith 13 (especially these days)? "

Here's some "Liturgical Inovation" for "All Saints Day"

Douay Rheims Bible

Judith 12

The Book of Judith

Return to Index

	Chapter 13
1	And when it was grown late, his servants made haste to their lodgings, and Vagao shut the chamber doors, and went his way.
2	And they were all overcharged with wine.
3	And Judith was alone in the chamber.
4	But Holofernes lay on his bed, fast asleep, being exceedingly drunk.
5	And Judith spoke to her maid to stand without before the chamber, and to watch:
6	And Judith stood before the bed praying with tears, and the motion of her lips in silence,
7	Saying: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, and in this hour look on the works of my hands, that as thou hast promised, thou mayst raise up Jerusalem thy city: and that I may bring to pass that which I have purposed, having a belief that it might be done by thee.
8	And when she had said this, she went to the pillar that was at his bed's head, and loosed his sword that hung tied upon it.
9	And when she had drawn it out, she took him by the hair of his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God, at this hour.
10	And she struck twice upon his neck, and out off his head, and took off his canopy from the pillars, and rolled away his headless body.
11	And after a while she went out, and delivered the head of Holofernes to her maid, and bade her put it into her wallet.
12	And they two went out according to their custom, as it were to prayer, and they passed the camp, and having compassed the valley, they came to the gate of the city.
13	And Judith from afar off cried to the watchmen upon the walls: Open the gates for God is with us, who hath shewn his power in Israel.
14	And it came to pass, when the men had heard her voice, that they called the ancients of the city.
15	And all ran to meet her from the least to the greatest: for they now had no hopes that she would come.
16	And lighting up lights they all gathered round about her: and she went up to a higher place, and commanded silence to be made. And when all had held their peace,
17	Judith said: Praise ye the Lord our God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in him.
18	And by me his handmaid he hath fulfilled his mercy, which he promised to the house of Israel: and he hath killed the enemy of his people by my hand this night.
19	Then she brought forth the head of Holofernes out of the wallet, and shewed it them, saying: Behold the head of Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, and behold his canopy, wherein he lay in his drunkenness, where the Lord our God slew him by the hand of a woman.
20	But as the same Lord liveth, his angel hath been my keeper both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence hither: and the Lord hath not suffered me his handmaid to be defiled, but hath brought me back to you without pollution of sin, rejoicing for his victory, for my escape, and for your deliverance.
21	Give all of you glory to him, because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever.
22	And they all adored the Lord, and said to her: The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our enemies to nought.
23	And Ozias the prince of the people of Israel, said to her: Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth.
24	Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies.
25	Because he hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever, for that thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.
26	And all the people said: So be it, so be it.
27	And Achior being called for came, and Judith said to him: The God of Israel, to whom thou gavest testimony, that he revengeth himself of his enemies, he hath cut off the head of all the unbelievers this night by my hand.
28	And that thou mayst find that it is so, behold the head of Holofernes, who in the contempt of his pride despised the God of Israel: and threatened thee with death, saying: When the people of Israel shall be taken, I will command thy sides to be pierced with a sword.
29	Then Achior seeing the head of Holofernes, being seized with a great fear he fell on his face upon the earth, and his soul swooned away.
30	But after he had recovered his spirits he fell down at her feet, and reverenced her and said:
31	Blessed art thou by thy God in every tabernacle of Jacob, for in every nation which shall hear thy name, the God of Israel shall be magnified on occasion of thee.

Judith 14

 

 

 

HTMLBible Software - Public Domain Software by johnhurt.com

[papertyger]

It WILL, however, help us with the right disposition, with infused graces, etc. etc...

I am utterly convinced this is a crucial truth!

No Catholic should ever leave for a "Bible Church" without consulting a scripturally literate, non-clerical, Catholic. Using the scripture to challenge the authority of the Catholic Church is ALWAYS a case of "a 'little knowledge' can be dangerous."

"Passing judgement" on the Catholic Church using the Bible is as supercilious and naive as "correcting" great literature using a grammar text.

[dangus]

This drastically understates the coverage of the New Testament in the bible by the mass, because it doesn’t take into account parallel readings. I did a similar study myself, and found that there were only a handful of gospel verses not used in obligatory masses.

Also, it should be noted that those verses which are cited by the New Testament, as well as the context surrounding them, are the portions of the Old Testament used by the New Testament. A well-crafted homily should explore how the New Testament fulfills the selected Old Testament verses, examine the moral doctrine espoused, and provide some guidance in applying it to our lives. Unfortunately, there is a crisis of poorly-crafted homilies in the modern church.

I would be extremely cautious of declaring that the Mass has covers the bible insufficiently. For hundreds of years after Christ, the canon of the bible was simply those books were used in mass. Given that most Christians were illiterate, and that bibles typically cost several years’ wages (picture a two-hundred thousand dollar bible to compare that to modern times!), ancient Christians laymen’s exposure to the bible consisted largely of what they heard in masses. Even priests often could privately access only a “breviary,” which consisted of the gospels, letters, and Old Testament canticles (by which was meant the prayers and songs of the Old Testament, including the Psalms). (They certainly had access to a full bible during their studies.) Yet, I’m sure we should literally be put to shame by their piety.

On the other hand, Satan had not so thoroughly corrupted supposedly Christian society. Christians today require both a childlike faith but also a wisdom of understanding of theologians. So the Catholic Church was quite correct in joining Protestant churches to insist that Christians indepenedently read of the scripture daily.

[narses]

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[GonzoII]

What do you mean by "parallel readings"?

I'm counting the First Reading, Psalms, Second Reading, and Gospel for Sundays in these Stats...

[shibumi]

This is not meant to be combative - simply my honest reaction/observation.

If the Church is including so much in the lectionary, what would be wrong with reading the entire Bible, beginning to end, and putting each reading in context?

Or is there some mystical significance to the jumbled order and selective readings?

That’s not to say you couldn’t read special passages on special days, like Christmas, Good Friday or Easter Sunday. Just that the entire text should be understood by the whole of Christ’s Church.

[markomalley]

And if you add in the readings from the Liturgy of the Hours, the percentage gets even higher...

[narses]

Honestly, come and listen. Find out that the texts relate to each other and to the liturgical season - Christmastide, Eastertide, etc.

In addition, the homily, when done correctly, ought to knit the readings together and explore and explain the Faith. (Not all homilists are created equal, some do a wonderful job, others less so.)

What most protestant brethren fail to understand is the nature of the Mass, it is a prayer service, yes - it is also much more, it is the Sacrifice at Calvary made Real all over again. Our Lord becomes Present, Body and Blood, in the highest form of Worship. In most protestant forms, the highest form of worship is prayer, in the Holy Mass the Ultimate Sacrifice is made real again and again and those of us in a State of Grace partake of His Flesh and Blood as He commanded.

[GonzoII]

"what would be wrong with reading the entire Bible, beginning to end, and putting each reading in context?"

The Church could certainly do that, but she follows the Life of Christ and desires us to do the same throughout the year in the Readings.

For example the Season of Advent is about to begin, so no surprise that the readings will center around the coming of and birth of Christ, and then comes Lent and the readings will center around the Passion and death of Christ and so forth.

Notice the idea of expection and preperation in some of these following passages that are for the first Sunday of Advent (which means a coming or arrival), they prepare us for Christmas and the coming of Christ; see also "Rationale" at bottom:

The Roman Catholic Lectionary for Mass (1998 USA Edition)
tables compiled by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

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Readings for the Sundays of Advent

NOTE: The new "Liturgical Year"always begins on the First Sunday of Advent, not on Jan. 1:

Advent 2007 was part of the 2008 liturgical year (Sunday Cycle A), which began on December 2, 2007;
Advent 2008 was part of the 2009 liturgical year (Sunday Cycle B), which began on November 30, 2008;
Advent 2009 will be part of the 2010 liturgical year (Sunday Cycle C), beginning on November 29, 2009.
See the Calendar of Lectionary Cycles and Movable Liturgical Feasts for other years.

#	Sunday	First Reading	Responsorial Psalm	Second Reading	Alleluia Verse	Gospel
1	1st Sunday of Advent - A	Isa 2:1-5	Ps 122:1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5, 6-7, 8-9	Rom 13:11-14	Ps 85:8	Matt 24:37-44
4	2nd Sunday of Advent - A	Isa 11:1-10	Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17	Rom 15:4-9	Luke 3:4+6	Matt 3:1-12
7	3rd Sunday of Advent - A	Isa 35:1-6a, 10	Ps 146:6c-7, 8-9a, 9b-10	Jas 5:7-10	Isa 61:1 (cited in Lk 4:18)	Matt 11:2-11
10	4th Sunday of Advent - A	Isa 7:10-14	Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6	Rom 1:1-7	Matt 1:23	Matt 1:18-24
2	1st Sunday of Advent - B	Isa 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7	Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19	1 Cor 1:3-9	Ps 85:8	Mark 13:33-37
5	2nd Sunday of Advent - B	Isa 40:1-5, 9-11	Ps 85:9ab+10, 11-12, 13-14	2 Pet 3:8-14	Luke 3:4+6	Mark 1:1-8
8	3rd Sunday of Advent - B	Isa 61:1-2a, 10-11	Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54	1 Thess 5:16-24	Isa 61:1 (cited in Lk 4:18)	John 1:6-8, 19-28
11	4th Sunday of Advent - B	2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 (diff)	Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27+29	Rom 16:25-27	Luke 1:38	Luke 1:26-38
3	1st Sunday of Advent - C	Jer 33:14-16	Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10+14	1 Thess 3:12–4:2	Ps 85:8	Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
6	2nd Sunday of Advent - C	Bar 5:1-9	Ps 126:1-2a, 2b-3, 4-5, 6	Phil 1:4-6, 8-11	Luke 3:4+6	Luke 3:1-6
9	3rd Sunday of Advent - C	Zeph 3:14-18a	Isa 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6	Phil 4:4-7	Isa 61:1 (cited in Lk 4:18)	Luke 3:10-18
12	4th Sunday of Advent - C	Mic 5:1-4a	Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19	Heb 10:5-10	Luke 1:38	Luke 1:39-45

Notes:

• The numbers in the first column are the official section numbers from the Ordo Lectionum Missae, second typical edition, 1981; they are identical to the section numbers from the first edition, 1969.
• Titles in the second column are linked directly to the readings provided on the website of the USCCB, if available.
• Readings which are new or different from the 1970 Lectionary are marked in the table above; click on the underlined links (new) or (diff) for detailed explanations.

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Rationale: The "General Introduction to the Lectionary" (Second Edition, 1981) briefly explains the rationale for the reading choices for the Sundays of Advent:

"Each Gospel reading has a distinctive theme: the Lord's coming at the end of time (First Sunday of Advent), John the Baptist (Second and Third Sunday), and the events that prepared immediately for the Lord's birth (Fourth Sunday). The Old Testament readings are prophecies about the Messiah and the Messianic age, especially from the Book of Isaiah. The readings from an Apostle contain exhortations and proclamations, in keeping with the different themes of Advent." (Lectionary for Mass, "Introduction," chap. 5, par. 93)

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[GonzoII]

"And if you add in the readings from the Liturgy of the Hours, the percentage gets even higher..."

I wish I had the time to read the Liturgy of the Hours, I try to get the Psalms in as much as possible.

[Salvation]

I may not be seeing it, but is the three-year cycle for the Old Testament included in the OT numbers.

Great find, BTW.

[Salvation]

**A well-crafted homily should explore how the New Testament fulfills the selected Old Testament verses, examine the moral doctrine espoused, and provide some guidance in applying it to our lives. Unfortunately, there is a crisis of poorly-crafted homilies in the modern church.**

Perhaps I am fortunate, but my priest pulls on the typology between the First Reading and the Gospel all the time. He also realtes it to our present days lives and puts it back into our hands with a poignant question at the end of each homily. (Some are totally teaching ones, of course,) He just did a complete sermon on the vesting of a priest for Mass and all the prayers that are said. It was great!