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A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings for Christian worship.
History
Throughout history, many varying lectionaries have been used in different parts of the Christian world. Until the Second Vatican Council, most Western Christians (Roman Catholics, Old Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists who employed the Lectionary of Wesley) used a lectionary that repeated on a one year basis. This lectionary provided readings for Sundays and, in those Churches that celebrated the festivals of saints, feast-day readings.
Since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, the revised lectionary of the Roman Catholic Church has been a foundation block upon which many contemporary lectionaries have been based, most notably the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), and its derivitives, as organized by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) organization located in Nashville, TN. The National Conference of Catholic Biships of the United States and many traditional "mainline" American Protestant denominations are members. The CCT thereby represents the vast majority of American Christians.
Pattern of the Roman Lectionary and Revised Common Lectionary (RCL)
Most of the current lectionaries used by western Christian denominations organize the scripture passages to be read in worship services for each week of the year. The listing for a given week includes:
- A reading from the Hebrew Scriptures;
- A Responsorial Psalm;
- A reading from one of the Epistles;
- A reading from one of the Gospels.
The 3 year cycle
The Lectionary (both Roman and RCL versions) is organized into a three-year cycle of readings. The reading cycle is denoted by letter as:
- Year A: Readings from the Gospel of Matthew.
- Year B: Readings from the Gospel of Mark.
- Year C: Readings from the Gospel of Luke.
The Gospel of John is always read for Easter, and is utilized for other liturgical seasons including Advent, Christmas, and Lent where appropriate.
How scriptures are chosen
The following is from the book "Lectionary Lite Means Bible Ignored", used with permission from author, Warren Vitcenda, at LectionaryLite.Com.
Lectionary assigned worship/preaching scriptures are often not coordinated with each other in services, especially during the "ordinary time/Pentecost season". Mainline denominational worship services usually include four readings: an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, an Epistle reading, and a reading from the 4 Gospels. These scripture readings for worship services are often not coordinated with each other for meaning and are most often just read out loud during a service without further teaching or preaching. This is very likely a major reason why many people find worship to be either confusing and/or boring. The Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) which created and promotes the RCL lectionary explains it by saying the following:
“In that same time, the preacher should notice that the second (New Testament) reading proceeds from week to week on a continuous chapter-by-chapter course, and so there will be no obvious correlation between that lesson and the Gospel or the Old Testament. (Emphasis added.) So on those Sundays the three readings, which have deliberately no thematic interrelationship, are all proceeding on a continuous or semi-continuous track. If this were thought curious or troublesome, it should be remembered that such an "in course" sequence of reading is borrowed directly from the synagogue’s use of the Torah and the subsequent practice of the churches of the first several centuries.” www.commontexts.org/rcl/faq.html
Other lectionary information
For churches that hold weekday services, the Lectionary provides a two-year cycle of shorter readings:
- A reading from the Hebrew Scriptures or the Epistles
- A Responsorial Psalm
- A reading from one of the Gospels.
These readings are generally much shorter than the weekend readings.
In the Eastern Churches (those united with Rome, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, and those bodies not in communion with either but still practicing eastern liturgical customs) tend to retain the use of a one year lectionary in their liturgy, and follow a different liturgical calendar (to an extent) than the western Churches. Most Eastern Lectionaries provide for an Epistle and a Gospel to be read on each day of the year.
In some churches, the Lectionary is carried in the entrance procession by a lector. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is prohibited to process with the Lectionary, but a Gospel Book may be carried by a lector or deacon. When a Gospel Book is used, the first three readings are read from the Lectionary, while the Gospel Book is used for the final reading.
The Lectionary is not to be confused with a missal or sacramentary; while the Lectionary contains scripture readings, the others contain the appropriate prayers for the service.
Criticism of the Revised Common Lectionary
- Walter Sundberg, “Limitations of the Lectionary”
- James C. Goodloe IV, “Questions about the Lectionary”
- Lectionary Lite
- Warren Vitcenda, "Lectionary Lite Means Bible Ignored" ISBN 1-4196-2931-X
See also
External links
- The Revised Common Lectionary
- The Roman Catholic Lectionary
- Lectionary criticism website.
- John Shearman's Liberal Lectionary
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