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Ascension Church
808 S. East Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60304
Phone: (708) 848-2703
Fax: (708) 848-2773
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Living the Word
Living the Word is a weekly scripture/reflection resource. This book can be purchased from the parish office. Living the Word contains all of the Sunday and Holy Day readings for the year and is available in a new edition each November beginning with the season of Advent.
Parishioners and members of Ascension's staff share reflections based on the readings in Living the Word in a monthly electronic newsletter. Archived copies of some editions of the newsletter are available by following the links listed below.
For more information, please contact David Anderson
What Is a Lectionary?
A lectionary is a list of scripture readings (also called “lections,” from the Latin lectio) selected for reading at worship services; it is also the book containing the actual readings. The term is most commonly used in the Catholic Church for the Lectionary for Mass, which contains the readings prescribed for the Masses for Sundays, feast days, weekdays, sacramental celebrations, funerals, and Masses for special occasions or particular devotions—basically, any Mass.
Before the Second Vatican Council (between 1570 and 1969), the lectionary for Sunday Masses was one cycle of readings, repeated each year. An epistle and a Gospel reading usually were proclaimed, and a psalm (gradual) and alleluia were sung between them. The Old Testament was read at Mass only on Epiphany and its octave, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, Pentecost Vigil, Ember Days, and weekdays of Lent.
The lectionary of 1970 was constructed as part of the liturgical reforms of Vatican II (a few modest changes have been made since then). It contains a three-year cycle of readings for Sundays. Three readings were chosen for each Sunday Mass: the first usually from the Old Testament (during the Easter season, from the Acts of the Apostles), the second from an epistle, and the third from the Gospel. This arrangement restored the ancient practice (attested to as early as the second century) of three readings, the first being from an Old Testament prophet. The psalm was placed between the first two readings (its ancient place), and the Gospel acclamation (an alleluia, except in Lent) remained after the second reading.
Each year of the three-year cycle draws largely from one of the three synoptic Gospels, Matthew (Year A), Mark (B), and Luke (C). Synoptic means that these three Gospels portray the story of Christ in similar ways. The Gospel of John is read during Lent and Easter each year, and during several weeks of Ordinary Time in Year B. Most of the time, the first reading is chosen to relate to the Gospel of the day. The second reading is often a selection from an epistle that is being read in sequential sections for several Sundays; thus it is often not thematically related to the other two readings.
The lectionary of 1970 also created a set of readings for weekdays. Previous to that, there were readings for certain saints’ days, votive Masses, weekdays of Lent, and Octaves of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. Otherwise, the readings of the previous Sunday were used on weekdays. The 1970 lectionary provided a first reading and a Gospel for each weekday; first readings come from both the Old and New Testaments.
One unexpected blessing of the renewal of the Lectionary for Mass is the creation of similar lectionaries for use in Protestant worship. The most common of these is the Revised Common Lectionary, which several Protestant denominations use; others have created particular lectionaries for themselves. All these are similar enough that a good percentage of the world’s Christians are reading at least the same Gospel each Sunday. If we are not yet united at the table of Eucharist, we are at least becoming united at the table of the Word, an excellent start.
