UNDERSTANDING THE LITURGY by John J. O'Brien, C.P.

WHAT''S THE BIG BOOK THE LADY IS CARRYING?
THE LECTIONARY: PART ONE

I fondly remember the wonderful pastor of my youth, Monsignor Joseph W. Hack. I still can see him reading the epistle in Latin and the Gospel in English. It was the same Gospel year after year. We inherited a limited number of Gospel selections.

Then came a marvelous, historic moment! After years of careful preparation and trial-and-error, Pope Paul VI issued a new book of Bible readings. It was called "the Lectionary," i.e., the lessons, the scriptures, the readings we would hear proclaimed in the Eucharistic liturgy. Pope Paul VI issued "the Lectionary" exactly four hundred years after Pope Pius V had issued his Mass Missal, the fruit of the reforms of the Council of Trent. We are a church very conscious of tradition.

Recently I heard a little boy exclaim, "What's the big red book the Lady is carrying?" Good question. The lady carried the book aloft as the opening procession went from the back to the front of the church. Then she carefully enthroned it on the ambo, the platform where the reading stand sits. Why does she do this? She holds the book aloft so that visually we are aware that this special book contains the texts and word-symbols that will become the Word of God when proclaimed. This book elicits our reverence and evokes our respect. This book is food and drink for catechumens and sponsors, as well as the baptized. In ancient times scribes carefully wrote the pages of the Lectionary. They also decorated the book with covers of beautiful tapestry or precious jewels. Their instincts were right. This was a book worthy of beautiful decoration because it was a precious gift of God for the local Church.

Scribes did more than just copy the text accurately onto scrolls or into dignified books. Ancient texts had no chapters and verses for particular books of the Bible. This is a modern innovation. Ancient texts did not separate words. Words were connected and required a skillful interpreter to disengage word from word. All reading, whether personal or public, was done aloud. The interpreter had to know how to read distinct words aloud with proper emphasis and feeling. No reading was done silently until fairly recently in western culture.

The Lectionary that you see carried aloft is the one used at the Sunday Eucharist. It contains Biblical readings carefully selected, connected, and spread over a three year period. Why three years? First, because Mark, Matthew, and Luke are the first three Gospels. Each distinctly portrays the good news, the person of Jesus. Each reveals the God of Jesus, the Jesus' improvement, the role of God's Kingdom or reign, and the Church's mission. Also, the three year Lectionary is functional, a tool for the assembly's ministry of forming catechumens, i.e., those unbaptized who are growing in faith, listening to the echo of God's Word, and preparing for full initiation through water baptism, aromatic oiling, and eucharistic table sharing. Their principal nourishment comes from the liturgy of the Word and their reflection on that Word after their dismissal.