Readings for Mass

[josamen]

I have a question from someone else on another forum about readings for liturgies…any answers would be greatly appreciated:

Forwarded question:

Is it cool to chop and change between bibles for the reading I’m doing? I want to keep traditional, but I have about 6 different bibles here and I like the wording for different parts of the reading better in some of them. Also, I’m doing “a reading from Proverbs 31” and skipping some lines that are too… domestic and old fashioned while keeping the meaning of the passage. I’m reading Proverbs 31. 10-12, 23, 25-31. Does that sound ok? I read it to Granddad tonight and he likes it. I think that emphasising these ideas about supporting the family and the unconditional love between Grandma and Granddad is appropriate, since their 60th Wedding anniversary is being celebrated on the 3rd.

 

[Phemie]

I have a question from someone else on another forum about readings for liturgies…any answers would be greatly appreciated:

Forwarded question:

Is it cool to chop and change between bibles for the reading I’m doing? I want to keep traditional, but I have about 6 different bibles here and I like the wording for different parts of the reading better in some of them. Also, I’m doing “a reading from Proverbs 31” and skipping some lines that are too… domestic and old fashioned while keeping the meaning of the passage. I’m reading Proverbs 31. 10-12, 23, 25-31. Does that sound ok? I read it to Granddad tonight and he likes it. I think that emphasising these ideas about supporting the family and the unconditional love between Grandma and Granddad is appropriate, since their 60th Wedding anniversary is being celebrated on the 3rd.

If this is for Mass the readings should be from the translation approved for the OP’s country. Not all translations are approved for liturgy.

As for dropping verses, that has to be done very carefully so as to not change the meaning of the passage being read.

 

[FrDavid96]

I have a question from someone else on another forum about readings for liturgies…any answers would be greatly appreciated:

Forwarded question:

Is it cool to chop and change between bibles for the reading I’m doing? I want to keep traditional, but I have about 6 different bibles here and I like the wording for different parts of the reading better in some of them. Also, I’m doing “a reading from Proverbs 31” and skipping some lines that are too… domestic and old fashioned while keeping the meaning of the passage. I’m reading Proverbs 31. 10-12, 23, 25-31. Does that sound ok? I read it to Granddad tonight and he likes it. I think that emphasising these ideas about supporting the family and the unconditional love between Grandma and Granddad is appropriate, since their 60th Wedding anniversary is being celebrated on the 3rd.

josamen,

I see that this isn’t your question, but someone else’s, so I’ll refrain from asking you for more details (like will it be a Saturday or Sunday vigil Mass).

It’s not by any standard acceptable to simply pick the readings for Mass out of a Bible. Only the Lectionary may be used for the text, and the readings themselves are the ones chosen by the Church for that particular day, or the particular Mass being celebrated. The texts cannot be altered or shortened at one’s own whim, nor may one choose a scripture translation.

 

[jmcrae]

I have a question from someone else on another forum about readings for liturgies…any answers would be greatly appreciated:

Forwarded question:

Is it cool to chop and change between bibles for the reading I’m doing? I want to keep traditional, but I have about 6 different bibles here and I like the wording for different parts of the reading better in some of them. Also, I’m doing “a reading from Proverbs 31” and skipping some lines that are too… domestic and old fashioned while keeping the meaning of the passage. I’m reading Proverbs 31. 10-12, 23, 25-31. Does that sound ok? I read it to Granddad tonight and he likes it. I think that emphasising these ideas about supporting the family and the unconditional love between Grandma and Granddad is appropriate, since their 60th Wedding anniversary is being celebrated on the 3rd.

What kind of a liturgy is this? If it’s a Mass, then as Father David pointed out, the readings for the Mass have already been set by the Church. We can’t change the Mass readings, other than in a very limited way in the case of wedding and funeral Masses. (Ask and see if your diocese has a “Mass for Anniversary Celebrations” - there would then be a selection of readings that you could choose from, quite probably including a reading from the Book of Proverbs that fits along the lines you are thinking of. You would ask a priest to say this Mass for you on a week day, and of course you would give him a nice gift by way of a “thank you.”)

But if it’s just a prayer service with Bible readings, then you can pick any readings you want. My personal preference would be simply to select a set of verses and read them out, rather than skipping over verses. Also, skipping around between translations seems very cumbersome - I’d want to keep it all from the same translation - preferably, something that is easy for the listeners to understand.

 

[benedictgal]

Regarding the readings, if these are to be proclaimed during Mass, Redemptionis Sacramentum notes that:

[61.] In selecting the biblical readings for proclamation in the celebration of Mass, the norms found in the liturgical books are to be followed,136 so that indeed “a richer table of the Word of God will be prepared for the faithful, and the biblical treasures opened up for them”.137

[62.] It is also illicit to omit or to substitute the prescribed biblical readings on one’s own initiative, and especially “to substitute other, non-biblical texts for the readings and responsorial Psalm, which contain the word of God”.138

Why not ask the priest if you could look through the Lectionary to select the readings? There is a beautiful reading from the Book of Sirach regarding the Good Wife and then there is the Responsorial Psalm (Happy are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways) that is used for weddings that talks about how a man is blessed with a fruitful wife and children surrounding his table like olive plants.

Now, what does the poster mean when he/she says the “third”? If it is the “third” of January, then you may not have the luxury to choose your own readings because if the Mass is celebrated that Saturday evening, it is already the Anticipated Sunday Mass when the Church marks the Epiphany of the Lord. In that case, the solemnity overrules anything else.

 

[josamen]

thx guys…gave her the lin k so she can read the answers…I hope she finds this helpful