Same mass readings?

[Inquirer]

While I was going thru RCIA I was told that mass readings the same everywhere in the world, with few exceptions for parishes having specific celebrations. But on a few occasions that I’ve checked the iPhone iBreviary app which is endorsed by Rome, the readings were NOT the same.

Are the readings the same or not?

I was also told that if I was to go for mass everyday for 3 years, I’d complete the whole bible. Anybody checked this?

 

[diggerdomer]

While I was going thru RCIA I was told that mass readings the same everywhere in the world, with few exceptions for parishes having specific celebrations. But on a few occasions that I’ve checked the iPhone iBreviary app which is endorsed by Rome, the readings were NOT the same.

Are the readings the same or not?

I was also told that if I was to go for mass everyday for 3 years, I’d complete the whole bible. Anybody checked this?

The Breviary does not contain the readings for Mass.

No, the whole Bible is not included in the Catholic Lectionary for Mass.

 

[GEddie]

While I was going thru RCIA I was told that mass readings the same everywhere in the world, with few exceptions for parishes having specific celebrations. But on a few occasions that I’ve checked the iPhone iBreviary app which is endorsed by Rome, the readings were NOT the same.

Are the readings the same or not?

I was also told that if I was to go for mass everyday for 3 years, I’d complete the whole bible. Anybody checked this?

The cycle repeats after three years, (2 years for daily Mass) but does NOT contain all verses of the Bible. IIRC, the book of Obadiah, is skipped in its entirety; and not all parts of all other books are included in the lectionary.

ICXC NIKA.

 

[FrDavid96]

While I was going thru RCIA I was told that mass readings the same everywhere in the world, with few exceptions for parishes having specific celebrations. But on a few occasions that I’ve checked the iPhone iBreviary app which is endorsed by Rome, the readings were NOT the same.

Are the readings the same or not?

I was also told that if I was to go for mass everyday for 3 years, I’d complete the whole bible. Anybody checked this?

Here is what happens on those days when we see different readings from different sources:

On the one hand, readings at Mass will be according to the lectionary cycle: That means that if it’s Friday of the 14th week of Ordinal time (for example July 3) the readings would be week 14 Friday, and would be “the same everywhere”.

However, July 3 is also the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, and so the readings might be those specifically for St. Thomas, or for “an Apostle”

July 3 was also First Friday, so any of the 3 sets of readings for First Friday (years A, B, or C) might have been read.

Sometimes these celebrations are obligatory (they must be done) and sometimes they are optional. Sometimes also, there is more than one saint on any particular day.

For weekday Masses (unless they are major feast days) the priest has the option of choosing either the readings proper to that day (St Thomas), or those from the lectionary for the appropriate day of the week (Friday, week 14 to keep the example).

Sometimes there is value in reading the Scripture appropriate to the saint or feast of the day. But there is also a value in keeping the “weekly” readings because these are very often a continuation of yesterday’s readings, and of course, the prelude to tomorrow’s readings (the Lectio Continuo or continuous readings). It’s up to the priest celebtating that particular Mass to decide which is the more important value under the circumstances, as they are both legitimate.

On days like these, many printed sources will either list the various options, or will simply choose only one of the options to publish. The fact that 2 sources might be “in conflict” doesn’t realy mean anything beyond an expression of the choices made by the publishers.

 

[Inquirer]

The Breviary does not contain the readings for Mass.

Actually, the iPhone app iBreviary which I refer to does contain mass readings. Whether it’s accurate or not is another issue.

 

[Inquirer]

Here is what happens on those days when we see different readings from different sources:

On the one hand, readings at Mass will be according to the lectionary cycle: That means that if it’s Friday of the 14th week of Ordinal time (for example July 3) the readings would be week 14 Friday, and would be “the same everywhere”.

However, July 3 is also the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, and so the readings might be those specifically for St. Thomas, or for “an Apostle”

July 3 was also First Friday, so any of the 3 sets of readings for First Friday (years A, B, or C) might have been read.

Sometimes these celebrations are obligatory (they must be done) and sometimes they are optional. Sometimes also, there is more than one saint on any particular day.

For weekday Masses (unless they are major feast days) the priest has the option of choosing either the readings proper to that day (St Thomas), or those from the lectionary for the appropriate day of the week (Friday, week 14 to keep the example).

Sometimes there is value in reading the Scripture appropriate to the saint or feast of the day. But there is also a value in keeping the “weekly” readings because these are very often a continuation of yesterday’s readings, and of course, the prelude to tomorrow’s readings (the Lectio Continuo or continuous readings). It’s up to the priest celebtating that particular Mass to decide which is the more important value under the circumstances, as they are both legitimate.

On days like these, many printed sources will either list the various options, or will simply choose only one of the options to publish. The fact that 2 sources might be “in conflict” doesn’t realy mean anything beyond an expression of the choices made by the publishers.

Thanks for the info.

We had Bible Sunday in Singapore over this weekend. The Gospel was from Mark 6. But the iBreviary said Mark 10. The first and second didn’t tally either.

Is this because the Church in Singapore was commemorating Bible Sunday that’s why there was a departure?

 

[Inquirer]

The cycle repeats after three years, (2 years for daily Mass) but does NOT contain all verses of the Bible. IIRC, the book of Obadiah, is skipped in its entirety; and not all parts of all other books are included in the lectionary.

ICXC NIKA.

Thanks good to know.

So would you say 90% of the bible is covered in 3 years or would you place that percentage higher? i.e. do you know if other books are omitted?

 

[GEddie]

Thanks good to know.

So would you say 90% of the bible is covered in 3 years or would you place that percentage higher? i.e. do you know if other books are omitted?

Ninety percent sounds about right to me. I was taught this when I lectored in the University parish in my last city; haven’t done it in ten years though.

IIRC, no whole books are skipped other than Obadiah.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

While I was going thru RCIA I was told that mass readings the same everywhere in the world, with few exceptions for parishes having specific celebrations. But on a few occasions that I’ve checked the iPhone iBreviary app which is endorsed by Rome, the readings were NOT the same.

Are the readings the same or not?

You’re talking about two completely different things.

The readings for Mass are contained in something called the lectionary.

iBreviary is not a lectionary, it’s a breviary and is used for praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

The lectionary readings are the same everywhere. The breviary readings are the same everywhere. But the lectionary readings are not the same as the breviary readings.

I was also told that if I was to go for mass everyday for 3 years, I’d complete the whole bible. Anybody checked this?

Yes, someone has. Fr. Felix Just, SJ has a page on lectionary statistics at catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Statistics.htm

If you attend Mass every day for the three years of the Sunday cycle and the two years of the weekday cycle you would hear 13.5% of the Old Testament (plus Psalms) and 71.5% of the New Testament. You would hear nothing from 1 Chronicles, Judith or Obadiah, and only a tiny portion of a number of others.

 

[marytk]

Thanks for the info.

We had Bible Sunday in Singapore over this weekend. The Gospel was from Mark 6. But the iBreviary said Mark 10. The first and second didn’t tally either.

Is this because the Church in Singapore was commemorating Bible Sunday that’s why there was a departure?

I think that that might be the case. We celebrate World Mission Sunday on a Sunday during Ordinary Time and then we have readings for World Mission Sunday instead of the readings for the_____th Sunday of Ordinary time
I visited a local parish one year when the Feast of St Thomas fell on a Sunday. Since the Church was St. Thomas they had reading for his feast instead of the usual Sunday ones.

 

[FrDavid96]

For those who are asking, the USCCB committee on Divine Worship (source usccb.org/liturgy/innews/May-June%202007.pdf ) says that 14% of the Old Testament and 71% of the New Testament are read in the new Lectionary. How they “calculate” those numbers, I don’t know (is it by the number of words, or the number of verses, or some other means?) In any case, they give a general idea.