Revised Common Lectionary

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The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) is a

Roman Catholic Church following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.[1]

Origin

The Revised Common Lectionary was the product of a collaboration between the North American

Methodist. The CCT thereby represents the majority of American and Canadian Christians and has been widely adopted in Great Britain and in other countries such as Australia. Various churches, however, have made some changes to the form of the RCL that they use. It has been further adapted for Sunday school and children's church use.[2]

As in its predecessors, readings are prescribed for each Sunday: a passage typically from the

Psalms; another from either the Epistles or the Book of Revelation; and finally a passage from one of the four Gospels
.

Also like its predecessors, it runs in three-year cycles; the gospel readings in the first year (Year A) are taken from the Gospel of Matthew, those in the second year (or Year B) from the Gospel of Mark, and in the third year (or Year C) come from the Gospel of Luke. Portions of the Gospel of John are read throughout Eastertide, and are also used for other liturgical seasons including Advent, Christmastide, and Lent where appropriate.

  • Year A begins on the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, 2022, 2025, etc.
  • Year B begins on the first Sunday of Advent in 2020, 2023, 2026, etc.
  • Year C begins on the first Sunday of Advent in 2021, 2024, 2027, etc.

It differs from its Latin predecessor, however, in that—as a result of feedback collected from the participating churches during the trial period—a greater emphasis is given to Old Testament passages and to Wisdom literature.

Scripture usage

The major principle behind the lectionary is that on a Sunday members of congregations should be able to hear the voice of each writer week by week, rather than readings being selected according to a theme. Thus, in any given year the writer of one of the first three gospels will be heard from beginning to end. Likewise the rest of the New Testament is heard, in some cases, virtually in total, in others in large part.

This principle is subject to a number of exceptions. Firstly, different principles apply during the special seasons of the year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter. Here appropriate lections relevant to the season are chosen. The rest of the year, called Ordinary Time, begins in February (after Candlemas) and runs until the Second Sunday before Lent. It then resumes after Pentecost until the Sunday before Advent which is kept as the Feast of Christ the King.

Secondly, because the cycle is three years long, only three of the Gospel writers are given a year.

synoptic gospels
is treated differently and is inserted into all three years. Thus passages from St. John appear in the special seasons of Advent and Lent, on Passion (Palm) Sunday in all three years, throughout Holy Week, including Good Friday, on Easter Day as the first alternative Gospel, during most of the Easter season, on Pentecost and during the year in which St. Mark's gospel is in use. A practical reason for this is that Mark is considerably shorter than either St. Matthew or St. Luke.

The treatment given to the

responsorial psalm each Sunday.[3]

Lastly, there has been a certain amount of editing so that some verses of most books are omitted. Sometimes the omission is simply an introduction to a book; sometimes more substantial material has been excluded, but the overall intention, that of allowing, say, the substance of a biblical writer's thoughts to be read and heard in church, has arguably been achieved at least more substantially than before. There have been arguments over individual editorial judgements and the Church of England, in its use of the RCL, has re-inserted verses, in brackets, which were felt by its Liturgical Commission to be more properly included.

Such is the length of the Scriptural canon that no Sunday lectionary can cover the whole of Scripture without the necessity of very long readings on a Sunday or a longer cycle of years. Sometimes there has to be a choice between telling a long story or omitting it entirely. However, the daily lectionary, devised by the Roman Catholic Church and adopted by the Church of England (among others), provides more material. The CCT has also produced a volume of daily readings.[1]

The Church of England has augmented the RCL by the provision of readings for second and third services. Thus the RCL lectionary is used for the "Principal Service", which often takes the form of a Eucharist, while allowing for additional material at other services which may be Morning and Evening Prayer (though provision is made for either being a Eucharist). Minimal changes to the "Principal Service" have been made in order to preserve its use as an ecumenical lectionary; the most significant of these is in Year B where in Epiphany for three Sundays readings from Revelation replace readings from 1 Corinthians.

Denominational practices

The Revised Common Lectionary is used in its original or an adapted form by churches around the world. The

Roman Catholic Church
in local translations as the standard lectionary. Various other churches have also adopted (and sometimes adapted) the RCL; some may consider its use optional. These include:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Augsburg Fortress Publishers 2005, p. 7.
  2. ^ "Gospel-Based Children's Lectionary Curriculum". biblestudymedia.com.
  3. ^ Callaham 2013.

References

External links