I. What Is a Lectionary?

1. A lectionary is a collection of readings or selections from the Scriptures, arranged and intended for proclamation during the worship of the People of God.

2. Lectionaries (tables of readings) were known and used in the fourth century, where major churches arranged the Scripture readings according to a schedule which follows the calendar of the church's year. Early lectionaries usually involved continuous reading, with each Sundays texts picking up where they left off on the previous Sunday. This practice of assigning particular readings to each Sunday and festival has continued down through the history of the Christian Church. A constant pattern, however, seems to be that the later additions of special days and feasts tended to obscure the simplicity of the original Sunday texts, so that after every few centuries, the calendar needed to be simplified and pruned in order to manifest its earlier clarity.

3. Important examples of lectionaries are the Roman Lectionary for Mass of 1969, the Common Lectionary of 1983, and the Revised Common Lectionary of 1992. The two versions of the Common Lectionary are based on and derived from the Roman book.

Types of lectionaries

4. Lectionaries come in two basic forms:

a. A simple table of readings, which gives the liturgical day or date, and the Scripture references for the texts to be proclaimed. In this case, readings are usually proclaimed from a pulpit Bible. The Revised Common Lectionary is a modern example of such a table.

b. A full-text edition, which fleshes out the references by reprinting the specific texts from a particular translation of the Bible. Examples of this are the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Mass, containing the Sunday and weekday texts, and the lectionaries of the Episcopal, Lutheran, and Methodist Churches in the United States.

II. How to Use a Lectionary

5. A lectionary may be used in several ways:

a. To provide whole churches or denominations with a uniform and common pattern of biblical proclamation.

b. As a guide for clergy, preachers, church members, musicians, and Sunday school teachers, that shows them which texts are to be read on a given Sunday.

c. As a guide and resource for clergy from different local churches who wish to work and pray together as they share their resources and insights while preparing for their preaching.

d. As a resource for those who produce ecumenical preaching aids, commentaries, Sunday school curricula, and other devotional aids.

e. As a guide to individuals and groups who wish to read, study, and pray the Bible in tune with the church's prayer and preaching. Some local churches print the references to the following Sunday's readings in their bulletins and encourage people to come prepared for the next week's celebration; the psalm reference might also be included to encourage reflection on the first reading.

6. The lectionary also shows us the relationship of the readings of one Sunday with those that come before and after it. Within each of the major seasons of Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas-Epiphany, the flow of the season is reflected in all the Scripture texts, taken together as a set for each Sunday.

III. The Table of Readings

Finding the correct year

7. The lectionary for Sundays and major festivals is arranged in a three-year cycle. The years are known as Year A, the year of Matthew; Year B, the year of Mark; and Year C, the year of Luke.

8. The First Sunday of Advent 2007 begins a new cycle of readings: they are selected from year A, the year of Matthew, and continue until the final Sunday of the liturgical year. Then a new year begins in Advent 2008, year B, the year of Mark. Year A always begins on the First Sunday of Advent in years which can be evenly divided by three (e.g., 2007, 2010, etc.).

9. At the national and international levels, individual denominations usually issue annual calendares based on the calendar of the Common Lectionary.

Versification

10. The numbering of verses in this table of readings follows that used in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible; adaptations may be necessary if other versions of the Bible are used.

Relationship of gospel and first reading

11. From the First Sunday of Advent to Trinity Sunday of each year, the Old Testament reading is closely related to the gospel reading for the day. From the first Sunday after Trinity Sunday to Christ the King, provision has been made for two patterns of reading the Old Testament from Proper 4 [9] to Proper 29 [34].

a. Provision of a pattern of paired readings in which the Old Testament and gospel readings are closely related. For example, in Year A, Proper 6, Exodus 19:2-8a and its response, Psalm 100, are used in conjunction with Romans 5:1-8 and Matthew 9:35–10:8.

b. Provision of a pattern of semicontinuous Old Testament readings, such as found in Year A, Propers 7 and 8, where Genesis 21:8-21, on one Sunday, is followed by Genesis 22:1-14, the next Sunday.

For all these Sundays between Pentecost and Advent, churches and denominations may determine which of these patterns better serves their needs. Some denominations will accept one or both patterns for all their congregations; others may choose to let local liturgy planners determine which of these two patterns better serves their needs. The Revised Common Lectionary does not propose one set as more favored than the other, but the use of the two patterns should not be mixed.

Deuterocanonical (Apocrypha) readings

12. In all places where a reading from the deuterocanonical books (The Apocrypha) is listed, an alternate reading from the canonical Scriptures has also been provided.

Responsorial psalm

13. The psalm is a congregational response and meditation on the first reading, and is not intended as another reading. Where a choice of first readings is given, especially in the Sundays after Pentecost, the corresponding psalm or canticle should also be used.

Hallel psalms

14. Fifteen psalms (104–106, 111–113, 115–117, 135, 146–150) begin and/or end with the Hebrew "Hallelujah" ("Alleluia"; NRSV translation, "Praise the Lord"). These Hallel psalms play a particular role in Jewish liturgy, especially in the feast of the Passover. Whenever a portion of a Hallel psalm is appointed by the Revised Common Lectionary, the versification indicates that it is desirable to include the "Hallelujah" ("Alleluia") or "Praise the Lord" which begins and/or ends the psalm. It may also be used as a refrain after each verse or set of verses.

Introducing readings

15. In the opening verses of readings, when a pulpit Bible is...