The Liturgy of the Word – How the Readings Are Selected

Last week, we read about the importance of the Word of God.  Today we take a look at how the Sunday readings are chosen.  Every Latin Rite Catholic Church in the world uses the same readings each Sunday.

During the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter the readings are selected to correspond to the themes of the season.  In Ordinary Time, selected passages from one of the gospels is read in order.  Then, the first reading is picked to correspond to an idea presented in the gospel passage.  In turn, the psalm is selected to correspond with the first reading.  This helps us see the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In Ordinary Time, the second reading is selected independent of the other readings.  Letters from the New Testament are selected and read in semi-continuous sequence.

(Previous articles in this series can be found online at The Hidden Depths of the Mass #13)