A note about “the Lectionary”
For the past 35 years, I have utilized the Revised Common Lectionary as the centerpiece of my weekly devotional life. For the several of you who may not be familiar with “the Lectionary”—in recent weeks, two of you have made direct inquiry to me about it recently—the “RCL” is a three-year cycle of weekly “lections” (i.e., readings) used to varying degrees by the vast majority of mainline Protestant churches in Canada and the United States. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, each use a separate, different lectionary. The RCL is built around the seasons of the Church Year, and includes four lections for each Sunday, as well as additional readings for major feast days. During most of the year, the lections are:
- a reading from the Hebrew Bible,
- a Psalm,
- a reading from the Epistles, and
- a Gospel reading.
During the season of Easter, the Hebrew Bible lection is usually replaced with one from the Acts of the Apostles. The lections from the Hebrew Bible are sometimes chosen from the Apocrypha. The gospel readings for each year come from one of the synoptic gospels according to the following pattern:
- Year A – Matthew
- Year B – Mark
- Year C – Luke
Readings from John’s Gospel are assigned throughout each of the 3-year cycle. We’re currently in Year C, which will end on Christ the King Sunday, November 20, 2022. Then we’ll move back to Year A.
As I’ve mentioned before, I enjoy using the RCL because (a) it provides me with some structure that I need, and (b) that structure forces me to encounter texts that I might otherwise ignore.
Grab your favorite web browser and search for the Revised Common Lectionary. You may see that there are other lectionaries available as well. Alternatively, click here to see an excellent RCL Scripture chart prepared by the Library staff at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Happy hunting!