Introducing the Common Lectionary

Starting the First Sunday in Lent, Trinity Cathedral will begin using the Revised Common Lectionary at our Sunday Eucharists, and the probability is that most of us won't notice the change - but it is one that, in a very subtle way, will prove to be much for the better.

Lectionary is a word used to refer to the readings assigned for Sundays and Holy Days during the Church Year, starting in Advent and ending the last Sunday after Pentecost. The first half of the year is devoted to the life and ministry of our Lord - - from the anticipation of his Birth that first Christmas through his resurrection from the dead and the coming of God's Holy Sprit.

The long Green Season after Pentecost focuses on the teaching of the Church. It is this season of the year that is most affected by the new Common Lectionary. The lessons chosen, both Old and New Testaments, will provide an overall harmony between the books of the Old Testament and the Gospels. This will prove valuable for all who pay close attention to the readings each Sunday as well as for those of us who are called the preach (proclaim) the Good News of God's purpose and God's love made known in Jesus.

But there is an even added benefit, and that is made revealed by the word "Common." Ours is a shared faith that cuts across all lines of division. The Revised Common Lectionary is increasingly used in more and more Christian communions - - Episcopalians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics in particular, both here and abroad. In a very real sense, this helps us express a unity of faith and an affirmation that, although we may differ in tradition and ways of worship, we are still united through Baptism and are working toward that day when Jesus' prayer will be fulfilled, that "they all may be one."

-- Canon Carey