The Bible and The Revised Common Lectionary
The Holy Bible is actually a whole library of books. Through the year individuals and Christian Communities and Churches read through the Bible according to a selection of readings called ‘The Lectionary’. These readings cover the whole of the Bible in a three year cycle, with special readings for the feast days and seasons as the Church Year unfolds.
You can find the readings assigned for all the Sundays of the church year here
What is the Lectionary?
This is a good summary and definition: click here
The different ways we read different material.
The way we read the newspaper, or a magazine differs from how we read a mystery book or a text book on physics or chemistry, or an instruction manual or cookbook. We often don’t think about this— we just do it automatically, responding the situation and the forms of ‘literature’ that we’re reading. It is actually a fascinating thing to think about, and in addition, it is critical if we are to read thoughtfully and carefully material that we consider of great value.
For insight into what’s involved with attentive reading two wonderful books are:
How to Read a Book which you can find by clicking here
This is a classic, and one I’d recommend for anyone and everyone.
And this next one is a wonderful introduction to what it is we’re reading when we read the Bible. I recommend it most highly also.
It’s called How to read the Bible for All its Worth. It can be downloaded by clicking here