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The Season of Growth & Renewal
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Readings for Sunday Masses in the Season of Lent, Years A, B & C
The liturgical season of Lent has its origins in the catechumenate, the initiation process for converts to Christianity in the early centuries. The final phase of preparation was the 40 days preceding the Paschal Triduum in which the catechumens intensified their prayer and preparation. This period was eventually extended to all the faithful as a season to renew one’s relationship with God. With the implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in recent decades, the Church has reinstituted the catechumenate. We can now celebrate a number of optional rites within Lent for those adults seeking to enter into full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil.
"Repent, and believe in the gospel," OR
"Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return."While many people associate Lent with deprivation—“giving up” things as disciplines for the season—the deprivation is not the point! Our goal is growth in relationship with God. In fact, the English word “Lent” has its roots in an Old German word for springtime. The deprivation can be seen as a simplifying, a stripping back, to allow a new springtime in our relationship with God.
The Sunday readings in Lent reflect the themes of the season and are intended to take us on a journey of growth, renewal, and resurrection. The first and second readings are sometimes connected only thematically to the gospel passage.The Lenten Sunday readings for February, March, and April 2023 are from Year A, featuring the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of John. We also have a separate lectionary guide for the Daily Readings in the Lenten Season.
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First Sunday: Temptation in the Desert
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A ~ Matthew 4:1 - 11, B ~ Mark 1:12 - 15, C ~ Luke 4:1 - 13
We begin the Sundays of Lent by reflecting on Jesus’ temptation in the desert. These passages invite us to reflect on the temptations we each face, and to ponder how our own “desert” experience this Lent – through fasting, almsgiving, and extra prayer – can help us return to the essentials of our relationship with God.
Our first readings harken back to the earliest days of salvation history, urging us to return once again to the destiny God promised us long ago.
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Some parishes use a desert theme for their Lenten decorations.
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Second Sunday: The Transfiguration
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Eucharist is an act of receiving God's grace to be transfigured ourselves—to become the most exalted versions of ourselves,
living out God's mission to the fullest.
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A ~ Matthew 17:1 - 9, B ~ Mark 9:2 - 10, C ~ Luke 9:28 - 36
The 2nd Sunday of Lent always features an account of the Transfiguration, at which God revealed the glory to which Jesus was destined as the Christ. Reflecting on Jesus’ Transfiguration may reassure us in challenging moments on our spiritual journeys.
Our first readings are taken from the story of Abraham, our ancestor in faith. We reflect that God's pledge to make Abraham and Sarah's descendants as numerous as the stars seemed impossible, God fulfilled that pledge in due time.
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Third, Fourth & Fifth Sundays
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Year A: John 4:4 - 42, John 9:1 - 41, John 11:1 - 45
The gospel readings in Year A are all extended stories from the Gospel of John. On the 3rd Sunday, we hear of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, and on the 4th Sunday, we hear about Jesus healing the man born blind. On the 5th Sunday, we hear of Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead. Each story challenges us to broaden our understanding of who Jesus Christ is for us, and how that understanding reorients our lives. If there are adults in the parish preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil and the parish plans to celebrate optional rites called "The Scrutinies," a parish may choose to use these readings during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Years B and C.
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The Scrutinies are a series of ancient rites in which adults preparing for baptism examine the ways they need to be healed and strengthened by God. - Team RCIA
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For many years, all churches covered their statues
with purple cloth in the 4th, 5th, and 6th weeks of Lent.
This is now an optional practice.
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Year B: John 2:13 - 25, John 3:14 - 21, John 12:20 - 33
The gospels in Year B feature passages in the Gospel of John where Jesus explains the purpose for which the Father sent him. On the 3rd Sunday, after Jesus overturns the tables of the temple money changers, he explains that he will destroy the temple and raise it up again in three days. On the 4th Sunday, Jesus tells the Pharisee Nicodemus that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” On the 5th Sunday, Jesus explains that a grain of wheat that dies “produces much fruit.”
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Year C: Luke 13:1 - 9, Luke 15:1 - 3 & 11 - 32, John 8:1 - 11
Only one of the gospel readings in these three weeks in Year C is from John. On the 3rd Sunday, we hear Luke's parable of the patient gardener who gives extra attention to a fig tree that does not bear fruit. On the 4th Sunday, we hear Luke's parable of the prodigal son. On the 5th Sunday, we hear John's story of Jesus protecting the woman caught in adultery. These three readings naturally lead us to reflections on repentance and forgiveness. Are we open to receiving God's mercy, and are we open to sharing that mercy with others?
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Many Catholics go to confession during the season of Lent.
We suggest that you go at the BEGINNING of the season,
to kick-start your season of spiritual growth!
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Sixth Sunday: Palm (or Passion) Sunday
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Until the revision of the liturgical calendar in the late 1960s, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was celebrated on the 5th Sunday of Lent (“Palm Sunday”), and Jesus’ Passion was observed on the 6th Sunday (“Passion Sunday”). Now, these two commemorations are observed in a single Mass on the 6th Sunday.
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Triumphal Entry - A ~ Matthew 21:1 - 11, B ~ Mark 11:1 - 10 or John 12:12 - 16, C ~ Luke 10:28 - 40
Palm Sunday procession in Honduras - John Donaghy
If circumstances allow, the assembly gathers outdoors, palms are distributed and blessed, and we proclaim Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. If the assembly has gathered outside, they then process into the church. -
The Passion - A ~ Matthew 26:14 - 27:66, B ~ Mark 14:1 - 15:47, C ~ Luke 22:14 - 23:56
The Proclamation of the Passion - Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC
After the opening prayer, the mood changes drastically. We proclaim a portion of one of the “Suffering Servant Songs” in Isaiah (50:4-7), a psalm of lament (Psalm 22), and the ancient hymn quoted by Paul to the Philippians about Jesus “emptying himself” of godliness to submit to the cross (2:6-11). The gospel account of the Passion of the Lord is the longest of any Sunday.
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