A listener named Jim asks Father Dave about Sunday Mass readings during Lent. Jim says, “At Mass [on the Third Sunday of Lent], I was expecting the Gospel to be from Luke about the fig tree, but the actual Gospel that was read was from John about [the woman at the well.] Why would that change?”
Father Dave explains, “For the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, there are two different options in the Lectionary for the readings that can be chosen.” The Church has three cycles of readings that rotate for Sunday Masses each year – Year A, B, and C – but on these three Sundays [of Lent], the Year A Gospel can be read. “The parish has the choice either at all the Masses or maybe just one specific Mass to substitute the readings that we typically hear in Year A.”
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He explains what determines this choice. “The Gospel readings are specifically chosen for the people that are going through the process that we call OCIA, because they’re getting closer to celebrating the Sacraments of Initiation at Easter time [to become Catholic],” Father Dave says. “For them, Lent is even more special than it is for the rest of us, because Lent was originally invented centuries ago as a final 40 days of retreat for those people that were about to enter into the Church.”
“On the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent, typically publicly at the parish at the Sunday Mass, the folks that are about to come into the Church will experience three rituals – we call them scrutinies,” Father Dave continues. “It’s not like you’re scrutinizing the people, but essentially it [refers to] their final prayerful rituals prior to receiving the Sacraments of Initiation.”
He explains that the prayers in these rituals connect to the readings in Year A, and other parts of the Mass as well. “One preface of the Eucharistic Prayer actually mentions the woman at the well, too. So it’s designed that all of these things converge if the [OCIA elect] are there, and it’s much more impactful for them. The rest of us also get a great homily about the woman at the well, which is a fantastic Gospel passage.”
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Father Dave notes a practical reason for why one may hear the Year A readings without the OCIA elect present at that Mass. “Strictly speaking, those readings could and should be used at whatever Mass [the elect] are going to be present and wouldn’t necessarily be used at other Masses that Sunday,” he says. “However, practically, particularly these days in the Church when a lot of parishes just have one priest…sometimes they’ll choose to use the same readings at all of the Masses just for the very practical reason that the priest doesn’t have to prepare two full Sunday homilies, because they would really be very different in content.”
“The music is also usually matched to the readings, so this way the music ministry doesn’t have to [select music for] a whole separate set of readings as well,” Father Dave continues. “This is allowed; they do have the flexibility to do that, whether or not they’re doing the scrutinies at that Mass.”
