August 10, 2025 - Pastor Message
August 20, 2025JUBILEE 2025 SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM (cont.)
JUBILEE 2025
SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM (cont.)
“The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly so that a richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s Word. In this way the more significant part of the Sacred Scriptures will be read to the people over a fixed number of years…The two parts which in a sense go to make up the Mass, viz. the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Liturgy, are so closely connected with each other that they form but one single act of worship” (SC, 51 & 56).
One of the most important contributions of Vatican Council II's Sacrosanctum Concilium, building on earlier reforms in the 20th Century, was a greater appreciation for God’s Word in the liturgy. Prior to Vatican II, the Church had only a single annual cycle of Scripture readings at Mass that was the same every year. Not only that, but the readings were drawn predominantly from the New Testament, with very few Old Testament readings except on special occasions. The readings were also read in Latin, though, in later years, it was permitted for them to be read again in the vernacular (i.e. English). In later years, people also had access to Latin/English missals so they could follow along as best they could. Finally, the priest at times would not even bother to preach a homily, or, if he did, there was no guarantee that it would flow from the readings of the day. It could just as well be a talk on how the school needed a new roof or the immorality of communism, with no reference at all to the day’s readings, what is more properly called a sermon rather than a homily. Such was the state of the “Liturgy of the Word” before Vatican II.
Sacrosanctum Concilium aimed to change that. While SC did not set out specific norms regarding the readings at Mass, its call for a fuller celebration of God’s Word led to dramatic changes that would shape the current Lectionary - the book, or, more accurately, books that contain the readings for Mass. No longer a single year cycle, the readings for Sunday Masses are now spread out across a three-year cycle - Years A, B, and C. The readings for weekday Masses are on a two-year cycle - Years 1 and 2. Together, the Sunday and weekday cycle of readings covers nearly all of the Bible, including the Old Testament, which had been drastically neglected in the pre-Vatican II Mass. As you all know, the readings are now proclaimed in English, typically by a lay reader, although the Gospel continues to be proclaimed by the deacon or priest, stressing the particular character of the Gospel as the story of Jesus Christ within God’s Word. Finally, priests and deacons are urged to preach a homily at every Sunday Mass and holy day of obligation, and the homily is to flow from the readings of the day or some other part of the liturgical celebration.
In all these ways and more, Vatican II brought a fuller celebration of God’s Word to our liturgy, for which we should be eternally grateful. It is God’s Word that calls us to the liturgy, and it is God’s Word, incarnate in the Eucharist, that saves us by his Body and Blood. May our fuller celebration of God’s Word lead us deeper into that saving mystery, as Vatican II intended.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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