Skip to main content

WHY CATHOLICS DON'T CALL THE CHAPTER AND VERSES WHILE READING THE BIBLE AT MASS?

 



A young man approached me and asked; why is it that the Catholics do not mention the chapters and verses when they read during Mass? He then continued; our Pastor told us that it is because Catholics do not want people to know the Bible and to know the truth that is why they don’t call the chapters and verses. Well, I turned to him and smiled. Then I said to him, if you know the answer, why then do you ask me? In reply he said he was not convinced by the answer the Pastor gave him.


I then said to him; let me first correct you of one thing. Catholics do not read the Bible at Mass rather they proclaim the Bible at Mass. What does it mean to read?  To read is to look and comprehend the meaning of characters or symbols that are composed, while to proclaim is to announce. What the Catholics do is to announce the word of God from the scriptures. Every Catholic ought to have the Liturgical Calendar or the Missal that contains all the readings. Therefore, every average Catholic knows where the readings of March 17 2021 are going to come from not just readings of the day or the next. As such, the catholic should have read the readings at home before coming to Mass.


When we come for Mass, only the Lector and the Priest or Deacon is allowed to proclaim from the text. Every other person is to listen to the proclamation not to read from his own text because at that moment we are not doing rehearsals. At that moment we are proclaiming or announcing the word of God and everyone is supposed to listen. That is why after the Lector has finished reading he or she concludes THE WORD OF THE LORD and after a Priest or Deacon has finish proclaiming the gospel he concludes with THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD. To mention the chapter and the verses is to tempt people to open their text and by so doing, we reduce ourselves to reading the Bible instead of proclaiming it.


What we do while proclaiming the Bible is the liturgy of the Word. Just as Ezra read in Nehemiah 8:2-9 and the people listened and even wept, so all are supposed to listen, that the WORD may sink into their hearts.  The word then needs to be broken by the priest through the sermon or homily. This homily has the character of DOCERE (teaching the listener), DELECTARE (delighting the listener) and MOVERE (moving the listener), Just as it did to the people of Israel in Nehemiah 8:9. It moves the listener to an action of love, then the word becomes flesh at the table of Eucharist (John 1:14). And the flesh is consumed by the listener through the reception of the Holy Eucharist. Here the listener becomes the LIVING WORD OF GOD. Then I asked the young man, do you understand? He became speechless.


From online sources

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Catholics should not eat meat during Christmas Eve

  One of the traditional acts of Christmas is to abstain from meat on Christmas Eve, 24th December.  I could still remember the temptation from the aroma of the fried chicken from my Mama Lucy's kitchen when I was 7 years old. I asked her for a bite and she shouted “Agbedo" meaning never!!! “Why grandma?” I asked, she took me by hands to the Church manger and showed me the animals in the crib: “Yes, Olu, we cannot eat meat on Christmas Eve because the animals were the ones who kept Jesus company at his birth, so we must respect them today''. “Waoo!” I exclaimed, “So that's why I cannot eat meat today...” I held unto this tradition until I entered Seminary only for us to eat plenty meat on the Christmas Eve. Then I asked: “Why are we not respecting the animals today?” And my brothers laughed at my ignorance.  Why then should grandma stop me from eating meat? According to Wikipedia, the Catholic Church historically observes the disciplines of fasting and abstinence a...
4 comments
Read more

HOW OLD IS MARY TODAY ?

  This question was raised during the celebration of the Nativity of mother Mary in 2021 at mass. Let's go into history to unravel how old she would had celebrated if she was physically with us today 8th September 2024.  Some apocryphal accounts state that at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, Mary was 12–14 years old. According to ancient Jewish custom, Mary could have been betrothed at about 12. Hyppolitus of Thebes says that Mary lived for 11 years after the death of her son Jesus, dying in 41 AD. Some ancient authors said that she gave birth to Jesus at 16. Now let's calculate  Jesus lived 30 years with Mary and worked for 3 years with his apostles meaning he died at 33. Hence 16 +33 + 2024 = 2073 So we arrived at her age with historical information from the Sacred tradition that could only be found in the Catholic Church  Am proud to be a Catholic  Happy 2073th  birthday to mother Mary Fr law SDV
1 comment
Read more

About Society of Divine Vocations in Nigeria

The Society of Divine Vocations, also known as the Vocationist Congregation, is a Religious Congregation of Priests, Brothers and Sisters founded by St. Justin Mary Russolillo (1891-1955) in Italy. The Vocationist Fathers and Brothers Congregation was first founded on October 18, 1920 while the Vocationist Sisters was founded on October 1, 1921. The Congregation has its motherhouse at Pianura in the district of Naples in Italy.  The Vocationist Congregation has its main charism as identifying and fostering vocations to priesthood and religious life, especially among the less privileged. The Vocationists work in Vocationaries (considered as their most characteristic work and most special and primary field of action), parishes, schools, and missions. The Society of Divine Vocation is a core religious institute of Pontifical Right. We live in communities and profess the three evangelical counsels of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Vocation is our business. God has specially called us...
13 comments
Read more