A Confusing Lectionary

If you are in the habit of reading the Holy Scriptures everyday using ‘The Readings of the Day’ you may have been a bit confused today. You may be wondering ‘which’ reading for today is the correct reading. You may be wondering how the Church chooses the readings it chooses.

As Orthodox Christians, reading the Bible every day is a normal part of our spiritual life. For beginners I always suggest that we should start with the readings of the day as appointed by the Church. By reading what the Church appoints we gain the extra benefit of giving up our will.

The Lectionary is designed for us to read the entire New Testament each year with one exception. The daily readings do not include any selections from Revelation, but that is for another blog. I want to help you understand why the lectionary is so confusing today.

Option 1: Today is Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week after Pentecost. Starting on the Sunday of Pascha the appointed Epistle reading begins with Acts and continues ‘section by section’ for the entire year. Today that section is 2^nd Corinthians 12.20-13.2. The Gospel for today is Luke 5.12-16.

Option 2: Today is the Feast of Saint Thekla, Equal to the Apostles. The Epistle reading appointed for this feast is 2^nd Timothy 3.10-15. The Gospel reading for this feast is Matthew 25.1-13 (the Parable of the Ten Virgins).

Option 3: Today is the Commemoration of a miracle of the Theotokos. The Epistle reading is Philippians 2.5-11 and there are two Gospel readings for Orthros and Liturgy. Luke 1.39-49, 56. and Luke 10.38-42, 11.27-28.

Choosing which option to read depends upon your local customs and traditions, but all are appropriate for today. Option 1 is often replaced in favor of the Feast which might be celebrated in your parish. Our host parish celebrated the Feast of Saint Thekla, so we chose option 2.

Whether you choose one or more of the options isn’t the most important choice. The choice to read the Scriptures is what matters. At least now you won’t be confused when you see one reading in one source and another reading in another source.