As a Roman Catholic, prayer was always very important to me. But somehow I just never engaged in any sort of regular study of the Bible. One exception was that I used to study the daily Scripture readings printed in the lectionary for the daily Catholic Mass.  The New Testament Bible readings were important to me in Mass but many times I could not make sense of them. This was especially the case for readings from the Old Testament.   

Want to Get More Out of Reading the USCCB Catholic Lectionary?

Are you a Catholic and go to mass every Sunday and holy day? Maybe it’s what you have always done. Very likely it’s what your parents did too. And your grandparents. Perhaps you got married there, had your babies baptized there. Maybe you were even an altar boy like I was? And maybe you are struggling to live up to the high standards for how you feel you need to behave in order to make it to heaven?  Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). He set a pretty high standard. Jesus was perfect, but are we able to obey his command and achieve perfection ourselves? If we can’t be perfect, then how good do we have to be to make it to heaven? What if we missed mass a few times this year because we just didn’t feel like going that Sunday, are we condemned?

Are you seeking to understand the Catholic Mass readings each week, in spite of the fact that you can read them on the USCCB Catholic Sunday Mass readings list or in the Roman Catholic Lectionary? Do you like to study the daily Scripture readings from your Catholic Bible? Do you long to get more out of the Sunday Mass readings each week? Would you like to see a listing of the Catholic Mass readings with some analysis including the context and key points? 

That’s why we have endeavored to produce study notes for Mass each week.  Our desire is that you would read and study these notes before you go to Mass on Sunday.  These notes aren’t for everyone. They are geared towards those Christians who want to go deeper in their Bible study and truly get something out of going to church each Sunday.   Perhaps the study of God’s Word in the Bible will lead you to the occasional “aha” moment when you are reading the Catholic Lectionary later in Mass that week. Regardless what happens we pray that you will deepen your relationship with God through the study of the Bible.