Lent is intended to be a joyful walk toward Easter, a progression of the Church toward the summit of the liturgical year. The focus is on uncovering and rejecting everything that tarnishes or warps Christ’s image within us.
During both Lent and Easter we tell our stories… Imagine us all gathered around the Easter Vigil fire, comforted by its warmth and brightness, telling our stories. During Lent we tell stories of all the things leading up to Christ as well as stories of all the things leading up to Christ’s death. At the Easter Vigil, we recount the foundation of the Christian faith in the Jewish faith and stories of God’s salvific activity in the world. During the weeks of the Easter season we’ll tell the stories of the early church from the book of Acts.
Lent disrupts the lectionary in many ways. In Ordinary Time, we have a gospel reading with an Old Testament reading specifically chosen to complement it. And then we have a New Testament reading that marches through a particular book.
During Lent this arrangement is very different: all the readings stand alone. They all relate to the season of Lent and so they all relate to each other. But they all individually shed their own particular light on the season. That said, many times we’ll see that the New Testament reading is a hinge that ties together the Old Testament and Gospel selections.
The first Sunday of Lent Gospel reading is always the temptation story; the second Sunday always the Transfiguration. These stories have been used at least since Pope St. Leo in 440.
The 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays each year have a different emphasis. Year A has a special emphasis on Christian initiation. The stories all come from John’s Gospel and include:
- the Samaritan woman (water and spirit)
- the man born blind (darkness and light)
- the raising of Lazarus (death and life)
These stories are always used for the RCIA Scrutiny Rites which lead up to baptism. The early church used these stories from John as the basis of catechesis for new converts and that ancient tradition is still with us today. The gospel texts for these Sundays are individual stories that can stand alone. But an important lens for interpretation is the broader context. The story of the woman at the well deals with an individual’s relationship with and understanding of Christ. The story of the blind man explores the blindness of a community. Lazarus’ raising from the dead looks at the universality of death and Jesus’ saving resurrection.
The Scrutinies encourage the Elect and all of us really to examine what hinders us in these three contexts: our individual relationship with God, our relationships within the community and communal direction, and our plight with regards to death.
Year B has an emphasis on God’s covenants and shows us how God has saved God’s people again and again. The Old Testament stories highlight significant events in the salvation of the nation of Israel:
- Noah’s ark and the covenant God makes
- God puts Abram to the test and the covenant made after that event
- 10 commandments – so the people’s side of the covenant
- Destruction by Persia/Babylon – this is what happens when the people aren’t upholding their end of the covenant
- prophet Jeremiah looks forward to a new covenant
The Gospel readings for Year B give us the stories of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple, Nicodemus, and Jesus predicting his passion and death.
During this season each scripture reading stands alone and is interpreted through the lens of Lent. We will surely find themes and connections in their relation to the season, but they are not necessarily connected to each other.