Keeping the Sabbath Holy, the 4 Gospels, 1st and 2nd Readings

In this episode, Father Mark Stoll answers questions about how to keep holy the Sabbath Day, when each of the four Gospels are used at Mass and how are the First and Second Readings for are slected.

The program is sponsored by St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, NE.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I have questions. I don't understand. I'm confused. What's going on? That's number one I've learned in school. What does the church really teach? Welcome to Father Numbers Bells from the studios of 88.1 FM, KFA C Pankasu City, and K O I A Storm Lake. Brought to you by the St. Augustine Indian Mission, Winobago. We all have questions and curiosity about matters of faith, as it is normal for humanity to ask questions and seek answers in the timeless quest for understanding regarding matters of faith in the church. We believe that there is no such thing as a foolish or dumb question. Only opportunities to learn and to connect. And I say the only dumb question is the one that is not asked. And the reality is that the questions you have are like questions others have, and so it is good to ask. Sometimes an answer leads to more questions. Sometimes the questions and answers will lead us to insights we never considered. We at Sudan Catholic Radio want to invite our listeners from Jackson, Nebraska to Emma Point, South Dakota, to Stromlick, Iowa, and everywhere in between and beyond, send your questions to us at Father KnowsBest Show at Yahoo.com. Or mail them to Father Knows Best, Sioux Lan Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa 51103. During this time, once a week, I or another guest will do our best to answer some of the questions I've received here at the studio so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts and souls and minds, so we may be illuminated, informed, and inspired. So I thank you for tuning in. We invite you to open your mind, let the questions begin, and let your curiosity find its voice. I'm Father Mark Stoll, Priest of the Diocese City, with you again this evening for another wonderful show, I hope. And joining again to me uh with me is Tim Sudin, the executive director of Sue Line Catholic Radio, here to present some of the questions I've received from your listeners. Tim, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:50

It is another Wednesday night, and I'm very excited to be here. Father, I gotta give you a compliment. With all the information that we're learning about the faith, about the catechism, I find this to be very educational each week that we do this.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Excellent. I'm glad I can do this. Uh again, it was a great idea from one of our listeners a while back, and I'm glad we could be here and dive in some more questions. So let's uh see um you know what's some of the interesting questions we have this evening.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

We have Sharon from Sioux City, and she sent this question in. My question regards the commandment, keep holy the Sabbath day. When I was growing up in the 50s, I learned we needed to go to Mass, refrain from unnecessary work, and avoid shopping. A Catholic nun in one of my classes at Briar Cliff in the 90s taught us it is a day to give the Lord extra prayers, visit or help the needy. Is all this still necessary today? Are there other activities to avoid or add to those that I have mentioned?

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Sharon, thank you for this question again. This came by mail. So again, thank you for your letter. Again, a first letter by mail, question first question by mail. We have many questions by email, but awesome. They sent that in to us. Greatly appreciate that. Um, Sharon, what you heard as a child is exactly even what I learned as a child. You know, that on Sundays we need to go to mass, we need to refrain from unnecessary work, we need to avoid shopping. And again, this is of course basically true too on holy days. And you know, I grew up on a farm, and the only work we did on the farm on Sundays and holy days essentially was to feed the cattle, the hogs, and the chickens. And we did no field work, no other work. And of course, this is all based on the third commandment. It says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work on the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. In it you shall do not do any work. The Catechism Catholic Church has a wonderful section on this third commandment and offers some wonderful uh points about how we keep holy the Sabbath. And so let's begin with uh the Catechism of Catholic Church, paragraph 2171. There it says that God entrusted to us the Sabbath, entrusted actually first to Israel, as a sign of the irrevocable covenant that God made with his people of Israel there at the time of Moses. And again, it says the Sabbath is for the Lord. Again, it's to be holy and to be set us apart. What why? For the praise of God. The Sabbath is all about praising God, praising his work of creation, praising him for his saving actions on behalf of Israel. So then for the Jewish people, of course, the Sabbath is what we call Saturday. Now we as Christians, we have moved our Sabbath to Sunday. Why? Because in the in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2174, it says, Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Because of the first day of the week, the day of Christ's resurrection, it recalls the first creation. Again, that first day of the week is Sunday for us. And it becomes what we call the eighth day. Again, it follows the Sabbath. And it symbolizes again the new creation that Jesus brought to us through his resurrection. So for us as Christians, um, we have made the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day to be Sunday. And so we then gather on that day. Uh for again, it's it's this day when we even say we go back, this is when God first separated matter from darkness, made the world, and on the same day, of course, Jesus rose from the dead. So that's why Sunday is so important for us. That is our Sabbath as Christians. Catechism of the Catholic Church, then paragraphs 2176 goes on to say the celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment. Again, the moral commandment is that third commandment of God. Again, it's inscribed by nature into our human heart. And why? It's to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship as a sign of God's universal beneficence for all. How God has blessed us all. And so Sunday worship then fulfills this third commandment. And again, it's all about taking two, when we go to Mass on Sunday, worshiping God, we're basically picking up a beautiful rhythm of life and beautiful speech of spirit that we can then carry on to the rest of the week. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2180, goes on and says, This is a precept of the church, going to church on Sundays and holy days. It's an obligation for us, and we're bound to participate in mass on Sundays and holy days. Again, it's got going to Mass, going to church, celebrating the Catholic Rite either holy day or even on the evening, you know, preceding the day. This is also, of course, confound in the in the Code of Canada law and canons 1247-201248. Now, Sunday, again, as Catechism Catholic Church, paragraph 2185 goes on and says, On Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, it's supposed to be a day of grace and rest and work. We are to refrain from engaging in work activities that hinder the worship that we owe to God. And so again, this is all about uh experiencing this joy that's proper to the Lord's days, Sundays and holy days. It's about performing even works of mercy, and again, even about you know appropriate relaxation of mind and body. But again, we're still supposed to refrain from anything that then interferes with our worship of God. And this goes on in in paragraph twenty-one eighty six of the Catacombs of Catholic Church. It talks about those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and same rights, yet cannot rest work because of poverty or misery. And so that paragraph says Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirmed, and the elderly. And thus Christians are also to sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and to relatives, and that was just many times difficult to do with the rest of the days of the week. But Sunday is also time for reflection, for silence, for cultivating the mind, and for meditating in order to further the growth of our Christian interior life. And then we go to the next paragraph, 12, 21, 87 of the Catholicism Catholic Church. Again, talks about that we as Christians must avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's day. And so again, we do know there's some traditional kind of activities such as sports, uh social necessities such as public services like police, fire, doctors, nurses, that do require people to work on Sundays. But again, we should be taking care, not we should be taking care to set aside significant time for some leisure, just to kind of relax. And again, we're trying to avoid excesses. And the Catholicism of Catholic Church even talks about avoiding excesses and violence that sometimes associate with popular leisure activities. So again, not overdoing these leisure activities. And even says employers should have a similar obligation towards their employees, again, not to impose excess, you know, work on them on Sundays and holy days. On in Catechism Catholic Church 2188, it goes on and says, in respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church's holy days as legal holidays. And this is what they're saying is that we need to give public example of prayer, respect, and joy, defend our traditions as being precious, and again, even encouraging our governments to respect Sundays as holy days, and and you know, say, you know, let's refrain from excess work and things like that. So again, it's something that we can aim for. I know it's difficult in many places because there's a lot of places, places that are open on Sundays, but we don't know, you know, various offices close down on Sundays, so there is that respect. So it's wonderful. So in summary, on Sundays and other holy days of obligation of the faithful, we are bound again to abstain from those labors and businesses and concerns that impede us from worshiping God that you know we need to render. Again, it's the holy day and Sunday is all about uh experience that joy of the Lord's day and again having some relaxation of mind and body. Again, the institution of Sunday, again, is to help us again to uh have sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate family, cultural, social, and religious lives. And we know that every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands of others that hinder that of observing the Lord's day. And I want to note that if you listen carefully to most of those paragraphs of the Catholic Church, it says Christians are to do this or that. Again, third commandment of the third commandment that Moses gave us, God gave us through Moses, is not only for Catholics, but for all Christians, no matter who you are, if you're a believer. And so, go back to your question, Sharon. When you're growing up, your parents were correct about the need to go to Mass, refrain from unnecessary work, avoid shopping. And even the nun at Brear Cliff was correct. The Sunday should be a day we give to the Lord, extra prayers and visiting and helping the needy. Again, all this is still necessary today. Again, it's to the best of our abilities, you know, in the state of life that we have, you know, to avoid anything that harms anything that we do to worship God, to practice our religion, to promote family life, and promote our own. And so, Sharon, I hope that answers your question.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

I think that's a wonderful way to look at it. I in summary, from a secular point of view, eliminate all the distractions of the world. Exactly. That's a really secular point of view. Eliminate distractions. Yep. So I believe we have another question. We do. This is from Lisa in Sioux City, and she asks, which gospels do we use at Mass? When do we use Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Well, Lisa, again, thank you for that question. It's a wonderful question. And after Vatican II in 1969, the Catholic Church introduced a three-year cycle for the Sunday lectionary and a two-year cycle for weekday readings from the lectionary. And it's always part of this revised Roman Missal that was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on April 3rd in 1969 in his Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanan. And the institution of this three-year cycle on Sundays and two-year cycle on weekdays then took effect on November 30th, 1969, on the first Sunday of Advent. The lectionary this one to point out is a book. Right now it's a four-volume set that includes all the readings that we use on Sundays, holy days, weekdays, solemnities, feasts, memorials, and other celebrations, including weddings and funerals. And again, you'll see this book being used by the reader at Mass when they are up there proclaiming like the first reading, the second reading. And so each cycle of readings begins on the first Sunday of Advent each year. And so for Sundays, the Gospel of Matthew is used throughout most of the year in cycle year A, we call it Cycle A. And right now, currently, we are in this year A, and we've been in year A since the first Sunday of Advent 2025. So when we go to Mass, especially on ordinary time, you're going to hear the Gospel of Matthew proclaimed. I'll talk about the seasons in a little bit. The Gospel of Mark is used throughout most of the year in Cycle B. Again, there are parts of the Gospel of John used in the middle of ordinary time in the summer because the Gospel of Mark is a shorter gospel and there's not enough passages to fulfill all the Sundays of ordinary time. The Gospel of Luke is used throughout most of the year in then cycle C. On weekdays, then we find the Gospel of Mark is used for the first third of the year, roughly, and then the Gospel of Mark is used, or excuse me, the Gospel of Matthew is used for the second third of the year, and the Gospel of Luke is used for the last third of the year. Now, when it comes to seasons, there's variations then of when the Gospels are used, the four Gospels. You know, the season, of course, of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. Again, those Gospels are going to be chosen kind of according to the week, you know, where we're at in the season. You know, for example, Advent, when we're preparing for the coming of Christ, we'll be hearing the stories of the Annunciation and the travel to Nazareth and things like that. In Easter, we're going to find frequent use of the Gospel of John because there's a lot of materials in John, you know, that relates to Jesus' theology on resurrection and and you know the coming of the Holy Spirit and things like that. So again, the seasons, there's some there's some alterations, some changes, some variations there. And the same thing is true for Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials. Again, the Gospels will be picked to relate to whatever Solemnity Feast and Memorial we're using. If you listen carefully then to these cycles, these three cycles and the two cycles on weekdays, we're going to hear basically all the verses of all four gospels used in the lectionary. To hear again all the verses, again, one will need to go to the Mass every Sunday, holy day, celebrity, memorial, feast day, weekday, and other celebrations. And so, in short, one can hear and will hear most of the four gospels over the course of three years, especially on Sundays. So I hope this answers your question regarding each of these four gospels as they're used on Sundays, holy days, and weekdays. Interesting. Very interesting. So if you're just tuning in, you're listening to Father Knows Best here on Sioux Line Catholic Radio. So answer your questions about faith in the Catholic Church. I'm Father Mark Stoll, joined by Tim Soudine, who is presenting questions I received from you, our listeners. And so I think we have time for our third question tonight.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Lisa, who asked the gospel question, has a follow-up question in the same vein. It is how are the first and second readings arrived at?

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Excellent. Thank you for this question. Again, it's a wonderful question related to how the gospels are chosen to. As with the selection of the gospels, the first and second readings at Mass are arranged like the Gospels. Again, a three-year cycle on Sundays, A, B, and C, two-year cycle on weekdays. And again, this all started again after Vatican II in 1969. And again, they're also arranged again according to the season of the year. And let me just give an example. In Advent, we're going to hear the first reading is going to be taken from some of the prophets of the Old Testament that calls for the preparation for the coming of the Messiah. And in Lent, we're going to hear some from some of the prophets of the Old Testament calling for repentance and returning to God. So again, there's kind of those themes there: preparation and Advent, repentance and Lent. In general, the first reading is taken from one of the books of the Old Testament throughout most of the year. Again, various passages from various books of the Old Testament. And again, they are selected, have been selected to reflect what's happening in the gospel, the same Mass. So, for example, on the first Sunday of Lent in Cycle A, the very first reading comes from the book of Genesis. It shares the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden after their fall. And then the gospel that same Sunday is going to come from Matthew sharing the story of Jesus spending 40 days in the desert, and at the end of this time he's tempted by the devil. So again, the first reading in the gospel is about that temptation. During the Easter season, the first reading comes from Acts of the Apostles. And this, of course, the Acts of the Apostles tells us the story of how the early church grew after Jesus' resurrection and ascension. And so, for example, on Divine Mercy Sunday, Cycle A, the first reading comes from the Acts of the Apostles, and it tells the story of how the early church, the early disciples, gathered together and were in unified in belief. That same Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, Cycle A, the Gospel is from the Gospel of John and tells about how the apostles were gathered together eight days after the resurrection, and Jesus appears to them. So again, both the first reading, Acts of the Apostles of the Gospel, and talk about the apostles, the disciples gathered together in prayer. And this is kind of the same pattern that's generally followed on weekdays. You know, the first reading and the gospel are somehow related. The second reading is usually taken from one of the letters of St. Paul, the other apostles, or the book of Revelation. During ordinary time, again, we typically begin using one of the letters of St. Paul and one of the other epistles of one of the other apostles, and we start reading it from start to finish, chapter 1 to the final chapter of that letter. And it's very rare that there would be a direct correlation between that second reading and the gospel and the first reading. During the season of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, again, second reading will typically more thematically relate it to the gospel and the first reading and the theme of the season. For solemnities and feasts, again, second reading, you know, if there is, um, solemnities are always a second reading. Feast days it may vary a little bit. Second reading then is typically again related to the theme of that solemnity or feast, and then to the gospel of the first reading. Of course, for weekdays there is no second reading, so we don't even need to address that. But in summary, the first reading has been chosen to fit the theme of the gospel. Second reading is typically a continuous reading from one of the epistles over the course of several more Sundays, and then with the first and second reading chosen in the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Easter to correspond to the theme of the Gospel and to the season. And again, over the course of the three-year cycle of Sunday and the two-year weekday cycle readings, we're going to hear a large portion of the Old Testament, but we're not going to hear the entire Old Testament because it's such a large contact, a lot, large content there, so we won't hear the entire Old Testament. Again, we're going to hear the entire Acts of the Apostles during the Easter season, and then we're going to hear most of, if not all, of the epistles in the book of Revelation, again, due to the large amount found there. But so again, we cover a lot of territory. So if someone says we're not scriptural, we cover a lot of scripture throughout these three years of uh three-year cycle.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Well, especially the Old Testament.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

There is so much in the Old Testament that it would, I think it would be almost impossible to cover everything. Exactly. So again, I hope this answers your question. I believe we have time for a fourth question. We do.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

A bonus this week. Oh, wow. Loyal listener from Sioux City asked this question. Explain the difference between worship and veneration.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

How are they different in the church? Thank you for that question. And yes, worship and veneration are different. Let's start with worship. What is worship all about? The Catholicism Catholic Church in paragraph 2096 defines worship as adoration and honor given to God, which is called the very first virtue of religion. So again, adoration, again, it's all about adoring God, acknowledging who God is. It's all about acknowledging God as creator and savior, Lord and Master of everything that exists. Again, all about acknowledging God's infinite and merciful love. And this all goes back to Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 13, where, again, the commandment, very first one, says, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone only you shall serve. So, and when we talk about worship, it's all about this public worship that is given to God in the church by the celebration of the Paschal mystery of Christ in the liturgy. And what do we mean by liturgy and public worship? It's what we do when we celebrate the sacraments. We publicly worship when we celebrate baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, matrimony, holy orders, reconciliation, anointing of the sick. And all these sacraments, especially the Eucharist, is probably the most common thing, that we are given honor to God in a very public way. And Even to point out, even in the private celebration of sacred exhalation, it's an act of worship. We're praising God for His mercy and forgiveness. Now, one of the key signs I would say that we know when we're engaged in public worship is when we're in the presence of a priest who's leading the worship, read leading the sacrament. And it's that priest who's offering the sacrifice and the prayers that are related to each of these sacraments. And again, this goes back to Jewish time when we may recall that there were priests in the Jewish religion from the time of Moses until the mid-first century who then offered sacrifices and prayers at either the meeting tent, at the time of Moses until time of Solomon, and then in the temple. And again, there's a priest that led these times of worship. Related to this, of course, is adoration. Adoration, again, is acknowledging that God is God, creator, savior, Lord, and Master of everything exists. It's through worship and prayer, the church and individual persons, we give God the adoration, again, which is also called the first act of a virtue of religion. Again, this goes back to the first commandment that says, You shall worship the Lord God and only Him you shall serve. So adoration is when we basically as individuals, a group of individuals, gather to pray outside of the public worship of sacraments. It may be, again, we're adoring God when we're praying in our in a room and by ourselves, wherever we might be, or maybe even pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, whether Blessed Sacraments in the tabernacle or maybe exposed in the altar. But so adoration is just basically adoring God, saying, You know, I love you and uh you're awesome because you are God. Now, let's talk about veneration. Veneration is different than worship and adoration. Worship and adoration is how we honor God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and worship and adoration is only for God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Veneration is what we do to show devotion and respect to the saints, to Mary, the apostles, the martyrs, all the saints who we viewed as faithful witnesses in faith in Jesus Christ, who then led also a life of prayer, had you know self-denial and giving witness to Christ, who had virtues that we recognize as wonderful, and we proclaim them, you know, as canonized the saints, for example. So veneration is a way we extend to this uh recognition, devotion, respect to even relics, remains of those recognized saints, those sacred objects and and images. And veneration, again, is distinguished from worship and adoration because, again, worship and adoration is only due to God. Veneration is then directed to the saints. And we use prayers of intercession, we use sacramentals such as medals and statues. And again, this veneration is kind of what we do kind of in everyday life. You know, again, how do we honor, respect our family members, our beloved family members, especially those who've died? We have photos, gravestones, we have stories and other mementals that we share about them. And so we venerate, we respect, we show devotion to those relatives of ours, especially our ancestors. But we don't worship, we don't adore them. Now, again, never again, we never do this point of worship and adoration. As I said, again, that worship and adoration of other people are things that's strictly forbidden by the first commandment. So, in summary, worship is the adoration and honor given to God. Adoration is the acknowledgement that God is creator, savior, curator, lord, and master of everything exists. And that adoration can be done outside of times of worship, but veneration again is only what we do to show devotion and respect to the saints. So I hope this answers your question.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

I think that's a wonderful way of looking at it. Well, just to follow up, we see a lot of churches have an adoration period. I think it's a wonderful time frame. Yes, it is. So is that a time to glorify God? Yes or is it a time to have a personal conversation about your life with him? Yes. Kind of a combination, a combination thereof.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

I mean, it's a wonderful time to just you know spend time with Jesus, saying, I love you, or say, This is what's going on in my life. So again, it's all that's all about adoration, you know, because it's directed to Jesus who is God.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I think it's a wonderful time to have a personal conversation about things that are bothering you or wants or need. But he knows what we want before we ask it. Right. But maybe we need to understand what we want. And he can tell us through that adoration.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

And we could verbalize that, you know, even just mentally. Right. So most people are very quiet during adoration, it's a wonderful thing, but just you know, mentally say to Jesus, as you would say to a friend, this is what's going on in my life, this is what I would like, need, you know, what I desire. And I hope that about a hard bottom of the line of that prayer would be, I I desire to be closer to you because you're God. I think that's a wonderful piece of a faith-filled life. Very much so. Very good. I think we're about out of time. So again, we really appreciate you tuning in to Southern Catholic Radio as we offer both those national and local programs, including Faith and Action, Joanne Fox, Life Plan, Catholic Ministry Professionals, draw near with Fred and Cara, and Divine Mercy Chaplet, and of course Sunday morning mass. So please, I invite you to check out the faith Facebook pages of Sioux Land Catholic Radio and Father Knows Best for more information about this show, including more information about questions and answers that I've addressed, and even more information about things that I've not addressed on the show. As we wrap up today's question and answer session, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in and sharing your thought-provoking questions. Your curiosity, engagement make the show possible, and we are always inspired by the incredible range of topics you bring to the table. We hope you have found the answers both informative and enlightening, and that you'll carry some of the new insights with you as you go about your week. And if your question was not answered today, you may hear your the answer to your question next week. If you missed this episode or like to re-listen to this or other episodes, please visit our website, SudanCatholic Radio.com, and visit the programs drop menu. Click on local programs and find this episode and other episodes of Father Knows Best and other local programs. Again, if you have any questions, please send your questions to us at Father Knows Best Show at Yahoo.com or like share and mail them to Father Knows Best, Sue Like Catholic Radio 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux State, Iowa, 51103. And thank you to our sponsor, San Augustine Indian Mission, Winnebago. And please join us again next Wednesday at 9 p.m. for another round of questions and answers. Until then, stay curious, stay faithful, keep your light shining, keep those questions coming. For now, I'm Father Mark Stowe, your host, signing off. Wishing you a great week ahead. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.