Traditional Anglican Pastor on older lectionary
I received by email this interesting link to an article by the Rev Edward L Rix, the pastor at All Saints' Church in Wynnewood, a traditional Anglican parish serving the heart of Philadelphia's Main Line: An Introduction To The Western Lectionary
This passage echoes something I have tried to explain many times in sermons:
This passage echoes something I have tried to explain many times in sermons:
In an age where a typical Bible study class consists of folks sharing what a particular passage of Holy Scripture 'means to me,' we do well to recall St. Peter's admonition that "no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation." Indeed, because of the preponderance of private interpretation, many of our churches have abandoned their appointed role of guarding the deposit of our faith, teaching the whole counsel of God and 'transmitting the same unimpaired to their posterity.'I don't agree with his subsequent remarks on the "primacy" of holy scripture over tradition (nor indeed does Vatican II which said that scripture and tradition are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence) but I was particularly struck by his approach to the reading of the bible, starting with the lectionary of the traditional Mass:
Perhaps the best place to start a study of Scripture then, is with those lections or readings appointed by the Church for Sunday Services. And because it is the product of over 15 centuries (roughly from the time of Gregory the Great) of wisdom and meditation, I would commend the traditional lectionary of Western Churches of Christendom; that set of readings used with small variations by all Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans until recent decades. I do so because even though only a small number still use this lectionary, it is being rediscovered by a new generation of younger Christians in concert with their rediscovery of traditional patterns of prayer and worship. Indeed, Pope Benedict's Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum of 2007 clearly commends the use of this traditional lectionary where the Tridentine Mass is celebrated.