Lectionary Statistics - How much of the Bible is included in the Lectionary for Mass? (Popquiz!)

catholic-resources.org ^ | Updated on January 2, 2009 | Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

[GonzoII]

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC LECTIONARY WEBSITE
by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

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Lectionary Statistics

How much of the Bible is included in the Lectionary for Mass?
Not as much as you might think, yet far more than was included in the Roman Missal before the Second Vatican Council!

The bishops assembled at Vatican II declared, "The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly so that a richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God's word. In this way the more significant part of the Sacred Scriptures will be read to the people over a fixed number of years" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, #51). As the following tables show, the current Lectionary for Mass does indeed offer a "richer fare" of biblical readings during the Eucharistic liturgy than was available before Vatican II. However, since many parts of the Bible (esp. the Old Testament) are still not included in the Lectionary, one must go beyond the readings used at Mass to cover the entire Bible.

The following tables compare the current edition of the Lectionary for Mass (1981 Latin, 1998/2002 USA editions)
with the pre-Vatican II Missale Romanum (substantially unchanged between 1570 and 1969, with a few modifications in 1951)
and the complete New American Bible (see the bottom of this page for a key to the column headings).

Readings from the Old Testament:

Before Vatican II, each Catholic Mass included only two biblical readings, which were normally referred to as "The Epistle" (since the first reading was almost always taken from one of the New Testament letters) and "The Gospel." Readings from the Old Testament were never used on Sundays, but only at the Easter Vigil, the Vigil of Pentecost, the feast of Epiphany and its octave, during Holy Week, and on some weekdays (esp. Ember days, weekdays of Lent, the feasts of some saints, and some votive Masses).

Since Vatican II, Masses on Sundays and major feast days include three biblical readings, the first of which is usually taken from the Old Testament (except during the Easter Season, when the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles). The OT reading is normally very brief and thematically related to the Gospel reading of the day, so there is no detectable order or semi-continuous pattern from one Sunday to the next. Weekday Masses usually have only two readings, the first of which is taken from either the OT or the NT, according to a two-year weekday cycle.

OT	Name of Book	NAB		Pre-Vatican II Missal: Vigils & Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Major Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Weekdays
		# Chap.	# Vv. Total	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used
1	Genesis	50	1533	100**	6.5 %	138	9.0 %	428	27.9 %
2	Exodus	40	1213	28	2.3 %	112	9.2 %	208	17.1 %
3	Leviticus	27	859	0	0 %	9	1.0 %	42	4.9 %
4	Numbers	36	1289	0	0 %	11	0.9 %	81	6.3 %
5	Deuteronomy	34	959	9	0.9 %	52	5.4 %	106	11.1 %
6	Joshua	24	658	0	0 %	9	1.4 %	42	6.4 %
7	Judges	21	618	0	0 %	0	0 %	51	8.3 %
8	Ruth	4	85	0	0 %	0	0 %	21	24.7 %
9	1 Samuel	31	810	0	0 %	31	3.8 %	148	18.3 %
10	2 Samuel	24	695	0	0 %	19	2.7 %	110	15.8 %
11	1 Kings	22	817	0	0 %	37	4.5 %	166	20.3 %
12	2 Kings	25	719	0	0 %	14	1.9 %	100	13.9 %
13	1 Chronicles	29	943	0	0 %	0	0 %	0	0 %
14	2 Chronicles	36	821	0	0 %	8	1.0 %	17	2.1 %
15	Ezra	10	280	0	0 %	0	0 %	21	7.5 %
16	Nehemiah	13	405	0	0 %	8	2.0 %	19	4.7 %
17	Tobit	14	245	0	0 %	0	0 %	71	29.0 %
18	Judith	16	340	0	0 %	0	0 %	0	0 %
19	Esther	16	272	0	0 %	0	0 %	7	2.6 %
20	1 Maccabees	16	922	0	0 %	0	0 %	54	5.9 %
21	2 Maccabees	15	556	0	0 %	8	1.4 %	35	6.3 %
22*	Job	42	1068	0	0 %	11	1.0 %	87	8.1 %
24*	Proverbs	31	915	0	0 %	24	2.6 %	47	5.1 %
25	Ecclesiastes	12	222	0	0 %	4	1.8 %	34	15.3 %
26	Song of Solomon	8	117	0	0 %	0	0 %	7	6.0 %
27	Wisdom of Solomon	19	436	0	0 %	42	9.6 %	102	23.4 %
28	Sirach/Ecclesiasticus	51	1372	0	0 %	48	3.5 %	208	15.2 %
29	Isaiah	66	1291	24**	1.9 %	166	12.9 %	322	24.9 %
30	Jeremiah	52	1364	0	0 %	38	2.8 %	162	11.9 %
31	Lamentations	5	154	0	0 %	0	0 %	8	5.2 %
32	Baruch	6	213	30**	14.1 %	27	12.7 %	44	20.7 %
33	Ezekiel	48	1273	14**	1.1 %	48	3.8 %	180	14.1 %
34	Daniel	14	530	24**	4.5 %	5	0.9 %	178	33.6 %
35	Hosea	14	197	16	8.1 %	11	5.6 %	38	19.3 %
36	Joel	4	73	0	0 %	5	6.8 %	27	37.0 %
37	Amos	9	146	0	0 %	13	8.9 %	51	34.9 %
38	Obadiah	1	21	0	0 %	0	0 %	0	0 %
39	Jonah	4	48	10**	20.8 %	6	12.5 %	39	81.3 %
40	Micah	7	105	0	0 %	4	3.8 %	24	22.9 %
41	Nahum	3	47	0	0 %	0	0 %	8	17.0 %
42	Habakkuk	3	56	0	0 %	5	8.9 %	12	21.4 %
43	Zephaniah	3	53	0	0 %	8	15.1 %	13	24.5 %
44	Haggai	2	38	0	0 %	0	0 %	18	47.4 %
45	Zechariah	14	211	0	0 %	5	2.4 %	24	11.4 %
46	Malachi	3	55	0	0 %	6	10.9 %	18	32.7 %

* Note 1: The above table does not include the Psalms, since they are used so often in various ways during the Mass.
** Note 2: The 1951 revision of the Roman Missal reduced the number of OT readings at the Easter Vigil from twelve to four,
and omitted all six OT readings from the Pentecost Vigil, thereby further reducing the total amount of the OT read before Vatican II;
remaining were only 33 verses of Genesis, 28 of Exodus, 9 of Deuteronomy, 12 of Isaiah and 16 of Hosea. For details, see the Roman Missal page.

OT Summary:

OT Section	NAB		Pre-Vatican II Missal: Vigils & Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Major Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Weekdays
	# Chap.	# Vv. Total	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used
Torah/Law	187	5853	137	2.3 %	322	5.5 %	865	14.8 %
Historical Books	316	9186	0	0 %	134	1.5 %	862	9.4 %
Wisdom Books (w/o Psalms)	163	4130	0	0 %	129	3.1 %	485	11.7 %
Four Major Prophets	191	4825	92	1.9 %	284	5.9 %	894	18.5 %
Twelve Minor Prophets	67	1050	26	2.5 %	63	6.0 %	272	25.9 %
OT Total (w/o Psalms)	924	25044	255	1.0 %	932	3.7 %	3378	13.5 %

Note 3: The 1951 revision of the pre-Vatican II Roman Missal (see note 2 above) reduced the total to only
98 verses or 0.39% of the Old Testament (aside from the Psalms) read at Vigils and major feast days.

Readings from the New Testament:

Before Vatican II, the same readings were used each year for the various Masses in the Roman Missal. The first reading was usually from one of Paul's Letters or the Catholic Epistles. The Gospel readings were most often taken from Matthew or John, less frequently from Luke, and only rarely from Mark.

Since Vatican II, much more of the New Testament is included in the Lectionary for Mass. The Acts of the Apostles is used as the first reading on the Sundays and weekdays during the Easter season. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are read semi-continuously on the Sundays of Ordinary Time on a three-year cycle, while passages from the Gospel of John are used mostly during the seasons of Lent and Easter and on several major feast days. Excerpts from all other NT books and letters are used as the second reading at Masses on Sundays and major feasts according to a three-year cycle, and/or weekday Masses on a two-year cycle. (Click on any of the previous underlined links for more details.)

NT	Name of Book	NAB		Pre-Vatican II Missal: Sundays & Major Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Major Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Weekdays
		# Chap.	# Vv. Total	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used
1	Matthew	28	1071	373	34.8 %	594	55.5 %	916	85.5 %
2	Mark	16	678	30	3.4 %	414	61.1 %	653	96.3 %
3	Luke	24	1151	188	16.3 %	650	56.5 %	1011	87.8 %
4	John	21	879	256	30.0 %	526	59.8 %	813	92.5 %
5	Acts	28	1007	35	3.5 %	165	16.4 %	492	48.9 %
6	Romans	16	433	69	15.9 %	117	27.0 %	228	52.7 %
7	1 Corinthians	16	437	75	17.2 %	162	37.1 %	244	55.8 %
8	2 Corinthians	13	256	40	15.6 %	48	18.8 %	123	48.0 %
9	Galatians	6	149	45	30.2 %	47	31.5 %	90	60.4 %
10	Ephesians	6	155	57	36.8 %	96	61.9 %	141	91.0 %
11	Philippians	4	104	25	24.0 %	47	45.2 %	73	70.2 %
12	Colossians	4	95	16	16.8 %	35	36.8 %	62	65.3 %
13	1 Thessalonians	5	89	16	18.0 %	39	43.8 %	69	77.5 %
14	2 Thessalonians	3	47	0	0.0 %	17	36.2 %	28	59.6 %
15	1 Timothy	6	113	0	0.0 %	20	17.7 %	51	45.1 %
16	2 Timothy	4	83	0	0.0 %	25	30.1 %	39	47.0 %
17	Titus	3	46	9	19.6 %	8	17.4 %	28	60.9 %
18	Philemon	1	25	0	0.0 %	8	32.0 %	19	76.0 %
19	Hebrews	13	303	17	5.6 %	84	27.7 %	188	62.0 %
20	James	5	108	11	10.2 %	31	28.7 %	99	91.7 %
21	1 Peter	5	105	33	31.4 %	36	34.3 %	57	54.3 %
22	2 Peter	3	61	0	0.0 %	7	11.5 %	15	24.6 %
23	1 John	5	105	13	12.4 %	33	31.4 %	95	100.0 %
24	2 John	1	13	0	0.0 %	0	0.0 %	6	46.2 %
25	3 John	1	15	0	0.0 %	0	0.0 %	4	26.7 %
26	Jude	1	25	0	0.0 %	0	0.0 %	6	24.0 %
27	Revelation	22	404	0	0.0 %	38	9.4 %	129	31.9 %

NT Summary:

NT Section	NAB		Pre-Vatican II Missal: Sundays & Major Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Major Feasts		Current Lectionary: Sundays & Weekdays
	# Chap.	# Vv. Total	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used	Vv. Used	% Used
Gospels (4)	89	3779	848	22.4 %	2184	57.8 %	3393	89.8 %
Acts	28	1007	35	3.5 %	165	16.4 %	492	48.9 %
Pauline Letters (7)	61	1493	270	18.1 %	468	31.3 %	846	56.7 %
Deutero-Paulines (6)	26	539	82	15.2 %	201	37.3 %	349	64.7 %
Hebrews	13	303	17	5.6 %	84	27.6 %	188	62.0 %
Catholic Epistles (7)	21	432	57	13.2 %	107	24.7 %	292	67.6 %
Book of Revelation	22	404	0	0 %	38	9.4 %	129	31.9 %
NT w/o Gospels	171	4178	461	11.0 %	1063	25.4 %	2296	54.9 %
NT Grand Total	260	7957	1309	16.5 %	3247	40.8 %	5689	71.5 %

Key to the Column Headings:

• NAB = New American Bible, used as the basis for chapter and verse numbers in the USA editions of the current Lectionary for Mass
  • # Chap. = total number of chapters in each biblical book (or section of the Bible), in the New American Bible translation
  • # Vv. Total = total number of verses in each biblical book (or section of the Bible), in the New American Bible translation
• Pre-Vatican II Missal = the Missale Romanum of Pope Pius V, nearly identical from 1570 to 1969, with a few changes introduced in 1951.
  • Vigils & Major Feasts = In the pre-Vatican II Missal, OT readings were only used at the Easter Vigil, Pentecost Vigil, Epiphany & its octave, and during Holy Week, but never on any Sundays.
• Current Lectionary = the Ordo Lectionum Missae (2nd Latin edition, 1981), equivalent to the Lectionary for Mass (2nd USA edition, 1998/2002)
  • Sundays & Major Feasts = readings contained in the first half of the Missale Romanum, or Vol. 1 of the current Lectionary for Mass, including all Sundays and Solemnities of the Lord, and a few other major Feasts (those which can replace an ordinary Sunday Mass).
  • Sundays & Weekdays = readings prescribed for all Sundays and weekdays during the various liturgical seasons (but not including the Propers or Commons of the Saints, Votive Masses, Ritual Masses, or Masses for Various Needs and Occasions).
• Vv. Used = number of verses from each biblical book or section used in the Roman Missal or the Lectionary for Mass, respectively.
• % Used = percentage of verses from each biblical book or section used in the Roman Missal or the Lectionary for Mass, respectively.

Main Lectionary Page	1998/2002 USA Edition	1992 Canadian Edition
Links to Other Websites	1970 USA Edition	Roman Missal (Pre-Vatican II)

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[GonzoII]

"As I said, our standard is the Scriptures. Yours? "

1Tm:3:15: "The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

[Marysecretary]

No, the church is filled with humans who are not infallible. God does protect the truth but that doesn’t mean we follow it.

[GonzoII]

"And your assurance of that is???"

Jesus Christ.

Mt:16:18: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

[Marysecretary]

God may protect His church from error, but how many churches truly follow His truth. It’s in the Bible but how many folks really follow the truth that’s already in front of them.

[Marysecretary]

I love people from the Phillipines. Two of my best nurses were Filipino. Good decent people. I envy you. They also have a great dad.

[Marysecretary]

My oldest is 50 this week. How did I get THAT old so quickly?

[GonzoII]

"No, the church is filled with humans who are not infallible."

I agree, thus the need of the gift of infallibility.

Or else your following statement couldn't hold true.

"God does protect the truth but that doesn’t mean we follow it."

[Dutchboy88]

"Mt:16:18: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.""

Is that the current interpretation headquarters has ordered you to believe? Obviously, you can't decide, so if you need to call Rome and get back to us...

[Dutchboy88]

"1Tm:3:15: "The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.""

Is that the building you are referring to? If not, which guys are now deciding truth for you?

[GonzoII]

"Is that the building you are referring to? "

Well since you can interpret Scripture on your own, you tell me....

[GonzoII]

"Obviously, you can't decide, so if you need to call Rome and get back to us..."

Could you give me the right number to your denomination?

Church	Year Established	Founder	Where Established
Catholic	33	Jesus Christ	Jerusalem
Orthodox	1054	Schismatic Catholic Bishops	Constantinople
Lutheran	1517	Martin Luther	Germany
Anabaptist	1521	Nicholas Storch & Thomas Munzer	Germany
Anglican	1534	Henry VIII	England
Mennonites	1536	Menno Simons	Switzerland
Calvinist	1555	John Calvin	Switzerland
Presbyterian	1560	John Knox	Scotland
Congregational	1582	Robert Brown	Holland
Baptist	1609	John Smyth	Amsterdam
Dutch Reformed	1628	Michaelis Jones	New York
Congregationalist	1648	Pilgrims and Puritans	Massachusetts
Quakers	1649	George Fox	England
Amish	1693	Jacob Amman	France
Freemasons	1717	Masons from four lodges	London
Methodist	1739	John & Charles Wesley	England
Unitarian	1774	Theophilus Lindey	London
Methodist Episcopal	1784	60 Preachers	Baltimore, MD
Episcopalian	1789	Samuel Seabury	American Colonies
United Brethren	1800	Philip Otterbein & Martin Boehn	Maryland
Disciples of Christ	1827	Thomas & Alexander Campbell	Kentucky
Mormon	1830	Joseph Smith	New York
Methodist Protestant	1830	Methodist	United States
Church of Christ	1836	Warren Stone & Alexander Campbell	Kentucky
Seventh Day Adventist	1844	Ellen White	Washington, NH
Christadelphian (Brethren of Christ	1844	John Thomas	Richmond, VA
Salvation Army	1865	William Booth	London
Holiness	1867	Methodist	United States
Jehovah's Witnesses	1874	Charles Taze Russell	Pennsylvania
Christian Science	1879	Mary Baker Eddy	Boston
Church of God in Christ	1895	Various churches of God	Arkansas
Church of Nazarene	c. 1850-1900	Various religious bodies	Pilot Point, TX
Pentecstal	1901	Charles F. Parkham	Topeka, KS
Aglipayan	1902	Gregorio Aglipay	Philippines
Assemblies of God	1914	Pentecostalism	Hot Springs, AZ
Iglesia ni Christo	1914	Felix Manalo	Philippines
Four-square Gospel	1917	Aimee Semple McPherson	Los Angeles, CA
United Church of Christ	1961	Reformed and Congregationalist	Philadelphia, PA
Calvary Chapel	1965	Chuck Smith	Costa Mesa, CA
United Methodist	1968	Methodist and United Brethren	Dallas, TX
Born-again	c. 1970s	Various religious bodies	United States
Harvest Christian	1972	Greg Laurie	Riverside, CA
Saddleback	1982	Rick Warren	California
Non-denominational	c. 1990s	various	United States

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Copyright 2001 - 2004 © by John Salza. All Rights Reserved.
johnsalza@scripturecatholic.com

[Dutchboy88]

"Well since you can interpret Scripture on your own, you tell me....

Is this the standard method of argument that Rome recommends? Avoid the confrontation? Obfuscate with silly comebacks ("What are u smokin'", etc.)

My interpretation of the passage you quote is that it has nothing to do with proving Rome has an infallible lock on the truth. If one were to apply the ordinary hermeneutics that are used outside of the Catholic prison, we would understand it to apply to those who by grace are being rescued from our sins. We learn this study technique as part of our freedom in Christ.

But, Catholics are not allowed a personal view, are they? According to the Catholic clan around here, that is "private interpretation" not allowed by II Pet. 1. Of course, we know that is not what Peter is referring to, but don't let that stop you.

[Dutchboy88]

"Could you give me the right number to your denomination?

Certainly...

Those rescued by Grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, applied to all of the elect from the foundation of the World.

Year established: Unknown but about the time of Adam

The founder? God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Looks like we win...

[Mr Rogers]

More the pity that the Catholic Church, under the Bishop of Rome, decided to break away from the Orthodox...

You see, the real problem isn’t with Catholic Doctrine circa 400AD, although some errors were creeping in. The real problem has come from A) an ever-increasing sense of self-importance by the Bishop of Rome, and B) a belief that doctrine develops or ‘unfolds’ over time, so that things not thought of in 50 AD are dogma now.

That evolving dogma first drove away the Orthodox, who refused further to evolve any further (and they had gone too far already), and later forced the Reformers to completely split away.

In 33 AD, Jesus talked about assemblies of people. The NT talks about deacons and elders of congregations. While I understand how elders grew in importance in combating heresy, its flaw was that a hierarchical structure can be turned bad - increasing heresy - by one bad man easier than can a large group of congregations.

Jesus promised the assembly of believers that are His body wouldn’t fail. He gave no promise to an organization that didn’t exist, and that was not authorized by the Apostles. Hence your basic premise is flawed.

No serious review of history would say the Catholic Church started in 33 AD. It was in embryo form in 330 AD, and didn’t start to mature until perhaps 600 AD, as the Bishop of Rome took ever greater power to himself.

The Orthodox stayed truer to their roots, so it would be more accurate to say the Catholic Church was founded in 1054, after it broke away from the Orthodox in the east.

[Mr Rogers]

Just for comparison, here is the detail given at the founding of the Aaronic Priesthood:

1”Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

6 “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. 7It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. 8And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 9You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. 11As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance. 13You shall make settings of gold filigree, 14and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

15 “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. 16It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 22You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 23And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 24And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 25The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 27And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD. 30And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly.

31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. 33On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

36”You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ 37And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

39”You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.

40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. 41And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 42You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

1”Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. 4You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, 9and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

10”Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 12and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. 13And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

15”Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 16and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. 17Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, 18and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

19 “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. 21Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

22”You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD. 24You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 25Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the LORD. It is a food offering to the LORD.

26”You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be your portion. 27And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests’ portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and his sons’. 28It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD.

29”The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days.

31”You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35”Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, 36and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

38”Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. 39One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. 40And with the first lamb a tenth seah of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 42It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. 44I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

---

Now, compare what Catholics claim is the founding of the office of the “Vicar of Christ”:

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Now, is it just be, or is there lacking a bit of comparable specificity? Particularly since half of it was later repeated to the disciples!

[Dutchboy88]

"Just for comparison, here is the detail given at the founding of the Aaronic Priesthood:

You mean to say, you cannot see the monstrosity of Rome inside that verse? Look closely...there it is, right next to Peter's golden slippers.

[Melian]

“...Roman Catholics who are taught they first must learn what Scripture means from the magisterium before reading it themselves.”

Wrong. No one tells Catholics not to read the Bible. Our babies hear it every Sunday in Church and grow up hearing the Bible read to them at every Mass. Your post is passing on a falsehood. This is an example of bearing false witness against your neighbor.

[Melian]

“We get a lot of Bible.”

Yet your posts about Catholics lack Charity.

[Marysecretary]

That’s your perspective. If I didn’t love Catholics and want them to be saved, I wouldn’t bother.

[Melian]

The sarcastic comments about Catholics and their beliefs on this thread (not just yours) do not demonstrate love. They do demonstrate that “clanging gong” that St. Paul warned us about in 1 Corinthians though. (Can you believe it, I know that passage of the Bible! Me, a Catholic!)

The initial post of this thread proves Catholics do read the Bible. At EVERY Mass, after the 4 passages from the Bible are read, the book of Scripture is held aloft by the priest, who says, “The Word of the Lord” and all the Catholics, who are standing in respect for the Gospel, respond, “Amen” (I believe.) Catholics love, study and revere the Bible at every Mass, in addition to what they do on their own.

The lie about Catholics has been refuted. You are all beating a dead horse— or is it a gong?