This short book is a guide to the Sunday gospels used in three year lectionary from Advent until Pentecost. Whilst I've often thought it would be a great idea to read through these major texts, and have often pondered that those who are to be Confirmed should probably do so, I don't think I've ever done so myself until reading this book!

The author - not only a working parish priest in Essex, but also an internationally esteemed scholar - concentrates mainly on the Gospel texts, with only the occasional brief mention of a psalm, epistle or Old Testament lesson, and this does focus the mind of the reader. The text is not just exposition but provides a brief moment of Lectio Divina for every passage: two questions and two proposals for prayer. Unsurprisingly, the author shows us how the liturgy and the church seasons shape and prepare us in our faith journey, especially during Advent and Easter. This is no dull academic text, but one clearly directed at those who might sit in the pews week by week.

I imagine this book has been designed to promote the recent 2019 Revised New Jerusalem Bible translation, and it uses this contemporary translation for the various passages. (This book may have been edited and planned before the announcement that the ESV was to be the default translation for most British Catholics.)

Things I particularly enjoyed - Advent as 'an invitation to continue in faith our Christian journey to God’s dwelling place'; the differences in the ministry of Jesus and John the Baptist; the similarities between the Joseph of Genesis and St Joseph of the Gospels; how the early narratives of Luke prepare us for the later ministry of Christ; the Matthean account of the Crucifixion; the importance of Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration; the importance of Jerusalem in the Gospel of John; the references to the time of day in the Gospel of Mark; Jesus actions at the woman caught in adultery; and how the beginning foreshadows the ending of the Gospel of Luke and Matthew.

However, the points that will stay with me post are his description of St Thomas as the one who gives 'the fullest declaration of faith in Christ found anywhere in the gospels: ‘My Lord and my God!’ and his illustration of the twofold giving of the Spirit to the apostles, in a way that I had never thought of before.

This text was written with the Roman Catholic lectionary in mind, but could honestly be used by any Christian of any denomination, especially those who follow the three-year lectionary, as do most Anglicans and mainline Protestants.

The only downside to this text is that the suggestions for thoughts and prayers are perhaps a little too broad, some further slightly deeper points would have been appreciated, perhaps those designed for use by study group? Perhaps some Roman Catholics might feel the text is too broad, and not Catholic enough, as he makes very little mention of specifically Catholic tradition and spirituality. Whilst the nature of the three-year lectionary involves some repetition, there seemed to be some passages that were duplicated word for word across the text, and I wasn't sure if this was deliberate or by accident.

A splendid resources based on the Revised New Jerusalem translation of the Bible, covering the Sundays of the three liturgical cycles (A, B, C) of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. (The Introduction promises another volume dealing with the Ordinary Time, so this part of the liturgical cycle is not included here.)

Since the Catholics have entered a second year focusing on 'The God Who Speaks', this volume should prove very useful within this distorted pandemic time for both private prayer and study, as well as for some shared Lectio Divina. In fact, Fr Graffy includes a couple of questions for reflection and some suggestions for prayer, which always follow a short and succinct commentary on each Sunday Gospel text (the latter is given in full). What is more, references for all the other readings, including the Psalm, are also included, which enables anyone interested to make deeper connections or follow a given Sunday theme.

In his introduction, Fr Graffy also includes a handy (as well as a simple) tool for calculating which liturgical cycle any given year falls into - so there should not be any doubts about this matter, ever, after reading this volume. (I resist including it here to avoid spoilers, but it is neat.) The only thing I can think of that could improve this volume is a more consistently open-ended approach to the reflection question. What I mean is that a proportion of these questions elicit only a yes/no answer. This happens when they are of this sort: 'Do I appreciate the courage and love of Mary and see her as an example?' (p. 43). While it may be good to sometimes face a stark, yes or no question to realise on which side of the fence one resides, this definitive structure could also prevent further exploration. In my experience, it is often more fruitful to invite deeper pondering by using words such as 'how' or 'why' or 'what'.

Nevertheless, this volume is a great companion to the Sunday Liturgy of the Word for the strong seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. And I am very pleased to see the book dedicated to Fr Henry Wansbrough, the general editor of the New Jerusalem Bible, who has recently produced its excellent revised version on which this volume is based.

***Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free review copy at my request.

With almost all churches pulling missals out of the pews because of Covid, following the readings and gospels can be challenging for some.

This book breaks down the gospels for each Liturgical year for every season except ordinary time. You read the Gospel for the particular Sunday; then Father Graffy breaks it down......meaning, significance, theological content etc. Then there is a prayer.

There are many gospel reflections available, but this is a nice layout. I like having several gospels and reflections at my fingertips. Also Graffy has an easy way about the way he writes. The down to earth approach will appeal to many who don't want something that comes across too academic.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy for review

The liturgical cycle for the Gospels in the Catholic Church is three years. This book divides the Sunday Gospel readings by Season (Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter) and then by year (A, B and C) than by ordinal day (First, Second, etc). Although it does not include the text of the "other" readings, it does cite them to make is easy to look up. It follows each reading with a very brief commentary and some reflection questions that could help with anybody doing Lectio Divina, but doesn't really dig that deep into the context or theology (so it is very accessible in a casual sort of way). It is a solid read, but doesn't appear to add that much that I would not already be exposed to through attending the mass, nor does it provide much to link it to contemporary concerns or events. Over all it was a quick and easy read, just not sure how much better it is than the standard Sunday missal ...

This ARC was a pdf converted to mobi, so layout et. al. were problematic as expected.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#SundayGospelsRNJB #NetGalle

Yes, reflections on the Gospels of the day are a dime a dozen, can be emailed to you by any number of organizations/people and cover the entire spectrum of Catholic belief/practice from the Latin Mass aficionados to the Praise and Worship music fans to prolife leaders to social justice warriors. This one is pretty middle of the pack.ideologically

It covers all all three Lectionary cycles but none of the "green" Sundays.

To give you a taste of the style/content, I'm going to talk about the readings for today, the feast of Mary, the Mother of God. Dr. Graffy points out that the Gospel is similar to one read on Christmas, the only difference is the addition of the last verse. He points out that the focus today is on Mary, without whom none of this could have happened. He ties in the second reading (which isn't printed in the book) which says that God sent his Son, born of a woman and that the first reading from Numbers invokes God's blessing on God's people as the new year begins. He then asks the following reflection questions:
Do I appreciate the courage and love of Mary and see her as an example?
Do I imitate Mary's silence and her pondering of God's goodness in her heart?
Graffy then leads us in prayer
We pray that we may follow the example of Mary, the first servant of Jesus Christ, who listened to God's word and responded with generosity.
We open our hearts to God at the beginning of a new year, that God may bless us day by day.
The author is English, the spelling is English but I looked him up and he is Catholic, not Anglican.

If you are looking for something to lead you into prayer on the Sunday Gospels during these sacred seasons, this is a good option.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley. Grade: B+

With the multi-year lectionary and fewer missalettes are including the readings these days, folks who like to follow the readings have been at a serious disadvantage. This book, the first in a two-volume set, seeks to remedy this problem.

All the readings for Sundays not in ordinary Time are included arranged by Sunday. That means the readings for a particular Sunday are arranged for Year A, Year B, and Year C followed by the next Sunday.

A very useful book indeed.