Time in scriptures and worship

by Aaron Espinoza

While I was reading, I came across something that had caught my attention and actually made me think back to my studies from a previous Theology course I had taken at Loyola my freshman year, THEO 112: New Testament. In this specific course, we learned how to look for and interpret apocryphal writing of the New Testament. The passage(s) I came across can be found toward the end of the chapter, The Christian Family Quilt, and it concerns the symbolism of how and when scripture was read. The passage in particular reads, “The fact that these early weekly meetings took place at night, ending at dawn, gave substance to a heartening symbolism. Those early communal readings of the scriptures around, as it were, the foot of the cross, was fittingly enveloped in darkness” (Smyth 45).

I just found it interesting that there was a significance of the correspondence of the time of reading of the text to time in scripture. This made me think specifically to how certain Gospels are chosen specifically for each Sunday during the year, during Ordinary Time as well as special periods. I had heard once that it takes approximately three years of Mass to read through all four Gospels in the New Testament. Regarding the specific timing and reading of the scripture also made me revert back to my studies of the New Testament, and refreshed my understanding of how to read apocryphal text. For example, Jesus’ ministry is commonly understood to have lasted approximately three years. However, not every Gospel agrees with this. In fact, to actually determine the length of Jesus’ ministry, one must count how many Passover meals are mentioned and celebrated in each of the four Gospels. While one Gospel might account for three years of ministry, another may only account for one year.