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The First Reading After the Penitential Rite and the Gloria, Scripture is read at Mass. The Scriptures are proclaimed from a lectern called the ambo. The first reading at a Sunday Mass is normally taken from one of the books of the Old Testament. The exception to this is the Easter Season. From Easter until Pentecost, the first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, the first book of the New Testament after the Gospels. Why does the Church give such emphasis to the Old Testament? After all, aren’t we a “New Testament” Church? In the three-year cycle of readings in the liturgy, the Church unfolds the story of salvation. This started “in the beginning,” with the Book of Genesis 37 and continued to Christ and the Church. Jesus Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Thus, we need to know what it is that Christ came to fulfill. You see, the Old Testament points to the New. The prophesies about the Messiah in the Old Testament all pointed to Jesus. And the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old. You can’t fully understand one without the other. So the first reading helps us to understand part one of the greatest story ever told! For further study: Matthew 5:17-18 • The whole Bible! Notes


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