The Catholic Church begins its new liturgical year with Advent 2024, marking the start of Cycle C in the three-year cycle of Scripture readings for Sunday Mass.
The 1981 Ordo Lectionum Missae specifies that Cycle C is assigned to all years “that are multiples of 3,” meaning the 2025 liturgical calendar follows Cycle C.
St. Paul VI’s 1969 Missale Romanum divided Sunday readings into a three-year cycle, with each cycle offering a different emphasis.
In Cycle A, the Sunday Gospel is generally taken from Matthew; in Cycle B, from Mark; and in Cycle C, from Luke, while the Gospel of John is read primarily during Easter.
During the Easter season, the first reading comes from the Acts of the Apostles. The second reading in Cycle A is primarily from the First Letter of St. Peter; in Cycle B, from the First Letter of St. John; and in Cycle C, from the Book of Revelation.
In Ordinary Time, the First Letter to the Corinthians is read in all three cycles, while the Letter to the Hebrews is divided, with one part read in Cycle B and the other in Cycle C.
In addition to the Sunday cycles, weekday Masses, called ferias, follow a separate reading pattern, with Old Testament readings alternating every year. The 1969 Ordo specifies that “Year I” is for odd years and “Year II” is for even years, so the 2025 liturgical calendar is Year I, an odd year.
This rotation of readings, based on the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, aims to expose the faithful to a broader portion of the Bible over time.
“In this way a more representative portion of the holy Scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years,” the document states.
By attending Mass regularly, especially on weekdays, Catholics will hear a significant portion of Scripture over three years.