Knights call for a compendium for Mass readings to improve preaching

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2008 / 21:47 pm

Addressing the assembly of Catholic bishops from around the world at the Synod on the Bible, Mr. Carl Anderson, the head of the Knights of Columbus, called for a compendium to the Mass readings to be created to help improve Sunday preaching.

 

On Tuesday, Anderson began by noting that, for a number of years the Knights of Columbus has promoted praying with and meditating on the Scriptures, which is also known as Lectio Divina. This praying with the Scriptures has taken place within the context of “Marian devotion through the Rosary and Marian Hours of Prayer.”

 

He noted that this “communal proclamation and meditation on the Word of God within the setting of traditional Catholic devotions - especially recitation of the Rosary” is considered an effective way to respond to the “advances of the sects especially in Latin America” by the Knights. This type of reflection enables Catholics to “more fully grow in the knowledge of Mary as "every believer's model for receiving the Word" and to “like her, respond in a way that is ‘dynamic, dialogical and contemplative’."

 

The Supreme Knight also proposed to the bishops that a compendium to the Lectionary be developed to help provide “greater formation and catechesis for the laity.” Anderson suggested that the compendium could coordinate sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church with the Sunday readings, thereby providing a “greater richness in Sunday preaching and a greater connection between the fundamental truths of the Catholic faith and Holy Scripture.”

 

Catholic universities were also touched on by the leader of the Knights.

 

“To enhance greater formation of the laity in ‘higher studies’ of the Word of God so that ‘the newness and the power of the Gospel shine out every day in their family and social life,’ Anderson called on Catholic universities to enhance their core philosophy and theology requirements.

 

Specifically, he suggested a course that looks at the entire New Testament “with the intention of promoting a realistic and loving knowledge of the faith by encouraging, in the words of Dei Verbum, ‘a pious reading of the Bible’."