The beginning of the new Christian year is the first Sunday of Advent which, this year, is December 1, 2019. At this time that we will begin reading the Gospel of Matthew, Year A on the Lectionary Cycle. We will not hear from Luke for two more years for we will have to make our liturgical trip through Matthew and Mark (with a whole lot of John) before getting back to Luke. The theory, as I understand it, is that by doing this we will hear the story from three different authors who all share a common source. These three gospels are known as the Synoptic Gospels or the Synoptics. They are taken in the order of appearance the scriptures and not in the order of age, Mark is the oldest. Mark offers many portions of material found in the other two gospels as well as sharing a common source with them. John does not share in this material and is written for a different reason and type of audience so his gospel does not figure into the cycle of years. I have some favorite stories and a favorite Gospel. Do you? Which ones and why? Do you think that the writers told their accounts to different audiences? Do you think they were telling the same story? Why do some gospels include some very important stories and others make no mention of them?
