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Hi, I'm Edwards 3 and welcome to all things Catholic, where real faith meets real life.

Have you noticed how there's a part of the mass in the liturgy of the word when everything

suddenly changes? You're there and you're listening to the first reading and then there's

the responsorial psalm and then there's a second reading, and then suddenly

we all stand up. We didn't have to stand up for the first reading and the Psalm and the second

reading, but suddenly we're standing and we're singing. Alleluia, which means praise Yahweh. And

there's this great procession with the book from the altar to the lector. There's sometimes

candles and incense with this procession.

And then the priest will say, cleanse my heart on my lips, Almighty God, that I may

worthily proclaim your gospel. And then they make the sign of the cross. The priest of

deacon makes a sign of the cross on their forehead, on their lips, on their breasts, and in

the book of the gospels. Why is there all this extra ceremony?

Why all this extra pomp and circumstance?

It's because this reading from the liturgy of the Word is so different than the others.

All of scriptures inspired by God.

But this particular reading is the very center, the heart of all of the Bible.

This is the gospel reading because here these readings have a special place in scripture

because they're the principal source for our knowing the life of Jesus Christ.

That's why we give them this extra reverence and that's what we're going to take a look at in this week's podcast.

So welcome to all things Catholic. I'm your host, Edwards, Three. Again, I'm thinking a lot about the

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