Lectionary Readings from the Johannine Epistles

Introduction: The First Letter of John is the ONLY biblical book that is included in its entirety in the Lectionary for Mass!  It is scheduled to be read every year on the weekdays of the Christmas Season, although not all of it is read in any particular year, depending on which days of the week Christmas and Epiphany are celebrated.  On Sundays and Major Feasts, only about one third of 1 John is read (mostly on the Sundays of Easter in Year B).  Selections from 1 John are also recommended or optional for several Saints Days and various other Masses.  In contrast, the Second and Third Letters of John are never read on Sundays and never recommended for special Masses, but only one short reading from each letter is scheduled for a weekday Mass every two years.

Readings from 2 John and 3 John:

Notes:

• No readings from the Second or Third Letters of John are prescribed for any Sunday Liturgy, and none are included among the recommended readings for any other Liturgies (Propers or Commons of Saints, Ritual Masses, Votive Masses, or Masses for Various Needs and Occasions).
• Despite their brevity, only 6 of 13 verses of 2 John (or 119 out of 245 words in Greek), and only 4 of the 15 verses of 3 John (or 47 out of 219 words in Greek) are read on the weekdays of Ordinary Time, and only in even-numbered years.

Readings from 1 John on Sundays and Major Feasts:

• Of the 105 verses of the First Letter of John, only 30 verses are read on the Sundays of Easter (in Year B), and 4 more verses (with some overlap) on a few other prominent feasts.
• The asterisk (*) above indicates two readings that were not in the 1969/1970 Lectionary, but are new (and still optional) in the revised 1981/1998 Lectionary.

Readings from 1 John on Weekdays:

Notes:

• The First Letter of John is the ONLY book of the entire Bible (OT & NT) that is included in its entirety in the Lectionary!  It is scheduled to be read every year on the weekdays of the Christmas Season.
• However, at least one of the readings from 1 John is omitted each year, since the Sunday between Christmas and New Years Day is celebrated as the Feast of the Holy Family, which has its own proper readings, as indicated by a red [HF Sun] in the more detailed table below.  If Christmas itself is on a Sunday (as in 2011, 2016, and 2022), then the following Sunday, Jan. 1, is celebrated as the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the Feast of the Holy Family is moved to Friday, Dec. 30.
• Moreover, the readings from 1 John are not finished in most years, depending on what weekdays Christmas and Epiphany fall upon. First John is read only before the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which is usually the Sunday after Epiphany; after that the readings for "Ordinary Time" begin.
• Another complication is that the Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated on different days in various countries and dioceses today; either it is observed on Jan. 6 (the traditional date, usually a weekday) or it is transferred to the Sunday between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8 (in most U.S. dioceses today - as in the chart below).
  • If Epiphany is transferred to a Sunday that falls between Jan. 2 and 5, then readings # 205, 206, and/or 207 are omitted, since reading #212 is to be used on the Monday after Epiphany.
  • If Jan. 6 itself is a Sunday (as in 2008, 2013, 2019), then the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the following Sunday, Jan. 13, and there is no difference between dioceses that normally do or do not transfer the celebration of Epiphany.
  • If Epiphany is transferred to a Sunday that falls on Jan. 7 (in 2007, 2018), then reading #209/216 is read on Jan. 6, the Saturday before Epiphany.
  • If Epiphany is transferred to a Sunday that falls on Jan. 8 (in 2006, 2012, 2017), then readings #209/216 and #210/217 are read on Jan. 6 and 7, the Friday and Saturday before Epiphany, respectively.
  • In places where Epiphany is NOT transferred to a Sunday, then the Sunday after New Years Day (as on Jan. 5, 2020, or Jan. 3, 2021) has a different set of prescribed readings, not including any portion of 1 John.
• In the following more detailed table, a cell is colored green if the reading from 1 John is actually used in a particular year.
  • if a reading from 1 John is omitted in a particular year, the cell is white with the letter "X" inside, or with a red-lettered indication of which Sunday supplanted that day.
  • the yellow cells indicate that a different reading scheduled for the feast of Mary Mother of God or the Feast of the Epiphany interrupts the cycle of readings from 1 John scheduled for most of the Christmas Season.

For another view of this material, see also my table of Movable Feasts during the Christmas Season.

Readings from 1 John prescribed or recommended on Saints Days:

Notes:

• The Solemnity of All Saints (Nov. 1) and the Feast of St. Augustine (Aug. 28) have "Propers", meaning that the prescribed readings are to be used each year.
• All the other Saints Days listed above are "Memorials" or "Optional Memorials", meaning that these readings from 1 John are optional, but that many priests and parishes probably retain the readings scheduled for the corresponding day of the liturgical season.
• Moreover, with the exception of All Saints Day, if any of the other feasts falls on a Sunday in a particular year, the celebration of that feast (and thus also these readings) are supplanted by the Sunday Mass with its own prescribed readings.

Readings from 1 John recommended for Special Masses:
(Common of the Saints, Ritual Masses, Votive Masses, Masses for Various Needs and Occasions):

Note: These texts are listed among many other optional readings that could be chosen for the particular feast or occasion.

Readings from the Johannine Epistles in the pre-Vatican II Missale Romanum:

Note: In contrast to this short list, the post-Vatican II Lectionary for Mass contains many more readings from the Johannine Epistles, especially 1 John.

Related Webpages:

• Tables of Readings from John's Gospel used on Sundays and Major Feasts

• Tables of Readings from John's Gospel used on Weekdays and Special Masses

• Lists of Passages of John's Gospel NOT USED in the Lectionary for Mass

• All Lectionary Readings for the Weekdays of the Christmas Season, with the First Reading from 1 John

• All Lectionary Readings for the Sundays of the Easter Season, with the First Reading from Acts

• All Lectionary Readings for the Weekdays of the Easter Season, with the First Reading from Acts