What the Heck is a Synoptic Gospel?

As this liturgical year comes to a close, we are really finishing up more than just one set of readings.  We are concluding Cycle C, and on Sunday, we will begin a new year, with Cycle A readings.  You probably know that the Catholic Church rotates through three different cycles or sets of readings:  Cycle A, which contains Sunday Gospels mostly from Matthew; Cycle B, with Sunday Gospels mostly from Mark; and Cycle C, with Sunday Gospels mostly from Luke.   We do read from the Gospel of John as well, typically during the Easter season.

You might have noticed that many of the Sunday Gospels during Ordinary Time sound familiar from year to year.  They don’t change that much from Matthew to Mark to Luke.  That is because Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the synoptic Gospels.

Huh?  You might ask, what the heck is a synoptic Gospel?  (Pardon the very typical Utah phrase.)  When I was younger, I used to think synoptic meant that these three Gospels presented a synopsis of Jesus’ life, and it was just a coincidence that they were so similar.  But, as I got older and my English-major-like tendencies kicked into high gear, I took a closer look at the word.

Synoptic comes from two roots:  syn meaning “same,” and optic meaning “view.”  So, a story that is synoptic presents the same view as another story.  They corroborate each other.  The synoptic Gospels present more than just a synopsis of Jesus’ life.  They present roughly the same story, with some differences here and there, owing to the fact that they were written at different times by different authors for differing audiences.  For instance, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount takes place on a the plain instead.

It is tempting to zone out when we hear a familiar Gospel passage, especially if we have heard it a dozen or more times.  But, when you do hear a Gospel reading from Matthew, Mark, or Luke that seems very familiar, challenge yourself to find the ways in which it differs from the other two synoptic Gospels.  If you’re really ambitious, go look up the other two in your Bible at home.  (Concordances, or similar passages, are usually cited in the notes.)  Note the differences.  Ask yourself why there are differences.  Does it take away from the main theme of the passage?  This can help you delve deeper into scripture, something which Catholics of the pre-Vatican II generation were often discouraged from doing.

Even if you don’t make it a habit to do this every Sunday, try to commit to doing it during an “extraordinary” season of the liturgical year, such as Advent, or Lent.  It could be a valuable way to prepare yourself for the seasons of Christmas and Easter.

Personal Patron Saints

This is a special week for me.  I got to observe the feast day of my patron saint, St. Elizabeth of Hungary on Sunday.  Another of my favorite saints, St Cecilia, is recognized tomorrow.  In certain Catholic countries in Europe, people celebrate their “Name’s Day” on the memorial of the Saint for whom they are named or whose name they chose at Confirmation.  My grandmother kept this tradition alive for us as we grew up, and even if we don’t make a big deal of it, it is still good to recognize our Name’s Days when they occur.

How do you go about choosing a Saint for yourself or choosing one for your child at Baptism?  In my family’s case, our patron Saints were chosen to honor our heritage.  Mine is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and my brother’s is St. Laszlo, both prominent in Hungarian Catholic culture.  In other cases, you could look at the Saints whose memorials are close to your birthday.  There are usually multiple Saints recognized each day, unless it happens to be a particular special feast day of the Church.  Check out the Saint of the Day section in the Laudate app for examples.

If you are older, you might choose a Saint who is already a patron Saint of an activity or profession you enjoy.  I like singing, so St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians is particularly easy for me to relate to.  Keep in mind, the Saints are meant to be examples to us of how to conduct ourselves in this life.  Is there a Saint whose life speaks to you in some way?  Is there a Saint who has a devotion related to them, which you admire?  Consider all these when choosing a personal patron Saint.

And what do you do once you have chosen your patron Saint or Saints?  (Yes, you can have more than one!)  Ask for that Saint’s intercession for you in times when you feel like you need a little extra help.  Our canonized Saints are those we know are in heaven.  Who better to ask for help?

Do you have a patron Saint?  Even if you don’t have an “official” patron, try to find one to adopt as your patron.  Ask them for assistance and guidance.  They will not lead you astray.

Accepting Challenge and Change

Challenges are inevitable in life.  If we avoid challenges, we stay as we are.  This can seem the more comfortable path, the path of least resistance, but ultimately, it hurts us more than it helps us.  If we never do things that are hard, we never have a chance to grow.  Think about a task you now view as mundane and easy, like tying your shoes.  You don’t fully realize how difficult tying your shoes really is until you try to teach a child how to do it.  At one point in your life, you had the same trouble (unless you picked it up really easily).  Other examples might be riding a bicycle, operating a computer, or figuring out the latest feature on a new cell phone.

But, you might say, the kids can do it so much easier than me.  That’s because they’ve grown up with these things.  They’ve had more exposure to them, especially when it comes to technology.

Perhaps the best example of a challenging activity for adults is learning a new language.  We are able to speak, read, and write our native language as adults because it’s what we grew up with.  It’s what we’ve had the most exposure to and experience with.  Learning a new language, especially one very dissimilar to your native language, can be very challenging.  You might be tempted to give up.  But if you stick with it, slowly, it becomes easier and more intuitive.  You just need to have patience and perseverance

The same can be said for challenging yourself spiritually, or adjusting to changes in your church environment.  The third edition of the Roman Missal began implementation almost nine years ago, in Advent of 2010.  There are still times when adults will use the wording of the prayers from the previous edition because it’s what we grew up with.  It’s what we know “the best”.  Whereas, kids going through catechesis today learn the new versions first, so they know those better.  I know, as a cantor, I picked up the newer wording more quickly because I was exposed to it often, multiple times each weekend in some cases.

So, when changes are made in church, whether it is to the environment or to the liturgy itself, challenge yourself to have patience and perseverance.  Find out more about why changes are being made.  Understanding more about the reasons for change often aid in accepting change.  But most importantly, accept that you may feel some opposition toward change at first.  That is normal and human.  Realize as well, that you don’t want to be stuck with "untied shoes" spiritually forever.  You have to work at it if you want things to get easier.

"Ordinary" Time?

The longest period in the Church’s liturgical year is the second period of Ordinary Time, and boy, does it feel like it this time of year.  When we get to the thirtieth, thirty-first, thirty-second, and thirty-third Sundays in Ordinary Time, it can start to feel like we’ll never get out of the doldrums of plain old Ordinary Time.

But Ordinary Time isn’t called “ordinary” because there isn’t anything special about it.  It is called “ordinary” in the sense that we are ordering our weeks (with ordinal numbers).  We are counting the weeks until we enter a special season of the church such as Advent when we prepare for Christmas, or Lent when we prepare for Easter.

So, how do we make Ordinary Time feel less ordinary?  Treat it like a journey.  The Gospel readings during Ordinary Time often tell us of Jesus’ public ministry, the places he preached about the Kingdom of God, and the reasons why God the Father sent His Son into the world.  They tell us, most notably, the parables that Jesus used to convey truths about His Father’s Kingdom.

God knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows that we need ideas we can relate to in order to understand just a little bit what the Kingdom of Heaven is.  So Jesus uses comparative language:  “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”  Through Jesus, God speaks to us, even today, in terms we can understand.

If we treat Ordinary Time as a journey to discover the truth about God’s Kingdom, we are in essence walking a journey of faith.  Be mindful of this journey as we take the last few steps in the coming weeks.  Journeys can often be transformative.  How will you allow God to change you in these last few weeks leading up to Advent?