This afternoon I received the most recent Liturgical Press catalogue. When I turned to the Little Rock section, two things stood out: 1) All of the current Little Rock Catholic Study Bibles: NABRE editions are 35% off. 2) They announced that in the Fall of 2027 this study Bible will be available in the Catholic American Bible translation.
Not a surprise, I suspect there will also be a 4th edition of the Catholic Study Bible
It seems like 2027 will be a bit weird. The new CAB translation is going to be available, but the NABRE will still be used for Mass and by those who aren’t in the early bandwagon for the 2nd edition of the Liturgy of the Hours. Nothing has been announced about a CAB Lectionary for Mass, but I assume the USCCB is still aiming for an Advent 2028 switch-over, to coincide with the mandatory-use date of the 2nd edition of the Liturgy of the Hours.
The confusing array of different texts in 2027 is just par for the course! Consider the patchwork that began after the Second Vatican Council and continued to expand over the following decades. While the first permanent postconciliar Lectionary was based on the 1970 NAB, the Liturgy of the Hours used the 1970 NAB only for its biblical readings and most of its biblical canticles, but not the Psalms. Instead, it used the 1963 Grail Psalter.
From there, the pieces gradually drifted farther apart. The NAB New Testament was revised in 1986 and the Psalms in 1991. But when the revised Lectionary was released (1998-2002), it only incorporated a liturgically adapted revision of the 1986 New Testament, preferring a liturgically adapted revision of the 1970 Old Testament and Psalms over the new 1991 Psalter. The Liturgy of the Hours, meanwhile, continued using the 1970 NAB for all the readings and the 1963 Grail Psalter for its Psalms.
Then the NABRE arrived in 2011 with a thoroughly revised Old Testament and a further revision of the 1991 Psalter, while retaining the 1986 NAB New Testament. But the Lectionary and the Liturgy of the Hours remained in their previous form. The result is that the NABRE Catholics use today corresponds neither to the Lectionary nor to the Liturgy of the Hours: its Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms all diverge in minor and substantial ways from the texts currently heard at Mass or prayed in the Divine Office.
As you can see, 2027 just adds a new and exciting chapter to what has been a liturgical text roller coaster ride for the past 56 years. But fear not. Liturgical text and Bible consistency is on the horizon and set to arrive with the revised Lectionary in 2028.
I’d love it if they redid the binding of this one with the new edition. Not a fan. Although I kind of like the layout, except the use of Times New Roman (I’m pretty sure) feels a bit weird.