Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 5, 2012

Reflection on Lectoring

Identity and belonging are big things for St. Paul.  You can see these ideas expressed throughout his letters.

Paul’s freshly-minted communities of believers were like outposts in a pagan world.  Their strength and, perhaps even their survival, depended on their members having a sense of unity and mutual dependence. How easy it would have been for these communities to evaporate if their members lost interest.

Of course, the Holy Spirit, the apostles, and a host of spirit-filled people in each community did not let that happen.  The same remains true today.  We still need the Holy Spirit and spirit-filled people to keep our parish communities flourishing.

Do lectors who proclaim the story of the struggles and triumphs of the early church have a role to play in keeping the spirit alive?  What responsibility to the health of their parish communities do lectors have?  Should lectors think beyond the one or two minutes each month they proclaim the Scriptures at Mass?

Lectoring is more than just a job requiring a certain skill set and the ability to be on time for an assignment.  It involves the insight to see the bigger picture.  It includes the ability to recognize the Old Testament roots of our Christian faith and its continued development in the New Testament.  Effective lectoring also involves an appreciation of faith at work, and a shared sense of belonging to the community we call our parish.

Fortunately, the more a lector reads the Scriptures, the stronger becomes his or her understanding of how faith and community are interwoven.

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"And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles."

                                                                                   - Acts 14:27


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First Reading  -  Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15
Thousands of Hungry People

The Sinai is not a place that can easily sustain large populations.  It is a barren place of intense brightness, mostly arid landscapes, and the constant noise of wind whining through the mountains.

Sinai’s current population is sixty thousand.  But a quick check of the Book of Exodus (12:37) indicates that six hundred thousand men, not including women and children, fled from Egypt.  Even if the Hebrew word elep found in Exodus is interpreted as “clans” instead of” thousand,” there would still have been a large number of people making their way in the dessert.

Today’s first reading challenges us to find the line between dependency and self-sufficiency - total dependency on God and the appropriate impulse to be responsible for the welfare of our family.  Given the odds against them, it is little wonder that the Israelites felt very dependent.  It is also little wonder that they felt really scared when the food and water ran out.  It was not too likely that Pharaoh would treat them well if they decided to return to Egypt.  So what do you do?

You complain to Moses who talks to God.

There are people who will hear your words at Mass who are struggling with significant burdens.  There are people who are struggling to care for their families.  And there are people who are struggling to develop a greater trust in God. The story of Sinai is more than just an interesting story about struggle and hardship.  It can be source of reassurance that God will not abandon us when things look bleak.  How well this story does that depends in large measure in how well you tell it.

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Second Reading  -  Ephesians 4:17, 20-24
Free to Join

In last week’s second reading from Ephesians, Paul talked about the kind of unity and community identity that is not exclusive.  Christ came to save everyone, not just a limited number of “chosen” people.  In today’s reading from Ephesians, he lets us know that the invitation to become a member of Christ’s body is open to everyone.  However, it is an invitation that presupposes each person’s freedom to choose.

Through Baptism, the early Christians were freely initiated into the new community of believers.  However, becoming a follower of Jesus also required a commitment to “put away the old self of your former way of life . . .  and put on the new self.”  Membership in the body of Christ was freely offered to new converts, but demanded a positive affirmation in return.


The people who hear your proclamation at Mass this weekend, have also made a free choice.  They have chosen to join together in worship.  They have chosen to deepen their sense of belonging to Christ and each other.

This reading serves as a reminder of what membership in Christ’s body requires.  It also serves to help us recognize more clearly that we are a “new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

© 2012 George Fournier

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 29, 2012

Reflection on Lectoring

It seems a little hard to believe. Highly improbable at best.  Yet, there is no question that it happened.

In the days when most people got around by walking (approximately fifteen to twenty miles a day), something remarkable was happening in a dozen or so cities around the Mediterranean.  Meeting in peoples’ homes, groups of men and women began to think of themselves in a different way, even though their neighbors may have thought they were a little peculiar.

Some of these people owned the homes where the groups met.  Some of the people were poor.  Some of the people were merchants and tradesmen.  Some owned slaves but encouraged them to join the group.

There were no articles of incorporation for these groups. There were no preconditions for joining.  The qualifications for group leadership were fluid, and there was a belief that everyone had something to contribute.  And although only the basic beliefs were sketched out, they were all sure of one thing - they knew that Christ had died for each of them.

How could a collection of often disorganized groups be the start of a movement that would change the landscape of the Roman world?  When lectors today proclaim passages from the New Testament, they give their hearers essential insights into how early Christianity spread so rapidly.  Lectors are modern-day storytellers for their parishes.  Every Sunday, the stories they tell from the Scriptures reveal how the Spirit remains alive in the church today.

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"What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered proclaim on the housetops.”

                                                                                    -  Matthew 10:27

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First Reading  -  2 Kings 4:42-44
Two Skeptics

Gehazi was the prophet Elisha’s servant and travelling companion.  He watched as Elisha performed some amazing miracles like bringing the Shunammite woman’s son back to life, or creating an abundant supply of oil from a single jug belonging to a poor widow.
You would think that Gehazi would not question Elisha’ instruction to feed a hundred people with twenty barley loaves and some fresh grain in the ear.  But he does.

In today’s Gospel, Andrew plays the role of a latter-day, doubting Gehazi when he questions how five barley loaves and two fish could feed five thousand.

These two Scripture passages may leave you wondering how can Gehazi and Andrew be so obtuse?  What does it take for them to understand what God can do?

Perhaps, you might also think about the quiet confidence that Elisha and Jesus have that God the Father will provide what people need.  Perhaps the people who hear your proclamation this weekend might also experience a quiet confidence that God really does care
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Second Reading  -  Ephesians 4:1-6
E Pluribus Unun

In Roman times, class status meant everything.  There was limited upward mobility.  You knew your place, and you did well to remember it.  Then came Jesus who had a bigger picture in mind.

In the early Christian communities, the faithful recognized that different people played different roles in society.  In many of these home-based assemblies, there were rich people and poor, slaves and freedmen, people with influence and people who earned a living with their hands.  While acknowledging the complexities of social structure, Paul often wrote in his letters that there was something more important than class. That “something” is the theme gloriously stated in today’s second reading.

Unity is the unmistakable story of this passage. Even from a casual reading, the seven appearances of the word “one” jump out at you.  In Baptism, the faithful were initiated into a new unity - the one body of the risen Christ overriding the differences between Jew and Gentile, men and women, rich and poor.

How you proclaim to the assembly, “one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father” will make all the difference in the world.  Equally important, how you feel about your unity and connection with the assembly will also make all the difference in the world.


© 2012, George Fournier

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 22, 2012

Reflection on Lectoring

I belong.
       I belong to you.
              We belong to each other.

Did you ever wonder why the Scripture passages from St. Paul or St. John used in the second reading at Mass often begin with “Brothers and sisters,” or “My children,” or “Beloved?”


They were deliberately put there for some reason.One reason is that the early Christians called themselves brothers and sisters.  They were part of something new.  They found in their new identity a common bond of faith and friendship that sustained them.  They often met in peoples’ homes to worship God and share their faith.  They were family.

The Pauline letters are rich in expressions of friendship and intimacy.  His words express a deep sense of belonging to God and to each other. “We give thanks to God always for all of you,” and “brothers loved by God” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4).

Today, the reasons for prefacing the second reading at Mass with the words “brothers and sisters” are just as valid.  The people to whom you proclaim the Scriptures are part of your family.  They and you are people who belong to each other.  When you look at today’s second reading, you’ll find the reason that the sense of belonging can be just as strong today as it was in the early days of the church.

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"Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.”       

                                                                                    -  Philippians 4:1
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First Reading - Jeremiah 23:1-6Man of the People


In last week’s first reading, the prophet Amos had little good to say about Jeroboam II, the unfaithful king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and his hypocritical priest Amaziah.  This week, it is Jeremiah’s turn to criticize the “shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock.”

In Judah, King Jehoiachin, who lasted only three months, and his father Jehoiakim were hardly what anyone would call “shepherds.”  Jehoiakim murdered prophets.  Jehoiachin, who was equally faithless, lost his throne when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.

Throughout his career, Jeremiah found a lot of unfaithfulness to criticize.  But why bring all that up again today at Mass?  Where is the relevance?A look at today’s Gospel might help.   The passage from Mark reads, “For they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.”   Jesus was not motivated by power, status or greed.  Caring for the needs of people was more than just a political slogan for him.

When you proclaim the words, “I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them,” say them with the same genuineness that drew people to Jesus.

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Second Reading - Ephesians 2:13-18We Both

For seven Sundays (beginning last weekend) the second reading comes from the letter to the Ephesians.  The letter was most likely a circular letter intended for a larger audience than just the Christian community in Ephesus.In this Sunday’s installment, the letter draws a parallel between the former alienation of people with their Creator and the very human question of “why can’t we all just get along?”

Reconciliation and redemption were at the heart of Jesus’ mission.  His conquest of sin made us heirs to the promise of salvation.  His breaking “down the dividing wall” made the Gentiles co-heirs. And his creation of “one new person” tells us that our differences need not keep us from celebrating our family unity as brothers and sisters.

Today’s reading concludes with the words, “for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”   As you proclaim these words, you might ask yourself how strongly you experience the connection with your hearers implied in the words “we both?”

© 2012 George Fournier

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 15, 2012

Reflection on Lectoring
In the early days of the church, the Apostle Paul needed some really good readers to proclaim the message of the resurrected Jesus.

When Paul could not go in person to the Christian communities he founded, he often sent letters instead. Then, when the letters arrived, he relied on people to read them in the assembly - a more forceful way to get the message across than silent reading could achieve.

In those days, people got together to share their faith in their homes.  Even in a culture where social stratification was a fact of life, the ideal as expressed in Galatians 3:28 was to create an assembly or ekklesia where “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Of course these class and gender differences didn’t disappear, but, through their faith, all members of the community became children of God.

It was not always easy to achieve perfect harmony in Paul’s newly-minted communities.  In his letters, he often had to remind early Christians what it meant to believe in a Messiah who was a servant to others.

At Mass today, the message proclaimed by lectors is just as essential for creating faithful communities and spirit-filled parishes.  And good lectors remain just as important for getting the message across.  Whenever an early Christian community heard a letter from an apostle it was a really big event.  It still is today, nearly 2,000 years later.

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"So we, though many, are one body in Christ.”

           -  Romans 12:4

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First Reading - Amos 7:12-15
Complex Emotions

How will your hearers react to the conflict between Amos and Amaziah?

Will your hearers mostly focus on the story of a courageous hero (Amos), or feel animosity towards a privileged sycophant (Amaziah)?  Will they feel sorry for Amos who is getting tossed out for following God’s instructions, or will they judge that Amos will ultimately come out ahead because he is true to his calling?

The breadth of possible emotions is wide, ranging from anger, to sympathy, to hope in ultimate justice.  As a lector, when preparing for this proclamation you might also experience several emotions all mixed together.

Perhaps there is no wrong response to this Scripture passage - other than no response at all.  For certain, Amos experienced a great many emotions as he answered God’s call.  So should those who tell his story.  So should those who hear his story.

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Second Reading - Ephesians 1:3-14

Us

This reading invites lectors to connect directly with their hearers, and for their hearers to connect with each other.

The words “us” and “we” appear a total of ten times in this reading.  That enables the lector to personally address the assembly in a way that creates a feeling of community and common identity.

As mentioned in this week’s Reflection of Lectoring, Paul wanted the members of his early Christian communities to feel a sense of belonging despite their individual differences.   Today’s poetic second reading presents many of the ways in which God gives us a common identity.

At the close of this reading when using the word “you,” Paul makes things even more inclusive.  Even Jews and Gentiles, who once had little in common, are now “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit . . .  as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.”

In this wonderfully evocative reading, the degree to which your hearers feel you are speaking directly to them is in your hands.  Paul has given you the words.  The Holy Spirit will give you his support.  The rest is up to you.

© 2012 George Fournier

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 8, 2012

Reflection on Lectoring

God has high expectations for his lectors and for the words they proclaim.

After all, he said to the prophet Isaiah, “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

It is important to ask to what end does God send his words, especially if you are the person who is proclaiming those words.

The most immediate answer comes from the Scripture passages themselves.  Some passages provide instruction, some encourage holiness, some relate historical events, and some give comfort and reassurance.

In addition, there is another end that spirit-filled proclamations can accomplish.  They can remind us of our mutual interdependence as members of a worshipping community.  Our sharing of God’s word unites us as a people who need God and each other.

The openness to receive help and the willingness to serve others are complementary aspects of every human relationship.  They are values we celebrate whenever we share the Scriptures at Mass.  They are an essential foundation of every parish family that honors God, worships together, and cares for each other.

God’s words are effective.  And he has a high expectation for his lectors who share them.

Next Week:  Spirit-filled Parish, Spirit-filled Lectors

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“And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.”

                                                                                - 1 John 3:23

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First Reading  -  Ezekiel 2:2-5
750 Miles from Home

It is hard to be 750 miles away from home and risk the loss of the few friends you have left.

The prophet Ezekiel was among the first of his countrymen to be exiled to Babylonia.  The scene in today’s first reading takes place by the side of the river Chebar.  While sitting there with a group of his fellow exiles, Ezekiel witnesses a fantastic vision of four-headed creatures making an horrific amount of noise.  Understandably, he falls flat on his face in fear.

God tells Ezekiel to stand up because there is some bad news he must tell his fellow deportees.  There is soon going to be a second deportation, and the city of Jerusalem will be totally destroyed.  And it is all their fault.  They are being punished for their rebelliousness.

You have to empathize with Ezekiel.  He is living against his will in an alien culture, and now must risk alienating his few friends.  Fortunately in Chapter 37, in the famous vision of the dry bones, God allows Ezekiel to prophesy the restoration of Israel.

Perhaps your hearers might feel admiration for Ezekiel’s courage.  They might also recognize in this Scripture passage that even in difficult circumstances things are better when people stick together in harmony and in obedience to God.

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Second Reading - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Powerful Paradox

“When I am weak, then I am strong.”

These are the words you will speak to hundreds of people this weekend at Mass.  If someone were to ask you if you really believe what you read from the ambo, what would your answer be?  Can you say “no”?  Must you say “yes”?

Would people in the assembly think they know what you believe even without directly asking you?  Or would they think the answer doesn’t really matter to you anyway?

Part of your preparation for proclaiming this Scripture should involve deciding for yourself how you personally feel.  Are there circumstances where your feelings of weakness produce feelings of strength?

This Scripture passage invites the assembly to consider how Paul’s feelings about strength and weakness apply to them.  Only lectors who have honestly considered this question for themselves can proclaim this Scripture with genuine understanding.