October 7, 2010
Reflection on Lectoring
For the past few weeks, we have reflected on some of the reasons that lead people to serve their parish as a lector. This week, we’ll consider some of the ways lectoring serves the lector.
It is often said that the best way to learn about
something is to tell or teach it to someone else. Lectoring is a lot like that. Lectoring offers a powerful way to learn
about your beliefs, and, in the process, learn something about yourself.
Answering questions like, “Who is God?” and, “What do I believe?” requires tapping into a basic understanding of our identity as Christians. Lectors who proclaim this weekend’s Scriptures will be especially challenged to make connections between what they believe and who they are.
Both the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Mark (which quotes Genesis) describe the transformation of two people into one flesh as a divinely inspired creation of something brand new. Their union is greater than the sum of two parts. It is also something that has an existential and lasting reality.
The Letter to the Hebrews in today’s second reading offers one of the greatest testimonials to the incarnation found in the New Testament. Not only did God in the person of Jesus become man, he also suffered and died for all men and women.
Preparing to proclaim these Scriptures requires more than becoming familiar with the words and phrases. It involves an examination of our beliefs, of our understanding of marriage, and of our relationship with the Christ who suffered for us. It may also involve discovering something about who we are.
Answering questions like, “Who is God?” and, “What do I believe?” requires tapping into a basic understanding of our identity as Christians. Lectors who proclaim this weekend’s Scriptures will be especially challenged to make connections between what they believe and who they are.
Both the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Mark (which quotes Genesis) describe the transformation of two people into one flesh as a divinely inspired creation of something brand new. Their union is greater than the sum of two parts. It is also something that has an existential and lasting reality.
The Letter to the Hebrews in today’s second reading offers one of the greatest testimonials to the incarnation found in the New Testament. Not only did God in the person of Jesus become man, he also suffered and died for all men and women.
Preparing to proclaim these Scriptures requires more than becoming familiar with the words and phrases. It involves an examination of our beliefs, of our understanding of marriage, and of our relationship with the Christ who suffered for us. It may also involve discovering something about who we are.
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"He who has ears to hear, let mim hear."
- Mark 4:9
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First Reading - Genesis 2:18-24
Something Old, Someting New
- Mark 4:9
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First Reading - Genesis 2:18-24
Something Old, Someting New
”That
is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two
of them become one flesh.”
There is a cosmic quality about what a man and a woman can do together. It started with just Adam and Eve. In Genesis, they are the highpoint of creation. “God created mankind in his image” (1:27). God also gave men and women dominion over all other living things. Then he said, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (1:28).
Today, even though there are billions of men and women on earth, the majestic quality of their union remains the same. For Catholics, it is a sacrament that recognizes how two people can create something new, while acknowledging continuity with God’s original plan.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says the same thing using much the same words, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Mark 10:7-8).
At Mass, the people in the assembly will hear these words from Genesis in ways that relate to their experience (or lack of experience) with marriage. However, what everyone can obtain from your proclamation is an understanding that marriage has been an essential part of God’s plan for all of creation, and for all of time.
____________________________
There is a cosmic quality about what a man and a woman can do together. It started with just Adam and Eve. In Genesis, they are the highpoint of creation. “God created mankind in his image” (1:27). God also gave men and women dominion over all other living things. Then he said, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (1:28).
Today, even though there are billions of men and women on earth, the majestic quality of their union remains the same. For Catholics, it is a sacrament that recognizes how two people can create something new, while acknowledging continuity with God’s original plan.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says the same thing using much the same words, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Mark 10:7-8).
At Mass, the people in the assembly will hear these words from Genesis in ways that relate to their experience (or lack of experience) with marriage. However, what everyone can obtain from your proclamation is an understanding that marriage has been an essential part of God’s plan for all of creation, and for all of time.
____________________________
Second Reading - Hebrews 2:9-11
Lower Than the Angels
Lower Than the Angels
For the next several Sundays, we’ll be exploring the
Letter to the Hebrews. Although
generally considered a sermon and not a letter written for a specific Christian
community, Hebrews is one of the most eloquent and best written compositions in
the New Testament.
In today’s passage from Hebrews, the author is talking about Jesus’ becoming like us. He starts by identifying humanity’s place in the hierarchy of creation by quoting Psalm 8, “You have made him little less than the angels” (v. 6). He then proclaims the mystery of the incarnation by announcing that Jesus also became “lower than the angels,” so that “by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
In this week’s Reflection of Lectoring (above), we invited you to think about your own belief in the incarnation as you prepare to proclaim this passage at Mass. What do you hear when you read that the God “for whom and through whom all things exist” brought his “children to glory” by the suffering of his son? Just as important, how does what you learn from meditating on the story of God’s infinite love impact the way in which you share that story with other?
In today’s passage from Hebrews, the author is talking about Jesus’ becoming like us. He starts by identifying humanity’s place in the hierarchy of creation by quoting Psalm 8, “You have made him little less than the angels” (v. 6). He then proclaims the mystery of the incarnation by announcing that Jesus also became “lower than the angels,” so that “by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
In this week’s Reflection of Lectoring (above), we invited you to think about your own belief in the incarnation as you prepare to proclaim this passage at Mass. What do you hear when you read that the God “for whom and through whom all things exist” brought his “children to glory” by the suffering of his son? Just as important, how does what you learn from meditating on the story of God’s infinite love impact the way in which you share that story with other?
© 2012, George Fournier
