Easter Sunday
March 31, 2013

Reflection on Lectoring

Do you enjoy preparing for things?

Preparing your income tax returns  -  not so much. Preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for your family  -  much better.  Preparing for Easter during Lent  -  depends on how you do it.

The same question may also be asked about how much you enjoy preparing for your next lector assignment.  Maybe that kind of preparation also depends on how you do it.

Do you look forward to finding out what your assigned reading is all about?  Do you enjoy connecting the reading with your own life experience?  Or does the work of finding a meaning to share with the congregation feel like a homework assignment that you prepare as a report for class?

No matter how you feel about it, preparing for a lector assignment requires work.   In their booklet Guide for Lectors, Virginia Meagher and Paul Turner offer a sense of why preparation requires time and commitment.  They write, “Scripture is not simply another piece of literature.  Detailed study and reflection on the reading allow us to move past the mechanics of being a lector and be truly disposed to enter into the mystery of God’s word.”

Do you as a lector enjoy entering “into the mystery of God’s word?”  Perhaps that might be the best way to move beyond preparation as a homework assignment to preparation as an activity that offers personal rewards and the possibility of benefitting others.

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First Reading  -  Acts 10:34a, 37-43
A Model of Brevity

Today’s first reading presents a truly amazing story that takes place under truly momentous circumstances.  Jewish people were not supposed to associate with unclean Gentiles.  Nevertheless, here is Peter talking to Cornelius and his whole family of unclean Gentiles.  Something brand new is about to happen.

One of the remarkable things about this story is the brevity of Peter’s speech.  It takes him only 10 verses (verses 34 to 43) to tell the entire story of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, the salvation of mankind, and the apostles’ responsibility to share the good news with the entire world.

Perhaps, Peter might have gone on longer, but the Holy Spirit cuts him off by making his presence felt among both Jew and Gentile alike (verse. 44).

This is one of the most challenging readings in the entire Lectionary.  Not because of it obscure cultural references, run-on sentences, or lofty theological pronouncements.  Quite the opposite. Everything in these verses is quite clear.  There is just so much that is vitally important.  How do you say it all?

Perhaps someday a non-Christian may ask you what you believe.  You can do no better than to tell him or her the same thing Peter told Cornelius and his family.

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Second Reading  -  Colossians 3:1-4
Status Viatoris

Easter and the theological virtue of hope go hand-in-hand.

St. Thomas Aquinas, who had a way with words, describes humanity’s current condition as being in the “state of the wayfarer” (status viatoris).  We live in the current of time.  And hope gives us the strength to be confident in the future.

However, this kind of hope is more than a human emotion.  This kind of hope is a theological virtue because it is a grace from God that points us in the direction of God.  It helps us navigate between the twin vices of despair and presumption.  And, equally important, it reassures us that the Kingdom of God awaits those who love him.

Today’s first reading is in the form of an admonition from Paul to “seek what is above.”  It also offers the promise of a bright future when we “too will appear with him glory.”

Easter is a time to turn away from despair.  It is also a time to remember that wayfarers need divine guidance to stay on the right path.

© 2013 George Fournier