Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, October 20, 2013

Reflection on Lectoring

Last week, we suggested that the decision to become a lector must be accompanied by a thoughtful commitment to serve.  This week, we invite you to think about what your own personal commitment to the ministry looks like.

At a minimum, it means getting to church on time and wearing the appropriate attire for standing at the ambo.  These two things are found in just about every set of lector guidelines.

With this as a baseline, there are many other ways that lectors can make a commitment to their ministry.  A short list includes:

-   Practicing public speaking skills

-   Researching the context and intended message of assigned readings

-   Meditating on the Scriptures in order to hear how God is speaking to our hearts

-   Asking God to strengthen our belief that he continues to reveal himself in the proclamation of his Word

-   Asking God to strengthen our belief that the Scriptures speak directly to the realities of our lives

-   Asking God to help us better understand our role as “Scripture people of the parish” charged with the responsibility to serve our fellow parishioners

-   Praying for a loving heart to truly care about the people with whom we worship at Mass

When a ministry has real depth and importance, the commitment to that ministry can take many different forms.  What all of these forms have in common, however, is a commitment to spending enough time to do it well.

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First Reading  -  Exodus 17:8-13
Moses and His Staff

Today’s first reading presents us with two job descriptions.  Joshua is the general in charge of the army.  Moses is the mediator between God and the Jewish people.  In this comparison, Moses clearly has the higher rank.

As a sign of the authority God placed in Moses’ hands, his staff figures prominently in demonstrations of power.  It is his staff that Moses used to strike the Red Sea, allowing his people to escape from Egypt through the parted water.  It is the same staff he used to strike the rock, producing enough water to quench the thirst of thousands of people.  In today’s story, Moses and his staff are again the center of attention, this time protecting the Jewish people from their hated enemy, the Amaleks. 

When Moses holds his staff high in a posture of prayer, God shows his support for Moses’ leadership, and the Jews have the better of the fight against the Amaleks.  As the story makes clear, however, without Moses mediating between God and his people, Joshua and his soldiers can do nothing.  They immediately start losing the battle as soon as Moses rests his hands.

Only indirectly is this story about armies and battles.  You will find no descriptions of military strategy or bravery in combat.  It is a story about prayer and the need to trust in prayer, for all our needs.

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Second Reading  -  2 Timothy 3:14, - 4:2
A Sense of Urgency

Paul is speaking to his friend and disciple Timothy when he says, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. . .  proclaim the word.”  Timothy has the job of administering the church at Ephesus and protecting the faith.   However, lectors are equally justified in hearing Paul speak directly to them.

In this week’s Reflection on Lectoring (see above), we described many of the ways in which lectors can commit to their ministry.  The reason for making that commitment is succinctly stated in Paul’s words to Timothy: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

For Timothy, the Scriptures are an important asset.  In Timothy’s church, facing serious and pressing problems and disturbed by false teaching, the word of God can offer wisdom, guidance, and encouragement.

There is a sense of urgency in this reading.  Paul knows his time on earth is limited.  He knows that those who come after him will need to assume the full burden of keeping the flame of faith alive.  It is the same mission assumed by each new generation over the course of two thousand years.  It is the same mission, supported by the Scriptures, assumed by every lector today.

© George Fournier 2013