First Sunday of Advent
December 1, 2013

Reflection on Lectoring

Words have great power.

When a desolate and bereft soul cries out to its maker, “Salva me!” there can be no doubt that God is the one true refuge for every soul in pain.  He is the almighty and forgiving God who saves even the most wretched of his creatures.  The cry of every soul in despair comes from deep within.  The anguished words are infused with the deepest feeling and emotion.

There is a different kind of emotion expressed in the readings for the four Sundays in Advent.  Different, but no less powerful.  No less memorable.  They resonate with our human nature.  They also give us a glimpse into God’s divine nature. For the next four Sundays, our readings will express our longing for the coming of our loving Lord and Savior.

St. Augustine understood this longing when he wrote in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”  More than sixteen-hundred years later, his words still resonate with us.

In the readings for this weekend, we shall hear words like, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” and, “For our salvation is nearer now that when we first believed.”  These are words of hope and anticipation.  These are truly memorable words because they speak directly to us on many levels.

Whenever a lector stands at the ambo, he or she must believe that the words spoken are filled with the power to connect us with God.  That every word and verse brings our restless hearts closer to God.  They are words and verses that speak to our human condition, whether we are experiencing the depths of despair, the possibility of hope, or the joy of knowing that God has reserved a place for us in his bosom.  These are the powerful words proclaimed by every lector at every Mass.

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First Reading  -  2 Samuel 5:1-3
Waiting

Waiting seems to be a permanent part of the human condition.

Some types of waiting come to an end.  Waiting for a train.  Waiting for the weekend.  Waiting for our next birthday.  These are things that mark the passage of time, yet have only a limited sense of direction.

There are, however, others things for which we wait without the expectation of achieving them fully.  These are the hopes and dreams that define a direction, but always remain just over the horizon.  These are the spiritual goals and aspirations that are ultimately most important.

Today’s first reading talks about how “one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”  At a time when both Israel in the north and Judah in the south were threatened by the Assyrians, Isaiah assures the people that “the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills.”  All they had to do was remain faithful to God’s covenant.

They didn’t.

Being perfect - either in our obedience to God or in our love for one another - is not part of humanity’s experience of living on earth.   We know the direction and its importance.  But we also know that achieving the goal must wait until we arrive at the eternal home our Lord has prepared for us.

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Second Reading  -  Colossians 112-20
Timeline for Eternity

The goal of eternal salvation may be beyond the horizon, but that does not mean we are absolved from the job of moving in that direction.  In today’s second reading, Paul has even established a timeline for our actions - a very precise timeline.

“You know the time, it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.”

Paul was a very task-oriented person.  Except for the times he was in jail, he could not sit still.  Time was too precious.  The job was too essential.  The goal was too important.

In today’s second reading, in Paul’s litany of “the works of darkness” that can derail us, we get a sense of the urgency to stay the course.  It is an urgency born of the fact that a pivotal event in human history has occurred.  Christ has come to earth and has redeemed us through the sacrifice of the cross.

During Advent we await Christ’s arrival.  Through his Incarnation he made our reaching the final horizon possible.  But while we wait, we can confidently continue our journey because know the direction our path should take.

© George Fournier 2013

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
November 24th, 2013

Reflection on Lectoring

Making a genuine commitment must always be preceded by asking sincere questions.  How important is the goal?  How much of myself can I commit to achieving that goal?  Is it the right goal for me? 

These same questions apply to the commitment to serve as a lector.

In a recent monthly meeting of our parish lectors, we started with a prayer by John Henry Cardinal Newman.  It is a prayer humbly expressing our confidence that God already has the answers to our questions and will guide us in committing to what is right.  In part, the prayer says:

God knows me and calls me by my name. . . .

God has created me to do Him some definite service,

He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.

I have my mission --

Somehow I am necessary for His purposes…I have a part in this great work;

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.

He has not created me for naught.  I shall do good.  I shall do His work;

I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

Let me be Thy blind instrument.  I ask not to see--I ask not to know--I ask simply to be used.

As we conclude this liturgical year and reflect on our service as lectors, we can find reassurance in knowing that regardless of our failings and deficiencies, we are called by God to perform a “definite service.”  Our job is to answer his call with confidence and commitment.

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First Reading  -  2 Samuel 5:1-3
The King Maker

Saul was a great king.  But his day came and went (the Philistines cut off his head).  Saul was replaced by David who also had his troubles, but he was sufficiently obedient that God put him in charge of a unified Israel.  On the world scene today, there are all kinds of leaders who come and go - some more ignominiously than others.  Today, on the feast of Christ the King, we are given the opportunity to consider how earthly kings and leaders measure up to the eternal king.

When God commanded the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul as king, it was with the expectation that he would follow the Mosaic law.  Even as the most cursory look at the history of Israel shows, a fairly high percentage of its kings - starting with Saul - failed in their most basic responsibility.  Pride and political expediency often outweighed obedience to God and his law. 

Today’s first reading recounts the final step in the unification of Israel under David.  The elders of the northern tribes come to David and claim him as their brother, “Here we are, your bone and your flesh.”  They are also impressed with his credentials as a leader in battle.

Your hearers at Mass may not be aware of all the intrigues that lead up to David’s installation as king.  The details can be quite gruesome. However, the assembly can hear in your reading that God is the true source of a king’s authority. “And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be commander of Israel.’ ”

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Second Reading  -  Colossians 1:12-20
Mystery, Awe and Wonder

Sometimes it can feel like there is a loss of mystery, awe and wonder in our lives.  The commonplace is all there is.  Even words that once elevated our emotions have become overused, abused and unable to offer inspiration.  Not so, however, with the words of today’s second reading.

In today’s reading from Colossians we encounter real poetry and song, real beauty and brilliance, and the transcendent reality of our kingly Lord.  It offers us a joyful hope that we have been made “fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.”

The reading also offers us glorious words that describe a king who is above all things but who is never disengaged from his creation: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  It says he is our incarnate king who is our window on the infinite greatness of God: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

This weekend lectors have a wonderful opportunity to remind their hearers that awe and wonder are still very much part of our lives.  Very much the underlying reality of what it means to have both a shepherd and a king.

© George Fournier 2013

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 17, 2013

Reflection on Lectoring

What would be wrong with having just a small group of three or four, well-trained lectors proclaim the Scriptures at every Mass?  Send them to Scripture classes and workshops on public speaking.  What better way to ensure high quality lectoring?

Of course, some people may object that lectoring is a ministry that should be available to more than just a small handful of people.  Greater participation should be, by itself, an important value.  On the other hand, even if there were as many as 30 or 40 lectors, that number would still represent only a tiny percentage of parish members.  Why should 30 or 40 be better than three or four?

Perhaps the Scriptures themselves may suggest an answer.  Perhaps presenting the depth and richness of the Scriptures is best accomplished by many diverse voices.  Perhaps, keeping the message of the Scriptures current is best accomplished by lectors of different ages and backgrounds proclaiming God’s word to their fellow worshipers of different ages and backgrounds.  Perhaps, ultimately, it is a matter of recognizing that diverse perspectives create vitality and offer new insights, while sameness creates a kind of entropy that puts listening and thinking to sleep.

Commenting on the need to keep the Christian message vital and relevant to our times, Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote, “It is especially the duty of Christians to bring this creative touch to the spiritual ‘material’ a period offers.  It is part of their vocation to interpret the times, according to the world of Christ” (The God Question and Modern Man).  People living in different times and places have different experiences and speak in different idioms.  The same is no less true for lectors.

God’s majesty and the beauty of his creation are found throughout Scripture.  It is the kind of beauty and majesty that each lector experiences in his or her own way.  It is the kind of majesty and beauty that lectors are called upon to share with their hearers.

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First reading  -  Malachi 13:19-20a
"What do we gain?"

All three of today’s readings can combine to leave the assembly feeling a little battered, bruised and not a little uncomfortable.

In the first reading the prophet Malachi warns, “Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven.”  Then Paul admonishes each Thessalonian who is on perpetual vacation that, “neither should that one eat.”  In the Gospel, Jesus prepares his followers for hard times by predicting that they will “be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.” 

Malachi is the last book in the Christian Old Testament.  It describes a time approximately 50 years after the Babylonian exile and the rebuilding of the temple.  It also describes the Jews’ indifference to God when they brazenly say, “It is useless to serve God, what do we gain by observing God’s requirements?” (3:14).

Somehow, these proud “evildoers” missed the point.  The God of Israel was not a god who gave you things like good health, great wealth or abundant crops in exchange for sacrifices and offerings.  He was a god of love and justice who offered his chosen people a covenant of love and justice.

This is a reading with a stark choice.  Dismiss God’s justice, and be left with “neither root nor branch.”  Or, fear the Lord, and experience the “sun of justice with its healing rays.”

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Second Reading  -  2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
No Work, No Food

As evident in Second Thessalonians, Christians were just as capable as the post-exilic Jews of becoming indifferent or confused about what God is saying and about their responsibility as a community of believers.

Believing that the day of the Lord was at hand, some Thessalonians became frozen in fear.  Others decided that working for a living no longer made much sense.  While still others made a general nuisance of themselves.  This was a genuine problem.  Not just because no work was being done, but because this distorted notion of the parousia was threatening the faith.  The “perverse and wicked people” spreading falsehoods mentioned in last week’s second reading were doing a lot of damage.

Perhaps some of the people at Mass may be unaware of the background of this story, with the result that the admonition to the Thessalonians “to work quietly and to eat their own food” may seem somewhat prosaic or commonplace.   Nevertheless, being a responsible and supportive member of a community is always important.  St. Paul clearly thought so.

© George Fournier 2013

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 10, 2013

Reflection on Lectoring

          People will forget what you said.

          People will forget what you did.

          People will never forget how you made them feel.

                                                - Maya Angelou

Last week we asked why the readings at Mass can sometimes vanish like smoke before the wind.  Why are they so often forgotten as soon as they are proclaimed?  What is needed to make the Scriptures more memorable and more than a simple collection of words?

What makes the words, “Four score and seven years ago” so memorable?  Although some people may have to calculate the number of years specified by the speaker, everyone knows the powerful message that follows.  Why?

The words, “I have a dream,” are quite ordinary words, but almost everyone can hear them vividly resounding in his or her mind.  The words unfailingly bring to mind a feeling that is as moving today as it was when first spoken 50 years ago.

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  The words, “tear down this wall” are simple enough, but they helped to bring about a miracle.  Why?  Perhaps the location where they were spoken, in front of the Brandenburg Gate, added to their impact.

Perhaps the words spoken by the lector in the setting of the Mass can be just as powerful, just as memorable - perhaps even more so.

Lectors must believe in the power of the words.  They must experience the feelings and emotions contained in the words.  They must recognize that the words they speak have transformed the world for more than 2,000 years.

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First Reading  -  2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
A Mad Rush of Feelings

Today’s first reading hits us with a mad rush of feelings.  The kind that cannot be brushed aside as being simply inappropriate, impolite or improper. 

There is blazing anger: “You accursed fiend.”  There is courage and pride: “…and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words.”  At the end of the reading, there is even a vengeful expectation for ultimate retribution, “But for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”

Antiochus IV was the Syrian king who desecrated the temple in Jerusalem, compelled the Jewish people to abandon their God, and forced them to adopt pagan worship.  Today’s reading details only one of his gory and gruesome actions.  Unfortunately for Antiochus, retribution does not wait for the afterlife.  Judas Maccabeus initiates a successful revolt, God punishes Antiochus with a vile disease, and finally, Antiochus grovels as he begs for forgiveness from the very people he persecuted -- there was none forthcoming.

Being a martyr like the sons in today’s reading involves more than just saying, “No.” It involves a complex set of emotions - all very human feelings of flesh-and-blood people.   A real martyr is more than a “plaster saint” who is devoid of feeling.   The mother and her seven sons who make the ultimate sacrifice in this story deserve to be presented by the lector as real people.

This is the kind of reading that challenges lectors to explore their own feelings.  A necessary prelude to presenting today’s story of courage, fear, commitment, sorrow, confrontation with evil, and finding the face of God.

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Second Reading  -  2 Thessalonians 2:16 - 3:5
No One-Time Event

Helping others in their search for God is not a one-time event.   That is why Paul found it necessary to write more than one letter to the Thessalonians.  Seeking God requires ongoing effort accompanied by continuing prayer and guidance.

As we saw last week, the Thessalonians’ confusion about the second coming of Christ was made worse by false teachers making phony “oral statements” or sending bogus “letters allegedly from us.”  Ongoing prayer and recommitment were needed by the Thessalonians to remain steadfast in their faith.

This week, Paul prays that “what we instructed you, you are doing and will continue to do.”  He also asks his brothers and sisters to pray for him and his companions “so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified, as it did among you.”

Both the shepherd and his flock needed God’s help.  What also emerges from this reading is that they needed each other.  They needed each other on a continuing basis.  The same mutual support is just as important today for lectors and for the people with whom they share God’s word.

© George Fournier 2013