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.
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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.
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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.”
© George Fournier 2013
