The Presentation of the Lord
February 2, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

This week’s reflection on lectoring is a thought experiment.

Just imagine you have been invited to hear Abraham Lincoln deliver his Gettysburg Address along with a few hundred other people.  It was 150 years ago that he first delivered his historic, 272-word address, and you are looking forward to hearing his timeless words in person.

As you sit down you find someone has placed a printed copy of the address on your seat.  In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln arrives, looks out at his audience and begins his address.

What are you likely to do while he is speaking?

Are you likely to read along with the printed words you were given?  Or do you feel drawn to the speaker?  Do you put your full attention on the speaker and on what he is saying?

Many people at Mass find benefit in reading along as the lector proclaims the words of Scripture.  For many hearing alone is not enough.  For them reading is necessary for a fuller appreciation of the meaning.

Why is that?  Why do people read along?  Lectors might well ask themselves, “Why for some in the assembly is hearing not enough?”

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First Reading  -  Malachi 3:1-4

A Messenger by Any Name

As sometimes happens, having knowledge about the sometimes unclear “facts” found in some Scripture readings may not add much to our basic understanding.  For instance, in today’s first reading some scholars suggest that Malachi really means “messenger” and is not the name of a real person.

In addition, precisely to whom the “messenger” refers is also open to multiple interpretations.  Is the messenger Malachi?  Is he an angelic being, or God, or the imminent presence of God?  There is even some question whether the “my messenger” who will prepare the way is the same as the “messenger of the covenant.”

However confusing these questions may be, they should never be the main focus of a proclamation.  What is happening in this reading relates to the poor observance by the Jewish priests and people of their covenant relationship with God.  The temple has been rebuilt after its destruction by the Babylonians, but people’s hearts needed more work.

Whether they read along in their books or just listen to the lector’s proclamation, your hearers at Mass are unlikely to understand all of the “facts” relating to Malachi’s pronouncements.  However, that is not what an effective proclamation of this reading is all about.  It is not meant to be a history lesson.

What is clear for certain is that God will be pleased when the Jewish people and we today recognize our covenant relationship with him.  Fortunately for us God will send us a “messenger” to help make all these things clear.

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Second Reading  -  Hebrews 2:14-18

Authenticity

Christ did not come to eliminate death.  Or the fear of death.  Or the grief one feels at the death of a loved one. 

During his life Christ experienced grief, understood the fear of death, and died in the most physically and emotionally painful way possible. 

Christ never dismissed the pain.  Neither does today’s second reading.  It helps us accept the authenticity of the pain we experience by showing us that God’s son experienced the pain too.

There is comfort in knowing that Christ really understands our deepest feelings and did not shy away from them while here on earth.  It is through his sharing of these feelings that he helps us see how much our relationship with him is real. A relationship with him that is just as real today on earth as it will be when we see him face to face in heaven.

© George Fournier, 2104

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 26, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

Sing the Lord, ye voices all!

Utter thanks, ye all his works!

Celebrate his power and glory!

Let his name resound on high!

The Lord is great;

His praise shall last for aye.

Amen.

These are not inspired words taken from the Bible.  They occur at the conclusion of Joseph Haydn’s monumental Creation oratorio.  In their own way they are truly inspired words.

God gave humanity the power to praise.  He gave that power to every man and woman who ever lived.

He gave us that power not because he needed someone to sing his praises.  Not because he wanted his creatures to acknowledge how small and insignificant they are.

He gave us that power because he wanted us to experience the joy of singing to our God and Father.  He wanted us to have a small glimpse of his limitless love.  He wanted us to feel uplifted in a very special kind of prayer.

Haydn was a devote Catholic who wrote more than 100 symphonies.  He customarily began his manuscripts with the phrase “In nomine Domini.” (“In the name of the Lord’).  He ended them with “Laus Deo” (“Praise be to God”).  In this way his entire life’s work became a genuine prayer of praise.

Lectors also have the same power to praise.  Their proclamation can be just as powerful and uplifting.  They can be just as prayerful.

At Mass the words proclaimed by lectors come directly from God. The way lectors proclaim these words can come directly from their hearts.  They can be full of the power of praise.

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First Reading  -  Isaiah 8:23-9:3
Zebulun and Naphtali

In today’s Gospel, Matthew does something clever.  To prove his point, he quotes from an acknowledged expert.  Isaiah is the expert.  And the point Matthew is making is that the “light has come.”

It is no accident that you will find the passage quoted by Matthew also present in today’s first reading.  In 733 B.C. Assyria grabbed the land of Zebulun and Naphtali and turned them into Assyrian provinces.  Ten years later they came back and took the rest of the Northern Kingdom.

However, Isaiah unequivocally promises that the people who live in the land of gloom will have “abundant joy and great rejoicing” when the light appears.  For Matthew and the people of his time this was the great messianic prophesy that took more than 700 years to fulfill.  Referring to Jesus he says, “He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.” 

Unlike the Jewish people, most of your hearers at Mass will not know much about Zebulun or Naphtali, but they can recognize the connection between the first reading and the Gospel.  They can understand - if you proclaim it clearly - that Isaiah was prophesying a glorious day when the darkness would be dispelled.

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Second Reading  -   1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

Is Christ Divided?

It makes you wonder sometimes.

How can someone who joyfully praises God with his or her fellow worshippers on Sunday let disputes and disagreements come between them on Monday?  How can human beings who have the power to praise (see this week’s lector reflection) also have the ability to hold a grudge, or even worse?

Paul must have wondered too.  Listen to the way he phrases the question in the second reading:  “Is Christ divided?”

How could the believers in Corinth allow “rivalries” to develop?  It seemed inconceivable that anyone could think that one baptism was better than another.  Yet the facts spoke for themselves.

The news on TV and in the newspapers presents us with two seemingly irreconcilable truths. Humanity is capable of selfless sacrifice.  It is also capable terrible pettiness and factional disputes.  In today’s second reading Paul makes clear what the choice must be.

So can the lector.

© George Fournier 2014

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 19th, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

“Take into your heart all the words that I speak to you, hear them well.”

                                                                   - Ezekiel 4:10

  

Listen.

What do you hear?

Prayer is a two-way conversation with God.  When you pray or talk to God, who does most of the talking?

Who has the most important things to say?

Sometimes people think that God is distant . . .  or what he is saying is obscure. . .   or that he is saying nothing at all.

That is not God.  He is always there.  He is always trying to talk to us.  He desperately wants us to hear.  Our only job is to be quiet and listen.  To trust.

When you meditate on the Scriptures listen quietly.  When you proclaim the Scriptures speak boldly.  And when you do either of these things trust that he is always part of the conversation.

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First Reading  -  Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
The Lord Said to Me . . . .

“The Lord said to me: You are my servant.”

In this week’s reflection on lectoring we talked about the need to listen when we talk with God.  Apparently Isaiah was listening.

We also talked about the need to trust that God wants us to hear and understand what he is saying.  Apparently Isaiah had a lot of trust.  How else could he believe that God’s servant would be “a light to the nations.”

In this conversation between God and Isaiah, Isaiah recognized that God had formed him “as his servant from the womb.”  Jeremiah also heard God telling him the same thing: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5).  God gave both men a mission and a purpose.

Being a light to the nations may be an exalted calling.  However, God wants all of us to be his servants.  And the role he offers is the one that is exactly right for us.  All we have to do is listen and trust.

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Second Reading  -  1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Beginning to End

There are all kinds of conversations between God and his creatures referred to in today’s second reading.  The reading is all about calling.

Paul says he was “called to be an apostle.”  He tells the church in Corinth that they are “called to be holy.”  He also tells them that they are members of a larger church made up of people “who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

First Corinthians is also a letter about relationships.  Paul brought the story of Jesus to the Corinthians.  He founded a church that would celebrate that story.  He watched as disputes arose among different factions of that church.  He felt a sense of responsibility requiring that he exhort them to stay focused.   And throughout this letter, he lets his hearers know how he feels.

The pagan environment of Corinth provided lots of invitations for going astray, for losing focus.  During the next several weeks, First Corinthians will tell us a great deal about the call to be holy and the need for unity in a relationship of mutually supportive believers. 

Perhaps as we start to read this letter, it might be appropriate for us to jump to its very end.  In the final verse, Paul tells us why he wrote the letter: “My love to all of you in Christ Jesus” (16:24).

© George Fournier 2014

The Baptism of the Lord
January 12, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

Last week we reflected on the times when God breaks through our material world and allows us a small glimpse of his transcendent glory.  Our God, who is not limited by time or space, finds a way to present the good news to his lowly creatures who “see indistinctly, as in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The Incarnation is the ultimate instance of God speaking directly to us - using human words, gestures, smiles and even tears.  As we shall see in all of this weekend’s readings, God also used other extraordinary ways to communicate with us.  

This may lead us to think that only in the Bible can we find examples of God making clear pronouncements.  Perhaps, only with canonical approval can God’s words be authenticated.

Perhaps, however, hearing directly from God may not be so extraordinary   It may, in fact, be an everyday occurrence - if we just listen carefully.

At events such as births and deaths God’s transcendence seems to penetrate our material world.  There are occasions like baptisms and weddings when the world takes on a special glow.  But, there are also more commonplace instances of daily life when the human qualities of love, compassion, truth and fairness reveal the ultimate source of everything that is good.

The Scriptures are full people doing all sorts of everyday things.  Eating, sleeping, earning a living, caring for one another.  Why are all these things there?  The Scriptures show us that there is something to be learned from the ordinary things people do.  And they all illuminate what God wants to say to his people.

He passionately wants to say all kinds of things to those who will listen.  The job of the lector is to help him do it.

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First Reading  -  Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
An Important Announcement

All three of today’s readings talk about God’s direct intervention in the events of history and in the lives of his people.  In the Gospel, a voice from the heavens announces to the crowd, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Nothing could be more clear.  God’s son has arrived and the world will never be the same.

Today’s first reading also announces an arrival - God’s servant, his chosen one “with whom I am pleased.”  Most scholars believe the servant refers to Israel who “shall bring forth justice to the nations.”  It is a story of God at work, using his chosen people to change the world.

In making this announcement, God becomes involved in a very personal and intimate way when he says, “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations.”

Just as Jesus did centuries later, Israel will make it possible for all the world to know God.  Like Jesus, God’s servant will perform this task in a nonviolent way, “A bruised reed he shall not break.”  And, as did Jesus, he will bring salvation to “those who live in darkness.”

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Second Reading  -  Acts 10:34-38
Direct Communiction

In today’s second reading, Peter also makes an announcement, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.”  Everybody (including non Jews) is welcome in the Body of Christ.  But it took God’s direct intervention to change Peter’s mind about whether the Gentiles qualify.

Immediately preceding today’s reading is a curious story about Peter sitting on a roof thinking about food.  Before the food is ready, he falls into a trance and sees a sheet coming down from heaven piled high with unclean food.  Incredibly a voice tells him, “Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat” (Acts10:13).  Peter objects strenuously and says, “Certainly not, sir.  For never have I eaten anything profane and unclean.” (10:14). This conversation is repeated three times in order to teach Peter a lesson.  The old rules do not apply to everyone.

By the time he arrives at Cornelius’ house, Peter understands that everyone is equal in God’s eyes.  This vitally important understanding for the future of the church comes directly from God.  God wanted the Gospel to be heard and shared by everyone.  And he chose a very direct method to ensure that Peter got the message.

© George Fournier 2014