April 27, 2014
Reflection on Lectoring
“Man becomes man through communication, interaction, love
for his fellow beings. Through words and
through love.”
Pope
Francis “Reflections on Martín Fierro”
In his essay on the Argentine epic poem Martín Fierro, Pope Francis talks about
how we come to understand ourselves in relation to each other. He asks what “makes a bunch of people a
nation?” For part of the answer, he
quotes St. Augustine’s City of God which
defines a people as “an assemblage of reasonable beings bound together by a
common agreement as to what they love.”
Love, communication and interaction are also essential
ingredients for bringing together individual people as members of a worshiping community. They are also essential ingredients for every
effective proclamation of the Scriptures.
In her article “Words That Heal” appearing in a recent
issue of America magazine, Kathleen
Norris shows how these three ingredients are part of our communal understanding
of the Scriptures: “Our holy Scripture is intended to be a conversation, that
sustaining force in any love relationship, of hearing and responding to the
beloved.”
She continues by saying, “We may read and mediate on the
Scripture alone, and are indeed encouraged to do so, but we do not interpret it
alone. Our sacred Scriptures are not
only about us as individuals, but about the Christian community made possible
by the sacrifice Jesus offered on the cross.”
_____________________________________
First Reading - Acts of the Apostles 2:42-27
Communal Life
In the verses immediately preceding today’s first reading
from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter tells the crowd assembled in the street to,
“save yourselves from this corrupt
generation.” Following his admonition, three thousand people were baptized
(chapter 2, verses 40-41). From the very
beginning, people who sought individual salvation were also initiated as
members of a new community of believers through their baptism.
Community building is one of the central stories of the
New Testament, and in today’s first reading we see how quickly people came
together to support and sustain each other.
With the help of the Holy Spirit they joined together to hear the words
of the apostles, break bread, and say prayers - not greatly different from what
we do at Mass today.
Today’s reading contains a description of what a thriving
Christian community looks like: “They ate
their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying
favor with all the people.” And it
ends by stating the result of their commitment to creating a spirit-filled
community: “And every day the Lord added
to their number those who were being saved.”
______________________________
Second Reading - 1 Peter 1:3-9
More Precious Than Gold
Here are some of the words and phrases you will find in
today’s second reading:
- a
living hope
- an
inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading
- more
precious than gold
-
rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy
How will you read these words and phrases to the people
in the assembly this weekend? How will
you read these words to yourself as you prepared to proclaim them?
Words like “hope” and “joy” and phrases like “more
precious than gold” are easy to trivialize.
To avoid sounding like overused stock phrases, what is necessary if the
words are to have the meaning they deserve?
The words of Scripture both challenge and strengthen our
faith. Do we really believe that the Scriptures
authentically relate to the experiences of our lives? When the words of the second reading talk
about suffering “through various trials,”
are we really convinced that the suffering may “prove to be for praise, glory, and honor”? Just as importantly, do we as lectors believe
that the words and phrases really address the hopes and aspirations of the
people who will hear us say them?
© George Fournier, 2014
