July 20, 2014
Reflection on Lectoring
How did he accomplish so much?
“He
was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village where he
worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.”
How could someone from such a poor, working-class background
ever amount to anything?
“He
didn’t go to college. He never visited a
big city. He never traveled two hundred
miles from the place where he was born.”
How could someone with no money hope to get so many
people’s attention?
“While
he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he
had on earth.”
Why would anybody remember someone who died as a criminal?
“All
the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the
parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have
not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.”*
Sure, you could say that since he was God, Jesus could do
anything. But that would not explain
it. God never forced anyone to do anything. Jesus never compelled anyone to follow him.
Amazing things like the above story happen all throughout
the Scriptures. They portray the events
that occur in the lives of real men and women.
They have all the drama and complexity that come from our human desires
and emotions. Every time a lector
proclaims a Scripture passage, he or she tells a very real story and a very
real part of the human drama.
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First Reading - Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Justice and Mercy Together
It is very apparent from the words spoken at Mass, that
Catholics have a hopeful outlook on things.
During the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer the priest
prays, “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in
our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may always be free from sin and
safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our
Savior, Jesus Christ..” In the same way,
the last verse in today’s first reading tells us it is ok to hope for our
eternal salvation. “And you gave your
children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.”
Although TV crime shows often suggest that justice and
mercy are two separate and distinct things, today’s reading tells us that since
our God has “mastery over all things”
he is in no hurry to write anyone off. Psalms
33, v.5 also suggests that there is room for both justice and mercy: “He loves justice and right. The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.”
Today’s reading from the Book of Wisdom challenges the
lector to consider how justice and mercy can be reconciled. Do they really have to be mutually exclusive?
Perhaps 1 John 4:16-17 offers us a good way to think about this: “God is
love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among
us that we have confidence on the day of judgment.”
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Second Reading - Romans 8: 26-27
Five in a Row
For five weekends in a row, the second reading is taken
from the eighth chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Today’s second reading is the third in the
sequence.
To make sense of today’s two-verse reading it would be
very helpful to read it in the context of the entire chapter. In some ways, all the parts of the chapter lead
up to a wonderfully stirring and glorious ending. (It’s ok to take a peek at verses 37 through
39. You won’t spoil the ending.)
The entire chapter is about the struggle between the
spirit and the flesh. It tells us that
there is a glory to be revealed after the futility of the present age. It reassures us that faith and hope enable us
to endure suffering and slavery.
Today’s second reading focuses on one main point: we are
not alone during our struggles because, “the
Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.”
The Spirit even makes up for our somewhat imperfectly worded prayers.
Your hearers at Mass
will probably not know that there will be a total of five second readings all
connected together. But if you read the
entire chapter as you prepare for today’s proclamation, you will know, and your
proclamation will have greater authenticity.
© George Fournier 2014
