Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 5, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

The story of us.

Which book are you more likely to pick up and read: a book about people you barely know, living in places you know little about, or a book about who we are and how we struggle with the challenges of daily life?

Consider the Bible.  It is an all-time best seller.  Its author is well known, and just about every Christian has a copy.  But do we find our own lives reflected in the pages of the Bible?  Or is it difficult to see the Bible as a book about real people - not just about kings and commandments? 

In last week’s Reflection on Lectoring it was suggested that lectors should love the Scriptures.  Do we read the Scriptures only because they teach us moral principals?  Or are we also drawn to the Scriptures because they offer us a compelling look at ourselves?  Are we able to see in the Scriptures authentic, real-life descriptions of who we are and the hard choices we must make?

Perhaps today’s readings can help us in making that connection.  With expressive verses that arouse emotion, the readings present genuine human stories. The verses are taken from chapters that should be read from beginning to end.  They are verses with strong language and deep feelings.  They are verses that are best understood when read aloud.

Why should we love the Scriptures?  Perhaps it is because they contain compelling stories about who we are, written by an author who understands us best.

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First Reading  -  Isaiah 5:1-7
The Pain is Real

“Ah!  Those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness to light, and light into darkness, who change bitter to sweet, and sweet into bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).  Regarding such people, Isaiah goes on to say, “Their root shall rot and their blossoms scatter like dust” (5:24).

Chapter Five of Isaiah contains lots of villains.  The prophet tells us that the rich and powerful are destined to cause havoc and destruction to the house of Israel and to the people of Judah.  What is the ordinary person caught up in this chaos to do?

We have heard the story of Israel’s infidelity and its bad consequences many times.  After frequent retellings, the story can sound predictable, losing its ability to arouse our interest and emotions.  The pain and suffering of the house of Israel and the people of Judah can be forgotten like last week’s news.  Perhaps that is why we need today’s first reading.  Perhaps that is why words like “trampled,” “bloodshed” and “outcry” are so important.

Very real people suffered from the consequences of greed, civil unrest and even armed conflict.  Just as they do today. Perhaps Isaiah had a good understanding of our human condition.  Perhaps he recognized that the struggle between good and evil will always be a very real part of our ongoing story.

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Second Reading  -  Philippians 4:6-9

A Letter to Friends

After we have heard from Isaiah about the total destruction of the vineyard in the first reading, the last chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is a welcome counterpoint.

Paul concludes his letter (thought by some to be a compilation of three separate letters) with words like: “honorable,” “pure,” “lovely” and “gracious.”  This is the kind of personal letter someone would write to his or her good friends.  It is also the kind of letter that shows Paul to be a real, flesh-and-blood person.  Despite all of the life-threatening hardships of his missionary journeys, and despite the fact that he is writing this letter from prison, Paul is still able to think about the welfare of his friends.

All of Paul’s letters are written to real people.  They acknowledge the reality of pain and suffering, while also expressing a belief in the human potential for love and caring.  His letters and all of Scripture reflect the totality of our human experience as children of God.  By telling the story of real life Paul is telling us about ourselves.  He is writing the story of us.

© George Fournier, 2014

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 28, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

During a recent conversation, our parish’s director of liturgy reflected on some of the important aspects of the lector ministry.

She began by saying that a genuine love of the Scriptures is an essential asset for everyone who shares God’s word with others.  When a lector spends time in prayer with the Scriptures, he or she is better able to invite others to hear what God is saying.

She also said that lectors should have a two-fold sense of confidence.  It is a confidence that comes from a belief that God is the ultimate author of the words being proclaimed.  And, with God as their source, these words will have relevance and meaning for those who hear them.

There is also a confidence that comes from knowing that the ministry of lector is an authentic calling from God.  When God calls someone to be a lector, that person can be confident that he or she is following God’s will, and that he or she is fulfilling an important purpose.

Our director of liturgy also noted that effective lectors should have an appreciation of the specific setting for each proclamation.  That setting includes everything from the liturgical season of the year to the specific character of each liturgical celebration, whether exuberant and youthful or more traditional.

Perhaps most importantly, effective lectoring is best achieved in a welcoming environment wherein people genuinely care about each other.  At Mass, the lector is a servant to the people in the assembly.  In addition, effective proclamation must be performed with a recognition that people who worship together are all servants to each other.

Above all, lectoring is a ministry that must be performed with love - love for God, love for the Scriptures, and a mutual love for each other.

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First Reading  -  Ezekiel 18:25-28
Sins of the Fathers

Today’s first two readings offer insights into the constituents of real fairness and the dangers of simple declarations about fairness.

At the time of Ezekiel, fairness was viewed somewhat differently from the way it is today.  In chapter 18, verse 21 Ezekiel goes to great lengths to explain, “The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son.  Justice belongs to the just, and wickedness to the wicked.”

It was a concept of fairness and justice that dies hard.  Perhaps that is why 600 years after Ezekiel Jesus had to explain that the man born blind was not being punished for his sins or for the sins of his father.  Fifteen-hundred years later in The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare echoes the concept of generational sin when the character Launcelot says to Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, “Yes, truly, for, look you, the sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.”

However, before we allow ourselves to dismiss too lightly the concept of “sins of the fathers” we must recall how Adam and Eve and all their descendents (including us) were banished from the Garden of Eden.

Today’s first reading cautions us not to presume to know totally the infinite mind of God.  We can, however, have faith that our loving Father wants what is best for us.  Perhaps verse 23 of chapter 18 gives us the best insight when God says, “Do I not rejoice when they turn from their evil way and live?”

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Second Reading  -  Philippians 2:1-11

The Standard of Fairness

By today’s standard of fairness, Jesus’ actions and what happened to him are completely unfair.

As Christians we understand that Jesus Christ is consubstantial with the Father.  Nevertheless in today’s second reading Paul says, “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.”

Where is the fairness in Jesus’ not grasping his rightful equality with the Father?  And where is the fairness in the next verse, “Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. . .”?

As a practical matter we must arrive at an understanding of how to exercise fairness in our interactions with others.  Some standards of fairness are codified into law.  More frequently, fairness takes the form of a set of expectations that govern our interpersonal relations.

And sometimes, as in today’s second reading, fairness takes on the added dimension of “compassion and mercy” demonstrated by people who “humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.”

© George Fournier, 2014

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 21, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

Sometimes you do things because you have to.  You have to mow your lawn.  You have to get enough exercise.  You have to go to work.  Sometimes these very necessary activities can feel like burdensome chores.

Sometimes you do things because you want to achieve a desired outcome.  You want to have pride in your lawn.  You want to feel healthy and keep yourself fit.  You want to earn enough money to pay the bills.

There is another way to think about why we do things.  Sometimes we do things simply for their own sake.  Not because a neat lawn will earn us the approval of our neighbors.  Not because exercise produces better health than sitting on the couch.   But simply because we want to something for its own sake.

When you enjoy what you are doing, when you immerse yourself totally in an activity, there is a greater likelihood that it will be done with passion and with genuine commitment.  The same can be said for lectoring.

People at Mass can sense how a lector approaches his or her ministry.  They can see whether the readings are proclaimed with passion and commitment.  They can see whether there is joy.  They can see whether your sharing of the Scriptures is performed for its own sake -  which is the real reason God called you to be a lector.

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First Reading  -  Isaiah 55:6-9

The Challenge of Trust

There is no need to rely on trust when you know something for certain.  Drop a ball from a building, and it will fall.  Touch a hot stove, and you will feel pain.  In these instances, there is no need to rely on trust to determine the outcome.  You already know for certain.

While they were in captivity in Babylon, the Jews had a good reason to be uncertain about their future and had a great need for trust.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel, which had been part of David’s kingdom, had disappeared over a hundred years before.  Then in 587 B.C. Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and their homeland was turned to ashes.  It was hard for the Jews to feel certain about anything.  It was also hard to put trust in a better future, especially since their current situation was their own fault.  They knew that their infidelity was the cause of their problems.

In the midst of these uncertainties, Isaiah had the difficult job of helping the Jews trust that God had not forgotten them, especially when he says, “Yes, in joy you shall go forth, in peace you shall be brought home” (c. 55:12).  In today’s first reading taken from the same chapter, Isaiah also adds an important caveat.  He advises against trying to triangulate God’s thoughts in order to figure out for certain how everything will work out, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

Trust and hope are essential components of our relationship with God.  We trust that salvation is what he intends for us.  With trust and hope, accompanied by humility, we reflect on the first verse of today’s reading, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near.”

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Second Reading  -  Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a

Choosing Life or Death

“And I do not know which I shall choose.”  In today’s second reading Paul is talking about life and death - his own life and death.  He says either one will be fine with him.

How can a real, flesh-and-blood person be on the fence when thinking about the possibility of his life or death?  Perhaps it is because Paul was accustomed to the idea of dying.  In Damascus, the first place he visited after his conversion, the Jews conspired to kill him.  By jumping over the city wall Paul escaped to Jerusalem, only to find that his life was again imperiled by another plot to kill him.  Throughout Paul’s missionary journeys, living on the edge became a regular part of his life.

Perhaps Paul became inured to the dangers.  Or, perhaps, Christ had become an integral part of Paul’s very being, “Christ will be magnified in my body.”

You can read in Chapter 11 of Second Corinthians about his “numerous brushes with death” which included several beatings and stonings and being shipwrecked three times.  Few people, yesterday or today, live Paul’s extraordinary kind of life.

The challenge for the rest of us is to recognize that it is God who determines our span of life.  And it is God who calls us to do something useful with the time he gives us.

© George Fournier, 2014 

The Exaltation of the Cross
September 14, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

Our Christian faith and the Scriptures that instruct our faith are rich in thought-provoking questions.  They are the kind of questions that can deepen our understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

Perhaps the Book of Job is best known for difficult questions that cause us to think.  Why did God allow the devil to afflict Job with every conceivable kind of suffering?  Even Job who resisted the temptation to turn away from God cannot answer that question.  Only Job’s foolish friends think they are sufficiently privileged to have all the answers.

The Book of Numbers is also filled with examples of people who had questions.  After living in exile in Egypt for more than 400 years, why was another 40 years added to the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land?  The question took on added urgency because every Israelite 20 years and above (with the exception of Caleb and Joshua), already knew that he or she would never make it to the Promised Land.  That is because the Israelites, who reacted in fear to the dangers that awaited them in the land of Canaan, were told by God that the desert would be their permanent home (ch.13-14).

Like many people depicted in the Scriptures, we too struggle with difficult questions.  Why must we live for a short, sometimes difficult time here on earth before seeing God face to face?  Why must the promise of the Beatific Vision be a matter of hope rather than a matter of certainty? Things would be so much easier if God had chosen another plan for our lives.  These are just some of the many perennial questions that are powerfully addressed throughout the Scriptures. 

Lectors have the responsibility to encounter the Scriptures with trusting hope and a belief that there is an inexhaustible number of things to learn. A lot of humility is required to have the faith of Job and not the presumption of his friends.  It is the same kind of humility needed for every authentic proclamation of the Scriptures.

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First Reading  -  Numbers 21:4b-9
Desert Food

Even before the events depicted in this weekend’s first reading, the Lord had already complained to Moses that the people whom he brought out of Egypt “have put me to the test ten times already and have not obeyed me” (ch.14 v. 22). Now, after a number of adventures in the desert, the Israelites are complaining again - this time about the “wretched food.”

Perhaps, it may appear that the Israelites are a fickle bunch who fail to recognize the beneficence of the Lord.  Or perhaps, as discussed in the above Reflection on Lectoring, they were just scared and filled with many uncertainties.  Being bitten by poisonous serpents probably did not do much for their confidence.

Perhaps today’s first reading might also legitimately suggest that the Israelites were certain about one thing - they needed God.

Lectors might do well to give the Israelites the benefit of the doubt.  Perhaps the stories about their grumbling may too easily suggest a one-dimensional response to the struggle for survival.  Perhaps also, the moral of the story found in today’s Scripture passage has many layers.

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Second Reading  -  Philippians 2:6-11

Exaltation

Today’s second reading is an old friend.  It is proclaimed every Palm Sunday.  In a slightly longer form, it will again be proclaimed in two weeks on the 26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  Why was this reading also chosen for this weekend?

Among all the beliefs held by Christians, the idea of an incarnate God who died on the cross is the most profound and the most resistant to simple explanations.  How and why did an eternal and transcendent God become a living human being who made the ultimate sacrifice?  Both his life and his death remain a mystery - not a mystery to be solved, but a mystery to inspire and give hope.

For many, the cross is too much of a mystery.  Even when they try, they are unable to reconcile the idea of God becoming a flesh-and-blood person who died horribly.

Paul acknowledges this difficulty when he says in First Corinthians, “We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (ch.1 v.23).  Then, two verses later he seems to revel in the counterintuitive proposition of God’s dying by saying, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

This weekend’s feast is called the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Exaltation is the perfect word.  The cross is a mystery not to be solved, but an event to be celebrated - an event that achieves salvation and causes every tongue to confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

© George Fournier, 2014

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 7, 2014

Reflection on Lectoring

Here is a short quiz lectors can complete in a minute.  

Without looking in your lector workbook, try to recall at least one of the readings you proclaimed during the current liturgical year.  Go ahead.  If necessary, you can take more than a minute.

Perhaps it might be easier if you thought about your all-time favorite reading.  While deciding, you might also consider what makes that reading the most memorable.

Are Scriptures that answer how to live most memorable?  For instance, in the second reading from the first Sunday in Advent, Paul advises us to, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:14).  Or do Scriptures that make you feel good remain with you longer? “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1-6).  Or do painful exclamations like last week’s outburst from Jeremiah leave a more lasting impression? “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped” (Jeremiah 20:7-9).  

Every reading has its own character, its own message, and its own power to inspire.  But, what none of them give us are simple answers.  If our response to the Scriptures is simple, and if we do not grapple with them to understand what they are saying, they are likely to be quickly forgotten.  

Perhaps we have been accustomed to hearing simple and familiar interpretations of Scripture.  However, a commitment to one’s faith also requires a commitment to pray and reflect on one of the most important wellsprings of that faith.  All of the readings for this weekend offer many thoughts and ideas for us to pray about.  As a result, all of this weekend’s readings have the potential to become very memorable.

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First Reading  -  Ezekiel 33:7-9
Forgiveness or Punishment

Among the not-so-simple questions addressed by Scripture is the question of justice or mercy, punishment or forgiveness.  Is a proportional “eye for an eye” what Scripture recommends?  Or is Jesus’ command to forgive one’s brother “seventy times seven” closer to the mark?  Do these Scriptural references to justice and mercy present an uncomfortable contradiction that we wish would just go away?  Or is there a value in the kind of uncertainty that leads to further discussion, even when clear answers are not always on the horizon?

All three of today’s readings can take us deeper into the question of justice and mercy.  What do you do when someone does bad things?  What options are available when that person refuses to listen?  Is there a duty to punish or a duty to forgive?

At the very least, today’s first reading suggests that there is a duty to warn.  In his book, Religion and Philosophy, English philosopher and historian, R.G. Collingwood relates some of the different approaches people have had to the issue of justice, but recommends that God may have the best idea: “God’s attitude towards the sins of men must be one which combines condemnation of the sinful will with love and hope for it” (p.180).

Are mercy and justice mutually exclusive?  Perhaps, at best, today’s first reading tells us that we have a mutual responsibility for each other.

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Second Reading  -  Romans 13:8-10
Grievance Upon Grievance

In Chapter 13 of Romans, Paul advises his readers about their obligations to civil authority and to the divine law contained in the commandments.  He makes it clear that violations of either one will subject the violator to negative consequences.

Paul also offers a way out of the cycle of evil-doing and punishment that seems beyond our control: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

The news today is filled with stories about someone or some group seeking retribution for the actions of others.  Grievances piled upon grievances.

There may be no quick solutions or easy answers.  Perhaps, however, one suggestion for a way out is to read with hope the last verse of today’s second reading: “Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.”


© George Fournier, 2014