October 12, 2014
Reflection on Lectoring
What personal beliefs offer us reassurance that some
things are reliably true? What beliefs offer
us comfort when we are challenged by difficult questions? What beliefs can we count on to be as valid
today as they were yesterday?
Many people believe that we are born with an innate inclination
to believe as true what we hear and see.
Without it, we would all be skeptics, unable to trust anyone or
anything. As we grow older, however, that
desire to believe is tempered by experiences that teach us not to accept
everything at face value. The question then
becomes what beliefs stand the test of time?
All three of today’s readings are about beliefs. The kind of beliefs we can rely on when
things become difficult or confusing. The
kind of beliefs that help us understand our relationship to God. The kind of beliefs that stand the test of
time and circumstance.
Perhaps, almost paradoxically, these basic beliefs must
be affirmed with a degree of humility. Perhaps
it is best to avoid pride and not claim total understanding. Just as we cannot claim to understand our
totally infinite God.
How does the question of belief affect the way lectors
perform their ministry as they proclaim today’s readings? Consider how you would reassure someone in
doubt that there really is a loving God.
Consider how you would console someone in the midst of suffering with
the thought that God wants what is best for us.
And, just as important, how should we acknowledge, as did Paul, that
while on earth our understanding is limited and, “we see in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
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First Reading - Isaiah 5:6-10a
He Will Destroy Death Forever
If you want to understand today’s first reading from
chapter 25 of Isaiah, try reading chapter 24 first. Try reading it aloud, particularly verse 19
where it says, “The earth will burst
asunder; the earth will be shaken apart, the earth will be convulsed.”
When real horrors abound, like those described in chapter
24, we desperately need to hear the words: “the
Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face.”
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Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
Something to Believe In
“I
can do all things in him who strengthens me.
Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.” What powerfully revealing sentences. Paul says that God is enough for him. God stands by him in hard times and in good
times.
Nevertheless, in a heartfelt way, Paul also says he needs
his friends.
Paul is in prison, facing the prospect of death. Three Sundays ago, in chapter one of
Philippians we heard Paul say he was not sure whether he would prefer to go on “living in the flesh” or “depart this life and be with Christ.” Either way, however, he is firm in his belief
that God wants what is best for him. He
also knows for certain that the purpose of his life was intimately bound up
with the lives of all the people he met on his missionary travels.
© George Fournier, 2014
