April 13, 2014
Reflection on Lectoring
A recently published survey by the Pew Research Center
found that only 40 percent of American adults who identified themselves as
Catholics attend Mass weekly. What was
not measured was the degree of “active participation” experienced by those who
did attend. Perhaps it is too difficult
to measure precisely what active participation means.
We often use the phrase “going to church” to describe
what active “church goers” do each week.
There is, however, a difficulty with that phrase. It leaves open the possibility that after
“going to church,” worshipers simply “leave church” after Mass, making
church-going just another compartmentalized weekly activity.
Perhaps instead of “going
to church,” active participation might better be described as “becoming
church.”
In a Lenten talk titled, “My Search for God,” Desmond Tutu
said, “A solitary Christian is a contradiction in terms.” He also quoted an African axiom that says, “A
person is a person through other persons.”
The mission statement of my parish describes us as “a
welcoming community sent to serve as Christ did.” In making this statement we declare that our
individual identities are intimately bound up with our continuing identity as a
Christian community. We “become church”
only when we become church to each other whenever we meet.
Lectoring is a true ministry because we participate in a genuine,
caring relationship with those with whom we worship. By our example of caring we also extend an
invitation to all those who merely “go” to church to “become” church
themselves.
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First Reading - Isaiah 50:4-7
Servant
Aelred Rosser’s comprehensive book A Well-Trained Tongue: Formation in the Ministry of Reader echoes
the first verse of today’s first reading.
However, there is a danger in viewing this reading as a paean to the
courage and skill of the people who serve as lectors.
The first reading is taken from Isaiah’s third Suffering
Servant song. The servant is a disciple
with a mission to carry God’s message to his people, regardless of the hardships
encountered. It prefigures the
suffering of Jesus who is the ultimate witness of God’s concern for his
children.
It is understandable that the assembly might at first
have some difficulty recognizing whose back is being beaten and whose face is being
struck by buffets and spitting. However,
the first reading can help prepare the assembly for today’s reading of the
Passion by pointing toward Christ, the ultimate suffering servant.
The first reading can also serve as an introduction to
the second reading and to the idea of kenosis,
a Greek term for emptiness or self-emptying.
Isaiah’s suffering servant does not rebel or turn back. Rather the servant says, “I have sent my face like flint.”
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Second Reading - Philippians 2:6-11
Slave
“Rather
he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness. . .” Not only did Christ come in human likeness,
he came as a human person totally committed to the welfare of other human persons. He held nothing back. He committed himself to total and complete kenosis for the sake of others.
In the first reading a few Sundays ago Isaiah wrote, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without
tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget I will never forget you” (49:15). Human beings, especially mothers, can
experience powerful feelings of kenosis
or self-emptying for the sake of their children. But as Isaiah says only God can do this
unconditionally. When Jesus says, “Your will be done” in today’s Passion
reading he is demonstrating the dual qualities of servant and slave. All for the sake of his children.
Perhaps, understanding how the infinite Creator of
everything could become both servant and slave is beyond human
comprehension. Perhaps, a complete
appreciation of the depth and meaning of this second reading is also beyond our
complete understanding.
However, the job of the lector is never to make the
Scriptures transparently clear, or to dispel all mystery. Nevertheless, when people in the assembly begin
to explore the mystery and meaning for themselves the proclamation of the
Scriptures can become a catalyst for active prayer and participation.
© George Fournier, 2014
