May 4, 2014
Reflection on Lectoring
How do you confront anonymity?
There was once a young man in his early twenties who
often stood at the Atlantic Avenue subway station in Brooklyn at midnight after
ensuring that his future wife had returned home safely. At that time of night anonymity was something
he worked hard to achieve. It was better
if no one approached him, because nothing good would come of it.
People who encounter strangers must deal with conflicting
feelings about anonymity. In the song Sounds of Silence Paul Simon plaintively
asks anyone who will listen: “Take my arms that I might reach you, take my
words that I may teach you.” But he also
acknowledges that, “My words, like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the
wells of silence.”
At Mass anonymity can be painful. It can drive people away. It is the opposite of worship. It is the opposite of ministry. It has no part in the ministry of lectoring.
How does a lector confront anonymity? How does a lector reach out his or her arms
so that his or her words do not fall like silent raindrops?
There is a surprising power that comes from
vulnerability. It takes people by
surprise. They are more accustomed to seeing
polished presentations. They are more accustomed
to hearing well crafted messages designed to achieve a desired effect. Whenever people encounter a message that has
no embellishments and no intent to dictate or manipulate, they are caught off
guard.
The opposite of anonymity is vulnerability. It is what makes reaching out to others
possible. Reaching out, whether at Mass
or at a subway station in Brooklyn, involves being vulnerable and accepting its
risks.
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First Reading - Acts of the Apostles 2:14, 22-23
Listen to My Words
You know the story.
Peter was a simple fisherman. He
often said awkward things that revealed his lack of understanding. He even said tragic things that revealed his lack
of courage: “I do not know the man” (Matthew
26:74). Yet here he is on Pentecost standing in front of a great mass of people
saying, “Listen to my words.”
What would cause anyone to listen to a person like Peter? Especially those in the crowd who had just
killed Jesus, “using lawless men to
crucify him”?
The Acts of the Apostles tells us that the apostles “were all filled with the holy Spirit”
(2:4). Perhaps that was enough to
transform Peter into a great orator.
Perhaps he effortlessly became a master of public speaking with the
knowledge and vocabulary of a rabbi.
Or perhaps with the help of the Holy Spirit he learned to
speak from his heart without artifice or polish, and that was what he needed
most.
As a lector, as you prepare for your proclamation of this
reading, imagine what Peter’s transformation might have looked like. The ability to engage large numbers of people
with spoken words was essential if the young community of believers was to grow
and prosper. Perhaps there is much that
speaking from the heart can teach all of us today.
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Second Reading - 1 Peter 1:17-21
Dysmas Leads the Way
In his book Death
on a Friday Afternoon Rev. Richard John Neuhaus offers us a powerful reason
to hope for salvation by looking at the promise Jesus made to the good thief
while hanging on the cross. Neuhaus
writes, “Traveling in the ragtag company of those on the way to paradise and
seeing Dysmas up there in the lead, we sense something of the logic of
salvation that should include everybody.
If Dysmas, why not everybody?”
Father Neuhaus is not suggesting that hell does not exist. Rather he is saying, as did Pope John Paul
II, that the Church has never declared any individual person to be there - not
even Judas. As today’s second reading tells
us, our belief in salvation must also be combined with real hope because our “faith and hope are in God.”
To prepare for this proclamation it might be helpful to
read Lamentations 3:21-26 which in part says,
But
this I will call to mind; therefore I will hope:
The
Lord’s acts of mercy are not exhausted,
his
compassion is not spent;
They
are renewed each morning --
Great
is your faithfulness!
If the hope of
salvation was offered to a thief like Dysmas, perhaps we can hope that
everybody will choose to follow his lead into paradise.
© George Fournier, 2014
