Are Lector Saints Important?

I have a prayer I say each time before I read at Mass:

Lord, please help me to read my best in order that Your Word is no longer on the page, but instead in the hearts, minds, and souls of those who hear me proclaim. Amen.

It is short, but it helps to center me and defines my role in the lector ministry I perform. I have seen a lot of other prayers out there on the web and I'm sure that each lector has their own prayer they say before reading.

But today I was looking at the list of lector saints I compiled years ago for a short publication that is now available on the website in the right column titled "Lector Saints."  I realized that they all lived in the early years of the Church. They are all men and the were all probably preparing to become priests. At a time when few people could read and write, the lector was essential because he read the Word of God to the people and probably, at least in some areas, fulfilled some clerical duties, perhaps legal in nature. But these saints are not, I think, too far back in time and too far removed from the duties of today's lectors to be worthwhile examples for the twenty-first century lector.  How are they still relevant? Well:

1. The lector saints had to be familiar with Scripture, not just the passages they read at Mass. Lectors today are supposed to also be familiar with Scripture and know what is going on before and after the passages they read at Mass.

2. The lector saints were respected by the people (remember, most who could not read) and were seen as authorities in teaching these same people what the Scripture meant. Today's lectors are in a similar situation. Few homilies are preached by bishops, priests, or deacons that take into account and explain both readings and Gospel, so it is the lector's job to make sure the correct emphasis is placed on words and phrases, that words are pronounced accurately, and that alliteration, inflection, and other rhetorical devices are adequately used. So preparation for today's lectors is necessary, just as it was for the lector saints.

3. The lector saints saw what they did and who they were as a ministry serving God through service to His people. Today's lectors have the same mandate in the ministry they are called to.  A lector must work to be a good lector.  Just standing up and reading on Sunday isn't enough. A lector must read the passage they will be proclaiming many times beforehand, spend some time reading before and after that passage in their Bible, and practice proclaiming out loud.

The lector saints, like other saints for other purposes, are examples for today's lectors.  We can take their lives and deaths and make them an inspiration for us.

Continuing Faith Formation

Some years ago, I was a lector at a parish in Mississippi.  This parish had a lot of small faith communities, groups of five to eight persons who met regularly to discuss their faith and spirituality. I was in one such group and it was quite an experience. I grew so much during that year and a half.  My group consisted of four women and three men, married and single, young and old, who met one hour each week. We discussed the readings for the upcoming Sunday Mass and how they played out in our lives.

I recently read two articles somewhere on the web (I didn't bookmark them and now can't find them, but I will!) that both argued that lectors need to be constantly vigilant to improve their spirituality in order to prevent them from becoming automotons that just read from the Lectionary and instead become men and women who proclaim the Word of God in a manner that the Word is no longer on the page in front of the lector, but instead is in the minds, hearts, and souls of the assembly who just heard the lector proclaim.

I like the idea of lectors getting together to assist each other to become better lectors. I know it is very common in parishes of mid- to large sizes for the lectors to not know each other more than just on a "hi, how are you?" basis before or after Mass.  At some parishes, the lectors have all been reading at Mass for ten years or more and there is no new lector talent coming up the ranks.  Is this because of a stagnancy in the ministry at those parishes?  Is the reason why no new lectors are coming forward because there is no dynamic spiritualism in the lector cadre at the parish and potential lectors see this and don't want to become "old fuddy-duddies" like the ones they see week after week at Mass?

I think that spiritual formation is scary. I think that spiritual formation is important.  I think as Catholics that we need to recognize that spiritual formation cannot take place by oneself, but must take place in community, especially in small faith communities.

So I took a step forward today and took a risk (something I'm not good at doing) and asked the lectors in my parish if they might want to join me for no more than an hour per week to meet and discuss our ministry, the upcoming Sunday readings, and possibly some work on the Liturgy of the Word, lectors, or whatever.  Now I just await any responses.

Training: Who Needs It? Who Wants It?

In my past, while working with lectors in other parishes in which I participated, I found the idea of training or "enhancement" of lectors something no current lector wanted to do. They knew what to do and they did it their own way. Now that I am more mature and have been gifted this new lector coordinator position through the grace of God, I want to find a way to bring some new life into a lector ministry at a parish where most of the lectors have been doing this for five years or more, some for ten years or more.

But how do I get to the point where the lectors WANT to be trained, want to learn to bring a strong spirituality to their ministry?  How many lectors actually take steps to grow as lectors?  I don't know the answer to either question, but I am open to input.

When I began as a lector in the small parish I grew up in, in small town Colorado, I was told what to do (when the stand, when to bow, when to read), but I was given no formation training.  All the person who trained me cared about was the mechanics. I actually remember thinking, "she sure wants to get through this fast. It must be a burden to her, to have to train me."  That is an attitude I do not have when training lectors. I sure hope I don't come off that way, at least.

I began public speaking in high school and have carried it out into my 40s.  I was a high school and collegiate debater and love talking (ask any of my relatives!).  I see my gifts for public speaking, for being comfortable speaking to crowds, and for being a Word Nerd (Thank you, Koni, for that moniker) as gifts from God that need to be put to good use.  One of the main ways I put these gifts to use is by being a lector.  And I love it!

When I talk to lectors, I see that most of them have similar feelings, even going so far on occasion to say that their being a lector in their parish is a "calling" from God to serve their liturgical community through the proclamation of the Word of God.

I pray nightly now that I may be used by God as His instrument to use the talents and gifts He has provided me to make myself a better leader, make myself a better lector, and help other lectors make themselves better. Now I just need to formulate a plan for doing so.

Lectors Love Being Lectors

Our parish has had the same four people reading at the five weekly daily Masses for over a decade now. I was tasked with fining other lectors to supplement this small pool.  And I did!  I was hoping to find one or two more, but I found four more morning Mass lectors (Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri) and three more Wednesday evening Mass lectors.  What a find!  I had hoped for one or two, but I never though there was so much interest.  When you open up the opportunities for lectors, those who really love our ministry step up and step into the role of daily Mass lector.  And none of the new ones seem to be about either reading every other week (for mornings) or every four weeks (for Wednesdays). 

I am surprised that other lectors seem to have the same "feeling" I do about being a lector.  It isn't just something we do to help out, it is a ministry, a ministry of proclaiming God's Word to his People. It isn't just reading, it is being a conduit, a tool for God.  And we just love doing what we are doing.

Fellowship for Lectors, One Relationship At a Time

I have been the lector coordinator at my parish for about 60 hours now.  Yes, just over two days.  Already, I have learned that not everyone is addicted to email as I, so I'm going to have to pick up the phone tomorrow and this weekend and call those lectors who haven't responded to my call for verification of email, phone number, etc.

But today, at daily Mass, we had what I am calling the first success in this new ministry of mine. Thanks to the Lord, we now have two groups of lectors for daily Masses.  There was some resistance at first, and it may not all be gone, but the new daily Mass lectors are now part of a buddy system.

As a lector for 25 years myself, the only part of the ministry that has always bothered me is that it is typically a loner ministry. What I mean is that I read my reading on the day scheduled and have little if any interaction with other lectors. But that has changed at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Milton, Florida, at least a little.

The parish has had one set of four lectors for over a decade, who together read the readings at all daily Masses. Now we have two sets, in Group A and Group B.  The groups alternate weeks. But if you miss a day, for whatever reason, then your "buddy," the person who reads the same day as you but is in the other group, takes your place. And on solemnities (like tomorrow's Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), you both read together.  What I saw today was readers for the same day, including myself, pair up with their "buddy" and exchange contact information and get to know each other.  So there is fellowship, even if it is just a little, at our parish among some of the lectors. 

First Post

As a former educator and a current author and editor, I always like the idea of sharing bits of myself and my experiences with others. In no way do I claim to be an expert at being a Catholic lector. Nor do I have any illusion that I am even close to perfect in this regard. But I was a high school and collegiate debater and a pretty good public speaker for many years.  I have studied, as have other lectors, the many writings on becoming better lectors and I want to share some insights into this ministry that has a long history in the Catholic Church.

To that end, this blog will not be a place to complain or present/discuss controversy. Instead, it will be a place to muse on the beauty that is the Roman Catholic liturgy and our place in that liturgy as lectors, lay people called by God to proclaim His Word to the people in the pews.

Please come and join me in my new role as lector coordinator in my parish, with all the missteps I am sure I will make along this new path.  My journey as both a Catholic and a Catholic lector continues down this road we call my life.  Travel with me.

I will be presenting reflections on liturgical documents about lectors, the Lectionary, and the Liturgy of the Word. I will discuss the lectors who became and are saints in the Catholic Church. I will comment on writings by others (on the web) about being a lector. 

Lectors are part of a 2000 year tradition that started with Jesus, Our Lord, reading in the synagogue from the Book of Isaiah.  I only wish to add my two cents worth to the two millennia of dialog on this subject.