Lay Lectors In Canon Law

I have recently become re-interested in canon law.  As it applies to lectors is this day's post topic.

Caveat: the Church has what are called instituted readers (called instituted lectors in canon law) and commissioned lay lectors. Unfortunately, the Church, for once, is not consistent in calling the instituted minster one thing the commissioned minister another, though the commissioned minister is almost always called a lector. Instituted readers are created by a bishop in a special ceremony; commissioned lectors are commissioned once a year by their parish priest.

Code of Canon Law As It Relates to Lectors (italics are mine)

Can. 230  §3. When the need of the Church warrants it and ministers are lacking, lay persons, even if they are not lectors or acolytes, can also supply certain of their duties, namely, to exercise the ministry of the word, to preside offer liturgical prayers, to confer baptism, and to distribute Holy Communion, according to the prescripts of the law.

Can. 231 §1. Lay persons who permanently or temporarily devote themselves to special service of the Church are obliged to acquire the appropriate formation required to fulfill their function properly and to carry out this function conscientiously, eagerly, and diligently.

Okay, so the first section above (Canon 230) talks about lay persons being allowed to exercise the duties of lay lector (commissioned) when an instituted reader is not around.  Easy one.  The hard one is next:

Canon 231 is very specific about lay persons exercising ministries, including lector, as going through appropriate formation.  This is tricky because it could mean simple getting taught the basics of the procedures for reading at one's parish - whether both lectors go up to the ambo at the same time, when to bow or genuflect, what to do with the microphone, to turn the page or not to turn the page.

But I think Canon 231 should be interpreted a bit more strictly to mean that formation is a continual process. Some of the liturgical documents (which I will discuss in future posts) talk about their being a spiritual and Scriptural formation for lectors.  I think that is what this means.  

The questions that every lector has, though, is what these mean and when are they supposed to take place? That really depends on the parish, I guess.  On whether the pastor wants lectors to receive annual or semi-annual training and enrichment for their ministry.  On whether someone is available to do so for a parish or not.

Regardless of how much formation is necessary, as discussed in my last post, formation and preparation are not the same thing, though preparation leads one on to formation, something much more spiritual than merely preparing to read Scripture at Mass.