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Becoming the Best Lector You Were Created to Be

BY LIZ PARKER, WITH BILL AND MARY GRAHAM

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arishioners who participate in Living the Eucharist will be eager to hear you proclaim the Word of God effectively at Sunday Mass. They will come with high expectations. Why? Because many of them will have read and prayed over the Sunday Mass readings before they come to Mass.

Adults and teens participating in small groups will be praying over the Scripture passages for the upcoming Sunday using the lectio divina method. And many adults and teens will read two pages each day from the devotional booklet From Exodus to Easter: My Daily Journey Through Lent, which includes some reflections on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings.

People are hungry for God’s Word and as a lector you have the opportunity to meet, and even exceed, parishioner expectations. Through the power of the Holy Spirit you can offer each listener the opportunity for a new and lifechanging encounter with Jesus Christ!

received the call to share this gift with others! Like every good gift, what we do with it and how we take care of it defines how our gift will affect others.

Let’s begin with this simple realization. More than likely, many people in your congregation will read along from the missalette as the lector is proclaiming God’s Word.

Some parishioners will have read and meditated on the readings before coming to Mass. So, what is your role?

What do you bring to the ministry that the people cannot do for themselves?

The six principles below provide answers to these questions and put you on a pathway to becoming the best lector YOU were created to be. The first three principles are important to recognize and understand even before a practice reading takes place.

PROCLAMATION: noun: präk lə māSHən.

THE GIFT OF PROCLAMATION Have you ever thought of lectoring as a gift? It is, and if you’re a lector or considering the ministry, you have

A public or official announcement, especially one dealing with a matter of great importance.

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You Have Said Yes to God’s Call

Lectoring is a call to serve and an opportunity to share the Good News of our salvation in Jesus Christ. It is NOT reading; it is proclamation. Recognize and embrace the difference.

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Be Aware of the People Who are Listening

Do you ever arrive at a Sunday Mass with a load of worry or a burden on your heart? It could be the death of a loved one, a hardship in the family, or an illness. Nearly every member of your congregation brings some personal distress with them to Mass. Are you thinking about reaching them?

Do you want to bring them comfort? You can, through God’s Word. The Scriptures are powerful and each reading at Sunday Mass is there for a reason. The Word is meant to be heard and understood. Be aware of the people who need to hear it that day…in that hour…at that moment. God is depending on you to touch the hearts of his children!

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Pray

How often do you pray before you prepare for your reading?

Before approaching the ambo? Try it! The Holy Spirit is our partner in the process. Calling on the Holy Spirit as we prepare brings us to a deeper understanding of the message and our role as messenger. Calling on the Holy Spirit reminds us that these are not our words and they are not for our mere reading: they exist to change, penetrate, ignite, and inspire. We are vessels. We need to pray and call on the Holy Spirit to captain the ship and work through us to get God’s Word out to his people. God wants to implant divine truths in their hearts so they will bear fruit abundantly.

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Understand the Reading

If we were to open any good book and read a few sentences, how well could we explain their full meaning to others?

We couldn’t, and the same is true with a passage from the Bible. We can’t possibly proclaim a reading—at least not as we were called to do—without understanding its context.

What does that require? Open your Bible and read the assigned passage and the chapter it came from. What comes before the passage? What comes after? Take advantage of the opportunity for Bible study through the ministry of lectoring.

Your understanding of the context will bring deeper meaning to the assigned passage. Most of your congregation will not

have that advantage. Lectors are essential to bringing the full context of the passage to life.

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Understand How the Passage is Delivered

Once you have embraced the message and adopted it into your own heart, now it’s time to work on proclaiming it! Take a look at it again. Who is doing the talking? Is it narrative? Is there dialogue? Lectoring is not passive; it is active. In every passage there is a message eager to be brought to life. Here is a fun tip. Practice as though you were reading the passage to a congregation of ten-year-old children.

Keep in mind that the goal is to get them to understand fully what the passage is saying and be able to explain the message back to you. Try it! You’ll be surprised how your reading will change. Your interpretation and inflection will ultimately reflect your goal and if your goal is to get them to understand the message, you will read differently! God our Father sees each of us as his children and he definitely wants his message to reach us. Try this technique and bring that same desire for understanding to each person sitting in your congregation. It’s a gift you’ve been given; prepare to share it.

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Practice

Read to yourself to bring the passage into your heart. Read it out loud to proclaim it. Try different inflections in your voice. Is it a happy and promising passage? Do you sound happy and promising? The Bible IS emotional. Are you allowing your emotions to come through? Keep reflecting on the message and tap into the emotion of what the passage

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REFLECTION QUESTIONS n

What is this passage saying to me?

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How would I explain it to a 5th grader?

What is the message I believe the Holy Spirit wants to convey to the listeners?

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LOOKING FOR MORE ADVANCED TIPS? Learn more from proclamation experts Bill and Mary Graham. Read the articles below to help you bring out the best lector in YOU! is trying to convey. Do you have a videotape or audiotape recorder? Record yourself and take notes. Is the message coming through? Would you be interested in listening if it wasn’t you? How can you tweak your voice, your inflection or your speed, to help the listener better grab hold of the message? You can also read the passage out loud to a family member or friend and get their feedback. Practice!

Effective Oral Reading of Sacred Scripture (pages 4–5) Applying Your Skills: Basic Questions to Ask When Preparing to Lector (pages 6–7)

RECOMMENDED READING James A. Wallace, CSsR. The Ministry of Lectors.

Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004.

Don’t forget your 3 Ps: Pray, Prepare, and Practice

AUTHOR n Liz Parker, Partner and Executive Producer of SAGE Media Productions, has been working in the communications industry for more than 25 years. She is currently the Lector Coordinator at Jesus the Good Shepherd Parish in Owings, Maryland. Liz is the daughter of Bill and Mary Graham.

AUTHOR n William Graham has been a teacher and consultant in religious communication for 60 years at The Catholic University of America, the University of Notre Dame, the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and the North American College in Rome. He was co-founder, with Fr. John Burke, OP, of the National Institute for the Word of God. He also taught in (for 42 years) and chaired (for 15 years) the Drama Department at The Catholic University of America.

AUTHOR n Mary Graham has been a teacher of homiletics on the faculties of The Catholic University of America, the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD. She taught in week-long workshops at the North American College in Rome for five years, and gave numerous workshops for the National Institute for the Word of God. She has led workshops on lectoring for the Archdiocese of Washington since 1976.

Copyright © 2011 by Paulist Evangelization Ministries. Permission is granted to duplicate this article for educational purposes related to Living the Eucharist. Published by Paulist Evangelization Ministries, 3031 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017, www.pemdc.org

PH OTOS: W.P. W IT TM A N LI M ITED, PAGES 2 A N D 3.

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Basic Questions to Ask When Preparing to Lector

BY BILL AND MARY GRAHAM

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sking basic questions of the text that you will proclaim at Mass is an excellent way to prepare for your ministry. Complete the two exercises below. You can apply this method of preparation to any Scripture passage that you will proclaim as a lector.

Exercise 1 FIRST READING, SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B A reading from the first Book of Samuel 3:3b-10, 19 Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was.

The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”

Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”

“I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”

So he went back to sleep.

Again the Lord called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. You called me.”

But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son.

Go back to sleep.”

At that time Samuel was not familiar with the Lord,

because the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet.

The Lord called Samuel again, for the third time.

Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am.

You called me.”

Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the youth.

So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the Lord came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.

The word of the Lord.

BASIC QUESTIONS Action and Plot n

What is the action? What’s happening? n What are the changes in relationships? What are the conflicts? n Is there a turning point (crisis)? n What is the climax (high point of feeling, character, or logical development)?

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Who is telling the story? To whom?

Where and when was the story told?

Where and when did the story happen?

Differentiate the units of the story (scenes).

What is the setting of the story?

Characters n

What do the persons want? How do they feel?

Do their actions follow their words? n Do the persons sound as if they are really talking to one another? n

SECOND READING, FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, 1:1-7 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,

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The word of the Lord.

BASIC QUESTIONS Background n n n

Exercise 2

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among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Meaning for us?

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Who is doing the speaking? To whom? In what situation?

Why? To what end?

How? What literary form?

From where?

When?

Text n n n n n n n

What is the passage talking about?

What are the central points?

Where is the climax (high point of action)?

Where is the crisis (high point of emotion)?

How does the structure of the passage serve to highlight the main ideas?

How would you differentiate the thought groups (use / // ///)?

What are the important words to stress (key words) in order to bring forth the meaning more clearly?

(Underline key words, keeping in mind rules for contrast and echo as well.)

What feeling or emotion might support these ideas?

What is the Good News for these listeners here and now?

Bill and Mary Graham (See “Becoming the Best Lector You Were Created to Be,” page 3, for credentials.)

Copyright © 2011 by Paulist Evangelization Ministries. Permission is granted to duplicate this article for educational purposes related to Living the Eucharist. Published by Paulist Evangelization Ministries, 3031 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017, www.pemdc.org

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Effective Oral Reading of Sacred Scripture

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Good preparation includes:

An assimilation of the meaning of the words so that when we read we will be doing so with purpose and vitality. Good oral reading sounds like good, purposeful talk. When we read we know what we mean and mean what we speak. When bearing witness effectively, we are more aware of the listeners’ understanding than of our style. It takes a good deal of practice reading a passage out loud to get it to a level of vividness and directness.

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A thorough study of the texts and their meanings within the context of Scripture, i.e., knowing the sources from which the readings are taken, including what comes before and after the text to be read as well as the intent of the writer.

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he effectiveness with which each of us communicates the Word of God depends on many factors in addition to the basic need: to bear witness to the truth and power of the Word of God.

PREPARATION: PRAYER, STUDY, MEDITATION, AND PRACTICE Proclamation is a form of preaching that has the potential to beget and nourish faith.

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A realization of what the texts mean to us in our individual Christian lives. If the passage has no value or meaning for us personally, it is not likely that we will bear witness or communicate effectively. n

An understanding of the relation of the texts to the liturgy of which they are a part, i.e., why these readings were selected for this liturgy.

A habit of physical and vocal energy, which must be developed so that the value of the thought can be heard in the life of the sound.

Good preparation also includes awareness of: Intelligent phrasing and intonation. If you were asked to repeat the thought, because the listener did not understand what you said, how would you say it? Why not say it that way the first time? n

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Sustaining meaning in sound. Many readers allow their voices to drop in volume, pitch, and energy at the ends of sentences and phrases. Such readers have a habit of swallowing final words.

Articulating clearly. The words you speak must be unmistakably clear. Each word has its own individual shape and should be sounded in such a way that all who understand the English language will understand it.

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The value of recording the readings. After you have a sense of ownership of the meaning of the readings, record your proclamation in order to hear what listeners will hear when you read. When you record, do it early enough to allow time for additional practice, and give yourself permission to use your imagination in exploring and experimenting. n

COMMUNICATION: THE MOMENT OF PROCLAMATION 1

Speak to an individual. Most people listen as individuals to the meanings of scriptural texts. It is likely, therefore, that readers will communicate more clearly and effectively if they talk to individual listeners rather than to the “crowd.” The objective is to enter into the mind and heart of each one listening. If we are not talking to anyone it is relatively easy for everyone not to listen.

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Keep your head from bobbing up and down. The distance between your mouth and the microphone should not vary greatly throughout the reading. If it does, the effect may suggest that someone is toying with the volume control. If the lectern is too low, hold the book in your hands so that you can more readily see the words and the people without much movement of your head. n

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Select the outstanding phrases of the passage you are reading. Lift your head and look at someone (a different person for each key phrase) while speaking those phrases. Eye contact is person-to-person contact, and each time contact is made an image or a thought should be conveyed to that person.

Sense communication: be aware of the listeners’ comprehension and response. When we have something to say and need to say it, we are usually very aware of whether or not our listeners are “getting it.” Sustained concentration, physical energy, and clarity of speech are characteristics of effective oral communication.

Finally, trust preparation. There is no point in spending time in preparation, unless you trust that preparation. At the moment of communication, concentrate on sharing. If you spend most of your time remembering how you did it in practice you are not communicating: you are continuing to practice in public.

The question to ask yourself is not simply, “Did I have it?” but also, “Did they get it?”

THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD CAN TOUCH AND CHANGE THE LIVES OF THE READER AND THE LISTENERS Heavenly Father, your Sacred Scriptures reveal the Good News that you love us.

You have chosen us to reflect that love more abundantly by professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

May the Holy Spirit so transform our lives, that we increasingly proclaim the Good News to all creation.

We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Bill and Mary Graham (See “Becoming the Best Lector You Were Created to Be,” page 3, for credentials.)

Copyright © 2011 by Paulist Evangelization Ministries. Permission is granted to duplicate this article for educational purposes related to Living the Eucharist. Published by Paulist Evangelization Ministries, 3031 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017, www.pemdc.org