This past Sunday, the New Testament reading was taken from the 8th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” What a powerful statement. At the Mass, I attended the reader read clearly and intelligibly. However, there was no depth of conviction behind the reading. As I listen to readers at Mass, I find that laments, advice, stories, visions of hope all sound the same.
Reading at Mass seems to be just that, reading aloud. Yet the 1975 General Instruction of the Roman Missal says that “those who exercise the ministry of reader must be truly qualified and carefully prepared in order that the faithful will develop a warm and lively love for Scripture from listening to the sacred texts.”
The task of the reader is not to read but rather, by reading, to elicit a love for Scripture in those who listen.
The obvious question is does the reader truly love Scripture? Ministry entails much more than simply volunteering. Ministry is a call. One who would respond to that call needs to develop skills to immerse oneself in Scripture, and to engage in a spiritual journey. No true ministry can exist without continuing spiritual formation.
The most moving reading that I have heard was several decades ago. I still remember it well. There was nothing dramatic about it; it was simply a carefully read Psalm 23 at a funeral Mass. I complimented the reader afterwards and he replied that he had prayed that psalm daily for the several months, ever since he had learned that his friend had terminal cancer.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” These words need to be read clearly; they do not need dramatic interpretation. What they do require is the conviction of faith.
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