Reading God's Word

It is well-known that our parish priests encounter no difficulty in finding readers for the Liturgy of the Word during the celebration of the Mass. The great majority of Maltese are literate.

But the problem lies in the fact that some readers seem unaware that God communicates through them while they are reading. Or, if they are aware, they do not act as if they believe it. The assembly remains unmoved and the Word of God falls on stony ground

Let's take Sunday. Of the three readings which are assigned, two are reserved for lay readers; then the presiding priest reads the Gospel. The proclamation of the Word, in other words, is two-thirds a lay activity. Through these lay people, God speaks a living, active word which, even if it is heard for the thousandth time, should sound as new as when it was first proclaimed.

Readers should understand that God speaks through them, that God actually uses their voice to communicate with his gathered people. Once they are convinced of this, readers begin to prepare better. They spend time trying to understand the meaning of the assigned passage, to find ways to bring it alive, to pray with the text and rehearse it aloud often before Sunday.

Readers must know that they are not reading at all, but proclaiming the Word of God. Training in public speaking and voice projection may certainly help, but it is prayer that enables readers by the grace of the Spirit to stand before the assembly strong and confident in the Lord to deliver the powerful Word of God

The congregation also needs to understand its role during the Liturgy of the Word. In many churches, some bury their heads in the leaflet Jum il-Mulej which keeps them from hearing the Word as it is spoken - a bad habit that needs to be shaken off. Liturgical leaflets may be helpful as study aids, for reading Scripture before and after the Sunday celebration. But used during the Liturgy of the Word, they are like a fence between the reader and the assembly.

According to the General Introduction to the Lectionary, the assembly is to listen, because the Word of God continues to come to the faithful by hearing. When they hear, they "receive the power to respond" to the Word of God "actively with full faith, hope and charity through prayer and self-giving, and not only during Mass but in their entire Christian life".

In the Acts of the Apostles we read that the faithful gathered to listen to Scripture, discuss the disciples' experience of Jesus, break bread and share his cup in his memory, and go forth, reinvigorated, to spread the Gospel.

When the Word of God is delivered with conviction and grace in the Spirit, people who assemble in our churches for Mass begin to come in the expectation that God is going to speak to them. And He does. The difference is, this time He finds them on the edge of their seats.