I’m at The University of Notre Dame’s Symposium on Campus and Young Adult Ministry called Stewards of the Treasures of Our Faith. They do this every three years and I’m doing a response to a keynote and a workshop.
Yesterday we were treated to a keynote by J. Glen Murray who is a noted Jesuit liturgist and perhaps the most enthusiastic man I have ever met. He also has a great DVD called “Why We Go To Mass” which is well worth buying.
He talked on liturgy and gave a great image of the ideal lector and cautioned those of us who read along in missalettes: “Lectors are on fire for the word and we should watch them burn. Therefore, we should listen and not read.”
I slowly walked to the mic to ask a question:
“Fr Murray, I love that image of lectors as people who are on fire and that we should watch them burn. However, it has been my experience that there are lectors that dare I say I’d like to set on fire!”
(audience in hysterics and Fr Murray laughed a huge belly laugh. I was so proud of myself).
I went on. “So when someone doesn’t have your gift for proclamation, is it ok them for us to pick up a missalette, a Magnificat or even use an iPhone app?”
His response was a great challenge. “Well, first and foremost, lectors of course should be properly trained. But also we need to prep for mass by reading the scriptures before we go to mass so that there are no surprises at mass. So we can listen and see what pops out at us this time around.”
Wishful thinking for most, but a solid challenege for us all. We can find te daily readings in Magnificat or on the bishops website.
Are we “On fire” with a love for scripture, with a heart for exploring scripture? Or are we boring and sit through a reading half-heartedly barely paying attention?
Or do we need to be set ablaze?
Today let us pray that we can indeed have a heart on fire for scripture. May we grow in understanding for scripture and for God that we might hear a word from the Lord to rouse our weariness.
Pictured below: Evening prayer at the grotto.
