A Close Look at Upcoming Sunday Readings, Focusing on the Lector's Proclamation
Resources for lectors at weekday mass
As noted here for a few months, a lector who reads these pages asked for similar information about the readings in the weekday lectionary. Numerous lectors made suggestions by email. Here they are:
Celina Galvan of the Vocations Office in the diocese of Austin, Texas, USA, suggested Daily Reflections (click here), from the website of Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Several readers pointed out that the texts of the daily readings are online, and organized by way of a clear calendar, at The U.S. Catholic Bishops' website, but there are no commentaries or lector's notes there. A very rich, but not inexpensive, printed resource, one that I've used in the past, is Celebration Magazine. To see a sample, click here. Celebration has come from The National Catholic Reporter for thirty-five years. The suggestion is from Stepanie Hagarty-Moening of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Bothell, Washington, USA. You might subscribe to the printed resource offered at Living with Christ, a publication from New London, Connecticut, USA. No samples are online, but the site says the magazine contains "an overview of the weekday readings and how they guide our 'living with Christ' for the week." The suggestion came from lector Bernie Embury of Saint Stephen's Church, Valley Center, California, USA. Another promising site is Presentation Ministries (click here). Note the << and >> chevrons on either side of the date at the top. They take you to the reflections for adjacent dates. A lector preparing for a future weekday can click through to a page covering readings quite far in advance. Sometimes the reflection covers only the weekday's gospel, not the first reading. That recommendation came from Allan T Kahn, whose email address suggests he's from Bethpage, New York, USA. E.M Keefe recommends these commentaries by Don Schwager, late of Detroit, Michigan, USA, and now of London, UK, on the lectionary's gospel passages, every day.Click on a Date to See Current Notes:
April 27, Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 1 or May 4, Feast of the Ascension
May 4, Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 10, Vigil of Pentecost
May 11, Pentecost Sunday
May 18, Trinity Sunday
May 25, The Body & Blood of Christ
A. The owner of the readings site withholds permission to link to the readings in frames, the way the Lector's Notes pages formerly did. You can still click on the citations on the Notes pages, and the readings will open in a separate window.
| More resources (Pronunciation guides, Lector Works (new, May, 2005) and other lector websites, great liturgical websites, parish lector schedules, etc.) |
| Search Lector's Notes by the specific Scripture passages covered |
| The complete collection of Lector's Notes |
| Lectionary readings only, current and near future dates |
New items on the Lectors' Dialogue page:
January, 2006: A reader challenges the author for encouraging lectors to sound too dramatic. "We are not thespians," he says. Lector's Notes author Greg Warnusz responds. Lector David Ford defends the Notes.
An adult lector makes a case for recruiting teenaged parishioners to serve as lectors. As of January, 2006, six lectors respond.
And one parish's very thorough answer to the questions posed here a while back, "How do lectors train and prepare in your parish? What do you ask of them week-by-week or month-by-month?"
Joe Moreira of Singapore has some very interesting thoughts on training lectors (new June 6).
New February, 2006: On the difficulties of scheduling and being scheduled.
Join the discussion on the Lectors' Dialogue page
What are Lector's Notes?
These notes try to serve the Church by helping lectors prepare to proclaim the Scriptures in our Sunday assemblies. For each day's first and second readings (and occasionally for the gospel), the Notes give the historical and theological background, plus suggestions on oral interpretation.Most people in a Sunday assembly hear the word of God only in that formal setting. Their only regular exposure to Scripture is from the lips of the lector and the preacher there. That lays a heavy responsibility on the lector; these notes aim to help you fulfill that responsibility. And if the Notes help a lector sound prepared, earnest and competent, they'll help the congregation decide to take the Scripture's lessons more seriously.
More, including a wish-list about the future of Lector's Notes, and the author's identity ...
A new feature in Lector's Notes (since December, 2006):
Very brief introductions to the readings for the congregation to hear. No preaching, not much detail, just enough information so that the people in the assembly will know the context from which the Scripture passage comes. I recommend that the presider read these from the presidential chair, one before each reading. They'll appear in a table on each week's Lector's Notes regular page.PRAYER OF A MINISTER OF THE WORD
(In Preparation)Lord, invest me with your power
as I prepare to proclaim the marvel of your message
I have prepared my reading,
I have tried to take within me
the meaning of what I am about to proclaim.
Help me to proclaim, not just with my lips,
but with my whole heart and soul.
Lord, make me a hollow reed
so that your voice will be heard by all who hear me.
Free me of excessive concern over my performance.
Convert my feeling of nervousness and
turn all my apprehension into an energy
for proclaiming your word with power and authority.
May your Spirit live in me and
fill the holy word that I proclaim.
From the lectors of Our Lady, Star of the Sea Parish, Singapore