Lector's Notes
of Lector's Notes
Lector's Notes | To the home page of Lector's Notes | |
Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, September 10, 2006 |
As is common, the first reading prepares the congregation to hear the gospel. Read the gospel passage yourself, and note the crowd's enthusiastic response to Jesus. That's the kind of enthusiasm you should try to capture in your proclamation of the first reading. Here's the context:
The Historical Situation: The Jews are returning to their homeland after decades of exile in Babylon. Their arrival causes great friction with other tribes already there, especially the Edomites. (Sounds familiar, even in the 21st Century C.E., doesn't it?) A poetic prophet, steeped in the theology and language of the original Isaiah, tells the people what God is making of their return, and why they should be confident. The passage is similar in spirit to Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11, covered in Lector's Notes on last December's Second Sunday of Advent.
(Click here for a very compressed history (250 words) of the Israelite people, from Abraham, through the Exile, up to the time of Jesus.)
Your Proclamation: How would the prophet have sounded? He spoke to a weary, wary people, but he had reason to be enthusiastic. He's reporting what he's been told to say by God. When you say God is coming "with vindication," remember what vindication meant for these people: liberation from alien captors who had mocked and subjugated them for two generations, return to the promised land. Vindication is more than a word.
Pause after that sentence. Then predict the healings and natural wonders with amazement in your voice. Every word in the sentence about the lame is a single syllable; the sentence begs for a rapid, staccato pronunciation, with emphasis on "leap". In contrast with "burning sands," say "pools" with a soothing sound. This is poetry. Art is the marriage of content and form. Make it sound like what it means.
Be sure you know the meaning and pronunciation of recompense and of steppe if they appear in your church's lectionary translation.
The Background: In the very practical pastoral letter of James, (introduced in last week's Notes), these paragraphs make a simple point about how members of the church should treat others, whether the others are rich or poor.
Your Proclamation: But the central sentence is anything but simple; it's sixty-seven words long. So study it carefully beforehand, deciding where to pause and where to switch between contrasting tones of voice. Your goal should be to paint, in the minds of the listening congregation, a picture of the offense described, and then pronounce James' judgment on that offense. Practice it before a family member or friend who is not armed with a missallette, until that person sees the picture clearly and understands why it's condemned.
It will help your proclamation if you can recall suffering or witnessing the kind of discrimination that James is denouncing. Are you, or were you ever, a poor person humiliated by someone's favoritism toward others? Have you felt compassion for a specific person so treated? James wasn't writing speculative theology, but reacting to real hurts inflicted on real people, and calling real Christians to a higher level of charity and responsibility. If you have real memories of similar events, let them enrich your proclamation.
The lectionary (the version for Catholics in the U.S., anyway), has a paragraph break after the long description of the ugly behavior. Pause there. Let your listeners answer in their hearts the accusation of James. Let the silence become uncomfortable.
Then proceed with a change of tone. You're back to using logic again. "Didn't God choose the poor to give them faith and the kingdom?" You've made James' argument in a second, convincing way.
| Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular.
Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date." | |
| Lutheran pastor and college teacher Dan Nelson's notes for a study group. | Column of Father Francis X. Cleary, S.J., from 2003. Father Roger Karban's column from 2003 and his year-2000 column and, finally, his column from 1997. |
| The Text This Week; links to homilies, art works, movies and other resources on the week's scripture themes | Saint Louis University's excellent site for Sunday liturgy Of the four main sections (each containing several essays) on this Sunday's page, lectors will want to "Get to Know the Readings," while everyone, lectors included, can profit from "Praying toward [this] Sunday" and "Spirituality for [this] Sunday." And there are seven worthy links for those planning "Music for [this] Sunday's Mass." |
The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above.