Lectors

In the beginning was the Word
  and the Word was with God
  and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
  and without him, nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
  and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
  and the darkness has not overcome it.

-John 1:1-5

• The Word of God is not a thing, a book or a story
•  The Word of God is an act, a deed
•  The Hebrew word “dabar” – means both word and deed
•  Words are not just things that do other things - words DO things
•  When the word of the Lord is entrusted in the prophets, they become walking, talking – LIVING embodiments of it.

The word proclaim comes from the Latin pro meaning “before” and clamare meaning “to cry out.” The Lector proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ, making God present to the gathered community.

The ministry of lector is to proclaim the scriptures--First and Second Readings--so that, as the Second Vatican Council teaches,  "The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly so that a richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s word."

As in all the ministries of the parish, Lectors are called in the building up of the body of Christ.  They possess a strong faith in the Church and in the Word of God.  They share this faith by pondering and studying the Word before they proclaim the scriptures in the assembled faithful at Eucharist.  TThrough your proclamation, the Word of God is alive with power,achieving the sanctification of those to whom it is proclaimed and giving glory to God whose creative Word brought all good things into being.

Training  and the commitment to continuing formation are prerequisite before being commissioned for this ministry. 

"The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary, a WORD that will rouse them."

                -Isaiah 50:3