The Lector proclaims the Word in the first two scripture readings and leads the Prayer of the Faithful. When there is no deacon the Lector will process in with the Book of Gospel, and place it on the stand on the altar.
When you answer the call to be a minister of the word, you enter a deeper relationship with the Word of God as revealed in Sacred Scripture. You take upon yourself the duty and privilege of bringing the printed word to life. Your ministry as reader gives voice to God’s healing and strengthening word as it goes forth irrevocably to the ends of the earth, achieving the purpose for which God sent it. In a very real sense, you become a prophet, one who speaks for God. You become another John the Baptist, preparing the way of the Lord, making crooked paths straight. You take upon yourself the task and joy of delving ever deeper into the mystery of God’s presence in the world through the revealed word.
The reader proclaims the word to the assembled faith community. It’s that simple and sublime. The ministry is a simple one, though not in the sense that it’s easy to do well or requires little energy or effort. Simplicity refers to the mode of the ministry, the reader’s ability to proclaim the word transparently so that the word itself, and not the proclaimer, is in the foreground.
