Every Mass is an opportunity
to draw closer to God.
to draw closer to God.
--St. Ignatius of Loyola
The Scriptures connect us to God, and Christ becomes present to us in a distinctive way when the Scriptures are proclaimed at Mass. Because we believe that the Scriptures are the Word of God given to us in writing, we trust that God speaks to us in them. This is true whether we’re reading the Bible privately, discussing a passage with a small group, or hearing the Sunday readings in church.
That said, I think that something special happens when we gather together in faith to listen to someone proclaim the Scriptures to us, something that doesn’t occur as readily when we’re reading privately or even taking part in a Bible study. My claim is that Christ becomes present to us in a special way when we hear the Scriptures in church because of how our intentions — what we anticipate and what we desire — are shaped by the liturgy.
To “read aloud” is simply to vocalize the words on the page, and anyone who happens to be listening might hear. But to “proclaim” is to communicate what has been written to an intended group of listeners. The lector proclaims the readings as a message intended for someone in particular: the assembled body of believers, gathering in Jesus’ name to hear the Word of God.
This is why hearing the Scriptures proclaimed in Church connects us to the presence of Christ in a special way. When we listen to the lector, we become conscious of ourselves gathered together as God’s intended audience: this assembled body, on this day, in this space. The reading of the Scriptures becomes an event in the life of the Church.
Here’s how Dei Verbum, Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, puts it:
“For in the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them; and the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her children, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life” (n. 21).
When we listen to the Scripture proclaimed to us, we remember again who we are and who God has called us to be.
--Jon Stotts
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