It Takes a Well-Trained Tongue
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The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to answer the weary a word that will waken them . . . Isaiah 50:4
What gives the lector a well-trained tongue goes far beyond speaking skills and knowledge of Scripture. We proclaim God’s word as an invitation to our listeners, not as a monologue or a soliloquy. We speak with them, not to them or at them.
This takes a sensitivity toward the weary of our modern-day life: worshippers in the daily grind of making a living during tough economic times, those who've lost a loved one, are ill, are uncertain about their future, whose marriage is on the rocks, whose child is on drugs, and so on.
They are worshippers desperate to hear God's word, and who depend on the lector to speak it to them in a way that will waken them and send them home feeling better.
Great lectors can envision themselves figuratively "washing the feet" of their listeners with God's word.
They can visualize the humility and love that Jesus showed when he actually did wash the feet of his apostles; then work at proclaiming their readings with the same humility and love; and in so doing, touch the hearts and minds of their listeners more deeply.
And they also speak to the unweary: the happy and successful who come to Mass and are anxious to absorb God's word with joy and thanks. One of the great skills of a lector is to be able to speak God's word in an all-inclusive way that will lift and inspire everyone, from the downtrodden to the uplifted.
