There's a tie-in with the religious practices of post-exilic Jewish priests in the Book of Malachi and the Ministry of Lector. Temple worship was out of hand and filled with abuses. Priests were offering animal sacrifices from sick and diseased stock vs. healthy unblemished "prized" lambs as their ancestors once did. They were placing defiled food on the Lord's altar. 

In his compelling book, The Spoken Christ (Crossroads 1990), Fr. Willard Francis Jabusch gives an enlightening comparison with a lector and a captivating singer who enflames the hearts of his listeners: