UNDERSTANDING THE LITURGY by John J. O'Brien, C.P.

TELLING GOD'S STORY: THE PROCLAIMER

I regret that I did not know my maternal grandfather better. He was first generation Spanish-American. Grandpa was a great southpaw with a wicked curveball. He played piano and harmonica by ear. He had three wives (in succession; he was not a Mormon!). His last twenty years were lived in Tucson, Arizona. This got me to reading Arizona Highways. Each issue always has interesting articles and dynamite photographs.

The one photo I remember most was just inside the back cover. The photographer showed the face of an ancient Native American woman, probably Navajo. Her lovely hair was in a long grey braid. Her eyes radiated as she squinted into the rising sun. Wrinkles galore crisscrossed her serene face. A remarkably beautiful face, one I'll never forget!

I felt as if the whole story of her people was writ into the wrinkles of her face. She had seen it all, heard it all, stored it all, and told it all. I imagined her tribal wordsmith, an eldress crafting the lore, trading in tales old and new, and spinning wisdom-yarns for succeeding generations. Her photo told me that eldresses like her proclaimed and interpreted the sacred story of her people.

I figured that she was the perfect image of those who proclaim the scriptures at our liturgy. We are accustomed to calling these people "lectors, i.e., the public readers, the Catholic tribal storytellers.

What do these storytellers announce? As God's mouthpieces they announce God's involvement with creation, God's engagement with humankind, God's revelation for Jews and Christians. They tell us God's story.

This is not just a functional storytelling. The Word of God has to shape the spirituality of the reader/lector. These ministers need to refine their skills and they have to study the Bible personally and together. St. Malachy is blessed with two Bibles study groups conducted by skillful people who take study seriously.

The Bible has to be the principal prayer book for proclaimers. Its main characters have to become soul-friends for Catholic wordsmiths. The faith of Abraham and Sarah, the repentance of David, the wisdom sayings of Proverbs, the courage of the mother of Maccabees, the humility of Mary, the healing of Jesus, the bravery of Paul, the fidelity of Galilean women.

In short, the reader/lector has to pray over the Bible reading she or he voices. Its characters, its sentiments, its virtues, its attitudes, its advice, its dreams have to get inscribed on the tablets of the reader's heart and mentality. They have to eat the scrolls just as the prophets did.

This is serious business, isn't it? It means that those who give the Word have to let the ministry of the Word parse their lives so that they serve as living scrolls for the assembly. It means that no ministers call attention to themselves. Instead, all ministers serve as Jesus-the-teacher/-footwasher did. Ancient synagogues became centers of prayer and Biblical learning. Our congregations have to become centers where Jesus-the-teacher unrolls the scroll of God's wisdom for us and our tasks in the world.