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The Liturgy of the Word is the first major part of the Mass. The action of the gathered assembly at this point in the liturgy is to listen with reverence and attentiveness. The Liturgy of the Word begins with the First Reading and concludes with the Prayer of the Faithful.
The
power of the spoken word is at its greatest when
that word is the Word of God. Spoken in community, the Word stands on its
own dignity
In the past, Catholics were accustomed to "reading the Mass" when the presider spoke Latin and we followed along in our missals. But now that the Mass is celebrated in English, we can safely put aside the missalettes and devote our attention to listening to the Word being proclaimed. "Reading along" and "listening attentively" are very different activities and often have very different results. When I have my own copy of the text in hand, I am no longer dependent on the proclamation of God's Word to the community. I am independent. I can read it faster or slower than the lector; I can read it backwards or forwards; I can read something else totally, if I choose! I alone am in control of the Word. But, if I am at Mass for a spiritual encounter with the Living Word of God then I must surrender control to God. I must let God speak through the proclamation of the scriptures. If Christ were physically present in robe and sandals speaking to us at Mass, would any of us dare to follow along in a missalette? Certainly not! We are called to attentively listen to the Word of God and allow that Word to form, challenge, comfort and embrace us
"When
the Sacred Scriptures are read in the Church,
God himself speaks to his people, and Christ, present in
his own word, proclaims the Gospel. Therefore, all must listen with
reverence to the readings from God's
word,
for they make up an element of greatest importance in the Liturgy" (GIRM
no. 29).
The
way we Christians tell our story in liturgy owes
much to the ritual storytelling of the Jewish communities at the time of
Jesus. The scriptures of the Old Testament contain all types of literature
-narratives, poetry, prophecy, laws, and more.
These
were
proclaimed in the synagogue, listened to by
devout
Jews, including Jesus, and discussed among
all
for their meaning and implication for Jewish life. The
scriptures of the New Testament contain primarily letters and narratives
written to early Christian communities trying to remember the life and
ministry of Jesus and live his teachings in their lives. All these scriptures together make up our rich story
of faith.
GIRM Bulletin 13E Office for Worship, Archdiocese of Los Angeles Ó 2003, Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM. Used with permission.
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and is marked with a power that reaches into the hearts