OUR LADY QUEEN OF

PEACE

Pastoral Area

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Event for Parish Readers of the Pastoral Area

15th October 2014

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AGENDA

1. OPENING PRAYER

2. ROLE OF THE READER

3. REFLECTIONS

1. Exodus3

2. Timothy 2:15

3. John 14; 26

4. John 5:39:-40

4. ASPECTS OF TRAINING & TECHNIQUE

5. QUESTIONS

6. CLOSING PRAYER

7. REFRESHMENTS

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OPENING PRAYER

A PRAYER FOR READERS

Praise to you, Lord God,

king of the universe,

and all glory to your name.

I praise and thank you for calling me

to proclaim your Word to your beloved people.

Open the hearts of all who worship with us,

so that they may hear Your voice when I read.

Let nothing in my life or manner disturb your people

or close their hearts to the action of your Spirit.

Cleanse my heart and mind,

And open my lips so that I may proclaim Your glory.

All praise to you, heavenly Father,

Through the Lord Jesus

in the Holy Spirit,

now and for ever. Amen

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THE ROLE OF THE READER

THE READER IS GOD'S SPOKESPESON

He/she speaks God's word not their own. This should be a reassuring

insight for the shy or nervous reader. He/she should see their

greatest responsibility as letting God speak through them. The

Vatican Council (Liturgy Constitution, nos 7, 33) is careful to stress

that the message of the reader is God's. It follows that the reader

ought to try very hard to be a help rather than a hindrance to the

articulation of God's word by the holiness of their own life, by their

prayerful preparation of the text, by their way of proclaiming, and

by their manner and dress. Nothing about them should divert the

attention of the people from the message to the messenger.

St Augustine

Take and read Augustine came to his well know personal crisis in the garden of his

house in Milan. There he heard a voice coming from a nearby house

chanting as if it might be a boy or a girl, repeating over and over

again "Take and read, take and read." He interpreted these words

as a divine command, opened the Bible, and read the first passage on

which his eyes lit:

Not in riots and drunken parties, not in debauchery and indecencies,

not in strife and rivalry, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make

no provision for the flesh in its lusts (Rom 13.13.-14)

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REFLECTION 1

Exodus 3 Moses

The mission of Moses And Yahweh said ‘I have seen the miserable state of my people in

Egypt. I have heard their appeal to be free of their slave- drivers.

Yes, I am well aware of their sufferings. I mean to deliver them out

of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them out of that land to a

land rich and broad, a land where milk and honey flow, the home

of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the

Hivites and the Jesuites. And now the city of the son of Israel has

come to me, and I have witnessed the way in which the Egyptians

oppress them, so come, Isend you to Pharaoh to bring the sons of

Israel, my people, out of Egypt.’

Moses said to Gog! ‘Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the sons

of Israel out of Egypt?', ’I shall be with you’ was the answer ’and

this is the sign by which you shall know that it is I who have sent

you...After you have lead the people out of Egypt, you are to offer

worship to God on this Mountain.’

The Commission of God to the Inadequate.

An ordinary person is called aside to perform a special role in

relation to God's message. He hesitates in fear. He feels unpre-

pared, inadequate, unqualified. In his helplessness, he feels the

need of God. God gives him confidence by promising to be close.

God teaches him to rely on Divine Power. God asserts that it is

Divine commission not a personal choice. Only in this realization

will the person do Gods work.

Lord, when l feel nervous and incompetent, come close to me and

give me your strength. Confirm my awareness that when I de-

pend on you l am really strong. Make my experience of personal

Helplessness an occasion of trust in your divine power for l speak

your word, not my own.

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REFLECTION 2

Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a

workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling

the word of truth.

The call to live the Word, to be a worthy minister of the

Word Do I see my call as continuous?

Beyond the Ambo and far from the altar?

Do I live always as a proclaimer of the Truth as a bearer of

God's Word?

Is there a collision between what I proclaim at the Lectern

and the style of my life?

Is my reading just a function or is it a far reaching ministry?

Is it a commission which absorbs my whole life, and is

reflected by the kind of person I am?

Lord, make me aware that as a minister of your word, I take

on a way of life.

May I be strong and determined in bringing your truth

everywhere.

May it become part of me. May I be identified with it always.

AMEN

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REFLECTION 3

John 14: 26 ‘But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will

send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to

your remembrance all that I have said to you’

The Word is alive

It has the power of God's Spirit

Do I believe in the spiritual power of God's Word?

Do I listen so that His Spirit can open my heart to the

Word?

Am I teachable? Am I humble before the Word?

Do I allow the Spirit to teach me?

Is my heart hard or obstinate or too proud to accept the

action of God's Spirit?

Do I try to control or manipulate the Word or foist upon

it my own meaning and construction?

Lord, give me a docility to your teaching Spirit and a

hunger in my heart for your truth?

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REFLECTION 4

John 5:39-40 [To the Jews]

‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you

have eternal life: and it is after they hear witness to me: yet

you refuse to come to me that you may have life’

Ambivalence about the Scriptures. Inconsistency in our

response to Gods Word.

Do we take the scriptures seriously?

Do we search them, like the Jews, but refuse to carry through

our pursuit? '

Is it a matter of listening on Sunday & forgetting on Monday?

D0 we make our search a genuine journey to Jesus?

Do we stop short of abandonment to him?

Is our response to the word, a response in a book or is it a

lived response day in, day out?

Do we acknowledge the Scriptures but resist the Jesus, they

proclaim and introduce?

If we were on trial for being Christians, would there be

enough evidence to convict us?

Is God's word a book or a person?

Lord, may the fruit of my listening be a journey to

Jesus, in faith and not fear, to discover life, true life.

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OTHER REFLECTIONS

(You may wish to use for your private preparation)

Jeremiah Chapter 1

The call of Jeremiah

The word of Yahweh was addressed to me, saying:

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;

before you came to birth I consecrated you;

I have appointed you as prophet to the nations’.

I said, ‘Ah, Lord Yahweh; Look, I do not know how to speak; I

am a child!’

But Yahweh replied,

‘Do not say, "lam a child"

Go now to those whom I send you and say whatever I com-

mand you,

‘ Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to protect you-

it is Yahweh who speaks

Then Yahweh put out his hand and touched my mouth and said

to me;

‘There! I am putting my words in your mouth.

Look, today I am setting you

over nations and over kingdoms,

to tear up and to knock down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.’

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Youthful fear of the commission to Proclaim.

The initial refusal of Jeremiah to respond to God's call and

proclaim His word- stemmed from his youthfulness. He

lacked age and experience. He feared that being young

disqualified him from ministry. God strongly reassured him

stressing that He (God) would provide the words for

Jeremiah to utter.

Lord, as I work to overcome my fear of leading, of speaking

publicly, help me to realise it is your message I proclaim and

so I need not feel embarrassment or apology. I am only

speaking on your behalf. Make me proud to fulfil this

privileged task.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isaiah Chapter 6 The Call of Isaiah

In the year of King Uzziah's death ’I saw the Lord seated on a

high throne, his train filled the sanctuary; above him stood

seraphs, each one with six wings:

two to cover his face, two to cover his feet and two for flying.

And they cried out to one another in this way,

‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Yahweh Sabaoth;

His glory fills the whole Earth. '

Then one of the Seraphs flew to me, and in his hand a live

coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.

With this he touched my mouth and said;

‘See now, this has touched your lips,

your sin is taken away,

your iniquity is purged’.

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:

‘Whom shall I send? who will be our messenger?'?'

I answered, ‘Here I am l, send me’. He said:

‘Go, and say to this people,

“Hear and hear again, but do not understand

See and see again but do not perceive".

Make the heart of this people gross,

its ears dull;

shut bits eyes,

so that it will not see with its eyes,

hear with its ears,

understand with its heart,

and be converted and healed.’

God's Commission engenders a sense of unworthiness

Isaiah was frightened to hear Gods call. He felt unworthy and

spiritually unfitted to be God's spokesperson. He didn't

consider himself holy enough. None of his family or people

had ever been given special roles in God's service. God

allowed him to sense his unworthiness but went to help him

and purify him. God reassured Isaiah and commissioned him.

Lord, I am not worthy to be your reader but it consoles me

that you can purify me and make me a little more worthy to

be in such close contact with you. May my hesitancy at my

lack of spiritual depth be the beginning of a serious effort to

renew myself in your image, to deepen my reliance on your

help, and grow in holiness as your minister. AMEN.

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Thessalonians 2: 13

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you

receive the word of God which you heard from us, you

accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is,

the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Reverence for the word

Do I see God's word for what it really is?

A word at work in us believers.

How do I express reverence for that Word?

Do I as a reader and proclaimer take it for granted?

Do I try to be more thorough in my preparation?

Am I painstaking in my effort to understand its message?

Do I prepare by reading a good commentary or attending a

preparatory meeting with the priest to explore its

significance?

Am I casual and offhand in my approach to preparation?

Lord, may I never grow used to your Word?

May it always be new, fresh and greater than myself for it is

your eternal expression of Yourself and Your truth.

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Matthew 4:4 It is written, ”Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every

word that proceeds from the mouth of God. "

Dependence on God's word,

Alternative to materialism,

How do I rate God's word?

Do I treasure and Cherish it?

Is it special to me?

Do I allow it to guide me?

If not? Why is it?

Do I lack faith and conviction about its power?

Am I too fearful to surrender to it?

Am I too dependent upon material things? Is that where I put

my faith?

Is Scriptural reading crowded out of my day?

Are my attitudes and reactions formed more from

considerations of money and material improvement than by

the call of God's message?

Does Christ's view of marriage and money, position and am-

bition, colour my mentality and govern my behaviour, so that

I find myself automatically referring everything to His word?

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8 Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two

edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints

and marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the

heart.

The Judging Word

Do I allow God's Word to stand over E as well as the

congregation?

Do I stand judged and corrected by it in my own heart?

Am I guided by its impact on my inner self?

Lord, may your Word break through to my heart of hearts,

revealing to myself my real motives and secret intentions.

May it be an active word, constantly changing me, not a dead

letter that makes no practical difference. May I also stand

revealed to myself by the sharp light of Your Word and may I

never become complacent in my call as a Reader.

AMEN

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Isaiah. 55, 10-11

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven. and

returneth not thither but watereth the earth, and maketh it

bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and

bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth from my

mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall

accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing

whereto I sent it.

The fruitfulness of God's word

The effectiveness of God's word in my life.

It waters the earth.

Is the dry, meaningless, frustrated even cynical part of me

open to the power, the hope and graciousness of God as

He reveals His nearness and his very life-giving Spirit to me

in the Scripture, His own Word?

What areas of my life experience remain guarded from, and

untouched by the Word?

Why is it void and ineffective?

Why is it failing to accomplish what God intends it to do?

What barriers must I remove?

Barriers of business?

Lord, may I be drawn to you for my inner strength and nour-

ishment. May the hope of your promises brighten my dull days

and dark nights. May I not frustrate the quiet work of your

word in my heart.

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Colossians 3:16

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom:

teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns

and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the

Lord

Joy and Celebration of God's Word

Am I reticent and different about celebrating God's presence

in His Word?

Am I careless about dwelling in its richness?

Am l critical and judgemental about those who sing together

at prayer meetings in thanksgiving for the word which

comes?

to console, to liberate,

to uplift, to enlighten,

to heal, to encourage,

to judge, to guide,

Am I slow to make God's word the centre of my own prayer,

to quote it for the consolation and enlightenment of others?

Lord, make me free and full in my praise of you; help me over-

come my fear of our word; enable me to take it to myself.

AMEN

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ASPECTS OF TRAINING & TECHNIQUE

The Role of Technique

The task of proclaiming God's Word is such a serious one

that the reader should spare no effort to develop his speaking

voice to its fullest potential. There are simple techniques for

achieving this development. They should never become an

end in themselves. They are mostly exercises to develop

various organs of speech or overcome faults of speech.

Once they have been utilised and mastered they should be

hidden and should not be evident in performance. Technique

should be subordinated to the conviction of the speaker. It

must become an automatic reflex action which supports vital

expression. To let it obtrude would be to elocute and drag

attention from the reading to the reader himself. The various

stages of voice production should be studied and appropriate

exercises practiced at each stage but they must be finely

automatised and made imperceptible in a vital

delivery.

Some points to remember when reading aloud 1. Be prepared; As much as possible get to see your readings a

day or two in advance. Being prepared will allow you to feel

more relaxed when you get up to read. If you are familiarised

with the piece there is less to feel nervous about. Flag any

words you may need to check the pronunciation of.

2. Good posture; Keep your feet flat on the ground, shoulders

relaxed and your back straight.

3. Eye contact. Make eye contact with the congregation every

two or three lines towards the end of the line.

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4. Speak clearly and distinctly. Articulate properly and speak

out so that you can be heard.

5. Use tone and inflection. Do not keep your voice at the one

level all the time-monotone- is extremely boring to listen to.

Use colour and variety to give meaning to the reading.

6. Convey the message of the reading; Get the tone/mood of

the reading and convey it through your voice.

7. Don't rush it. Take your time so that the listeners have time

to absorb the message.

Breathing:

It is important to have good breath control when reading

aloud. Pay attention to punctuation marks such as commas

and use these to take a breath. Phrasing is also important to

make the sense clear to the listeners again being familiar with

the reading will ensure your phrasing is correct. Always

remember one phrase should be spoken on one breath.

Public reading

Microphone: Ensure it is at the level of your mouth, not

above or below.

Volume: Speak loudly enough to be easily heard at the back

of the church.

Pace: Speak more slowly than in normal conversation

Your voice takes longer to travel in a larger area (i.e.

throughout the church)

Combating nervousness, fear and anxiety.

Learning to relax - Deep breathing - Voice projection - Phras-

ing the reading — Pausing - Eye Contact - Attitude.

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Good diction makes sense

You are ‘painting’ the word of God onto the human heart

and mind. ‘Paint slowly for a full and even ‘coating’.

Think of ‘diction’ as: all that goes into enunciating words in

an appealing and understandable way.

The following points contribute to ‘Good Diction':

• Pronounce the final letter in every word; do this in order

to be understood.

• Be proud of your accent; do not contrive another.

• Keep a special eye on ‘action’ words (i.e. the verbs). You

can emphasise these, by pausing briefly before and after

them or by raising/lowering your voice. Names of persons

and places, also need attention. Carefully emphasise these

to.

• Do not worry about the unfamiliar names and places. In

every case, break the word into its syllables. To do this,

find what - vowels are in each word — i.e. A E l O U. Note

the sound these vowels make; most likely, but not always,

with the letters (i.e. with the consonants (BCDFG HJ

KLM N PQRSTVWXYZ) that are situated closest to

them. Each of these sounds, in fact, is a syllable.

• Now pronounce every syllable in sequence in order to

produce the problem word. Remember, next time the same

word features in your reading, you must pronounce it in

the same way. For example, the name ‘Zechariah’ has four

syllables: ‘Zech — ar — I — ah’. The next time

‘Zechariah’ features in your text, it should sound the same

four syllable way.

• With the place-name, treat these as the ‘station areas’ of

the bible lands. Recall how the strange sounding station

areas of your own parish are always pronounceable. These

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Bible place, therefore, are pronounceable too... by using the

same ‘break into syllables’ approach. '

• Even though you have silently read a Scripture passage

several times in your spiritual preparation (Lectio Divina),

read it out loud, now, in order to hear yourself speak. Are

you loud enough for others to hear you? Remember good

volume depends more on pushing air to the vocal chords

from your diaphragm, than on the amplification a micro-

phone gives. Remember too, never to shout.

• Now how is your pace and speed? Going too fast? Slow

down! Remember the pace needed in the proclamation of

Scripture is, generally, a slow one. This is to evoke the

wonder and awe of being in the presence of God. This is,

also, to allow your hearers to tune into your voice and

especially, to tune into what God is saying through you. In

addition, when a passage of Scripture is no longer than

five or six lines, the assembly needs you to speak very,

very slowly, throughout.

• Also, what ‘note’ do you normally speak on? Hopefully, it

is not a high pitched note? Best to have a low middle-

range note and hen to raise and lower your voice

(i.e. inflect it) through a range of several other notes. This

inflection gives your proclamation a conversational-style

and so, makes things appealing and interesting for your

listeners.

• Finally, be conscious of the particular acoustics that

characterise your church building; churches vary in the

amount of time needed for your voice to come back to you

externally. Know this time and respect it. Be mindful, not

to begin a new sentence on top of a previous one that is

still in the process of being heard and absorbed.

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Every reader should have a general knowledge of how

his/her voice works.

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Voice Production

WHOLE CHEST BREATHING

Chin normal, chest healthy; shoulders

square; back normal, good balance.

LOWER– CHEST BREATHING

Chin poked out; breathy voice;

undeveloped chest; protruding

abdomen; shoulders forward; back

rounded; weight on heels.

Questions/Breakout

Take 10 minutes in pairs and discuss among your selves

what questions you have for the facilitator or any

further support material you would like to get from the

parish.

Facilitator takes questions.

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CLOSING PRAYER

O God of creation and life,

You have called us to be bearers of your word;

To be ministers of your delight, your vision and your

love.

Form us in your Word made flesh,

Fill us with your Holy Spirit,

That your gentle powers will be intimately known;

Your saving ways reach to the end of this pastoral area

And unto the end of the earth

Open our eyes

Move our hearts,

Strengthen our courage,

invigorate our will.

May we proclaim your Word with intoxicating joy!

May he linger in our voices

And touch our lives.

May Christ's purpose prosper through us!

We ask this through the same Christ our Lord

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy

Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

Amen

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