Scriptural Story-telling

When we lived in Manhattan, we heard mass at St. John the Martyr on East 72nd Street. It is a charming, quaint church between Second and Third Avenues on the Upper East Side. It was a nice two-block walk from where we lived. At the 10:30am Sunday masses, there was this lady who read both First and Second Readings. There wasn’t anything special about her. But it was how she read that made me sit up and listen.

For those who frequently hear mass, on Sundays, at the very least, scripture readings, like the First and Second Readings, are something that you can’t be too really excited about. Sometimes, they’re even hard to understand. Quiz the audience about the readings, and you'll be surprised. Most had a sudden attack of amnesia.

For some, this is the part of the mass where they begin to doze off. Add to this the dry, uninviting, monotone of the more senior members of the parish, whose version of liturgical story-telling seems to become unbearable, and makes the scriptures even more difficult to comprehend and appreciate.

Now, back to the lady at St. John the Martyr…..

She was different. It had been awhile since I last heard someone read the scriptures with such simplicity, clarity, and eloquence. She varied her tone, emphasized key phrases, and delivered with passion. Whenever she read, I would close my eyes and envision her narration. I was like a kid enjoying a wonderful Biblical story as it was being read to me.


People think that being a lector is difficult. It actually isn't, if you do your homework. It's a craft that needs to be mastered. Anyone can read, but not everyone can narrate. Being able to tell a story is very different from reading a text. A lector is a story-teller, someone who gives life to the readings.

As in most undertakings, practice is key. Since scripture readings and mass assignments are known way ahead of time, there is no reason why one should stutter or read like a kindergartener. It’s just inexcusable. But yet it happens. If one cannot spend some time to better their craft, might as well do something else. I think it's an injustice.

A lector's goal is to deliver God’s message, with clarity and conviction, and not bore the community with an incomprehensible recitation. You know that this is achieved when parishioners would come up after mass and say that they enjoyed the readings.

It’s instant gratification like no other. I should know.


(Note: The author is a lector at St. Joseph /Old Mission San Jose Church on 43148 Mission Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94539.)