Although we\u2019ve made great progress in nearly fifty years of liturgical reform, it seems that Lent and Holy Week can be opportunities for some backsliding.\u00a0 Specifically, I still see practices that suggest that the Passion and Death of Jesus — which we celebrate each Sunday \u2013 is something that we need to \u201cact out\u201d or dramatize like it never happened, in order to make it more \u201cinteresting\u201d for our assemblies.<\/p>\n
A prominent example is our tendency to \u201cperform\u201d Gospel readings\u00a0in parts, rather than proclaim them.\u00a0 Of course, this is an allowed option for the Passion, but have we really considered the implications of this option (as well as some of the practices which sometimes accompany it, such as costumes and props, seating the assembly, and sometimes even having the assembly read parts themselves)?<\/p>\n
Regarding multiple readers, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal<\/em> (#109) says that “If there are several persons present who are able to exercise the same ministry, nothing forbids their distributing among themselves and performing different parts of the same ministry or duty…But it is not at all appropriate that several persons divide a single element of the celebration among themselves, e.g., that the same reading be proclaimed by two lectors, one after the other, except as far as the Passion of the Lord is concerned.”<\/p>\n So, according to the GIRM, <\/em>the ONLY reading that is allowed to be read in parts is the Passion (an exception to this rule is found in Masses with Children).\u00a0 That said, it is not required <\/em>to\u00a0be read in parts.\u00a0 The rubric for Passion Sunday (#21) states that “The narrative of the Lord’s Passion is read…by a Deacon or, if there is no Deacon, by a Priest.\u00a0 It may also be read by readers, with the part of Christ, if possible, reserved to a Priest.”\u00a0 The rubric for Good Friday (#9) simply states that “the narrative of the Lord’s Passion according to John…is read in the same way as on the preceding Sunday.”<\/p>\n A few things should be considered carefully when preparing the proclamation of the Passion:<\/p>\n All that said, the\u00a0Passion of the Lord is<\/em> a lengthy text, with many twists and turns, and several voices.\u00a0 The proclaimers of these\u00a0most sacred scriptures — whether a\u00a0deacon or a priest, or several readers — must be the very best, and be well-prepared and practiced (but, really, isn’t that true of every <\/em>Sunday?<\/p>\n Mark F. Hoggard is a pastoral associate at the Church of St. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se in Chesapeake, VA.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mark F. Hoggard writes: “I still see practices that suggest that the Passion and Death of Jesus is something that we need to ‘act out’ or dramatize like it never happened, in order to make it more ‘interesting’ for our assemblies.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,91],"tags":[369,1234],"class_list":["post-13777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lectionary-liturgy-of-word","category-liturgical-year","tag-girm","tag-passion"],"yoast_head":"\n\n