Eucharistic Meditations - Lecturn

Lord, contemplating the Lectern or podium used to proclaim the Word of God at Eucharist, we recall the ecstatic joy that Ezra, Nehemiah and the Jewish repatriates experienced when they re-discovered the Law of Moses and read it aloud the whole day long. The prolonged exile during which they were deprived of all effective contact with you, had made them realize how precious your Word was - a lamp for one's steps and a light for one's path! They treasured the Word from then on. Contrasting our present-day attitude to your Word, Lord, we cannot help feeling that a real catastrophe like the exile would do us a lot of good, enabling us to appreciate the importance of your life-giving Word.

Every lectern powerfully evokes your Cross which was the pulpit from which you pronounced your seven last words: the essence of all your teaching in short pithy sentences. The most inspiring of these are: 'Father, forgive them …' 'Woman, behold your son …' 'Father, into your hands...' Enable us, Lord, to hear this important message in every Eucharistic proclamation. Help us link these truths with the very sight of the lectern in our Church, so that even if we do not hear your Word literally, this message would still remain engraved in our minds and hearts.

The Lectern itself, raised and prominent, warns us that your Word is a 'proclamation' - not just a solemn announcement, but a communication that draws the listener into itself, enticing him/her to become a part of the message. His-story becomes my-story: each listener is reflected in the event narrated. The most demanding part of the proclamation is the fact that it inevitably elicits a response from the listeners - be it positive or negative. Lord, this is the aspect that we need to remember at every Eucharist. Often we merely listen to the texts read, without so much as a fleeting thought that it is 'my' story, a reflection of our inner self that we hear. Lord, enable us to realize that if we kept some moments of silence after each reading, we would perhaps personalize the proclamation a lot more. In fact, our attitude at Eucharist often betrays a total lack of interest in your message to us. It seems more like a formality, a ritual that we have to go through, and so the sooner we are done with it the better.

Finally, Lord, make us realize that we, your chosen disciples, are the living lectern from where you continue to proclaim to those who touch our lives today that you love them through us. May our inspiring words and thoughtful deeds be a reflection of your compassion for all suffering people. May none who approach us be turned away, still hungering and thirsting for your love because we were too preoccupied with loving ourselves exclusively. Just as you are the living Word that comes from the Father, may we too proclaim this life-giving word through the mere fact of being your disciples.