The liturgy can be described as two movements: the movement of God toward us and our movement toward God. In the Liturgy of the Word, we experience both types of movement. We have begun our movement toward God by gathering as one assembly in gesture, word, and song. We prepare our hearts and minds for worship as we celebrate the Penitential Rite. We give praise to God in the Gloria. Now we sit and hear God speak to us through Scriptures.

The Liturgy of the Word should not be a time filled with private prayers, but rather a time of reflection and meditation on what is being proclaimed to the assembly. Here the movement shifts: Our prayer is not filled with our words to God, but God’s Word to us. As a Church, we gather to listen to what God offers in Scripture.

Some have asked why there aren’t bibles in the pews or why we do not read directly from the bible as certain Protestant denominations are accustomed to doing. For the Catholic engaged in liturgy, it’s important to keep two things in mind: We are not individuals worshiping God apart from one another but rather a community of believers that has come together as church.

For Catholics, although individual reading of the bible is commended and encouraged, at liturgy, it is insufficient since an individual reading of the bible is just that — individual reading. For many Protestant traditions that place emphasis on Scripture, it is the written word that predominates in worship. For Catholics, it is the words that are spoken and sung within a community that takes precedence. It is this community — the Church — that receives what is spoken. It is this community, then, that is moved by the spoken word to profess its faith and offer prayers in petition. It is this community nourished by the Word of God that takes bread and wine and offers them to God, who in turn offers to us the gift of the Son’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

I like to think of the proclamation of Scripture as a sacramental exchange — a gift exchange. The proclamation of Scripture involves the acts of giving and receiving. God, through the ministry of the lector in proclaiming Scripture, gives the Holy Word of God to the People of God in the assembly. At the same time, the assembly receives that Word with open hearts and minds in the act of listening.

As Catholics, we believe that we encounter the Presence of Christ in the Holy Scripture that is proclaimed in the assembly. Think about the other time we engage in the act of giving and receiving at Mass? In the act of offering and receiving Holy Communion do we find another sacramental exchange — giving and receiving the presence of Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist. Let us then listen attentively to the proclamation of the Holy Word of God, for within the proclamation of Scripture, God draws close to us, offering the gift of His presence within that very proclamation.

— Josh Perry is director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Burlington.

—Originally published in the June 24-30, 2023, edition of The Inland See.