2nd Reading for this Sunday

[ultimate_ed]

I am priveledged to serve as a lector at my parish. I will be proclaiming the second reading this 4th weekend of Advent.

Take a look at the second reading from Romans (1:1-7)

usccb.org/nab/121910.shtml

It’s hard enough to read in my head, much less trying to proclaim it alound without tripping over my tongue. I’m pretty good with English grammar, but this thing is a mess.

I pulled out the Ignatius study bible that I have been making my way through to see if it did any better. It’s a little easier to read and the notes help some. However, it really comes across as a terrible run on sentence (and yes, you don’t get to the period until the end of verse 7).

I come across difficult to present passages like this this from time to time. It seems most common with something from Paul. Is this something that flows better in the original language and just ends up awkward in an English translation? As written in English, it comes across as something a high school English teacher would present to show off his verbosity skills and create a nightmare of a sentence diagramming problem.

As I read it again and again, I think the hardest thing to deal with is making the transition from talking about Paul to talking about God. This phrase at the start of verse 2

“which he promised previously through his prophets…”

The he is God, but the listener expects it to be Paul.

I think I would have gone with something more like:

“the gospel which God promised previously through his prophets…”

I think I’m going to have to try to put extra vocal emphasis on “gospel of God” at the end of verse 1 to see if I can shift the listener’s attention better.

I’d appreciate any other thoughts or suggestions.

 

[ultimate_ed]

Looks like I did miss a couple of periods in the middle of the reading. So, instead of one massive run on sentence, there’s two large run on sentences and one decent one. Still a tough read.

Actually, the Ignatius bible does have it as one monster sentence. The NAB breaks it into three.

 

[PattiDay]

Looks like I did miss a couple of periods in the middle of the reading. So, instead of one massive run on sentence, there’s two large run on sentences and one decent one. Still a tough read.

Actually, the Ignatius bible does have it as one monster sentence. The NAB breaks it into three.

Wow, I see what you mean. I will read it again so that I will better appreciate the reading tomorrow, as well as the difficulty for the lector. May the Holy Spirit guide you.

At Friday mass on EWTN, I think it was Father Juan Marie, proclaimed the Gospel of Matthew 1:1-17, The Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, and then spoke a homily on the physical reading of all those Biblical names and God’s selection of those who make up the royal line of Jesus.

There are many long and/or difficult readings during Advent.

 

[Fidelis]

Unfortunately, this type of sentence structure is just characteristic of St. Paul. There are translations that make it easier to follow the passage (paraphrases like the GNB, NJB, and the CCB), but as a lector, you’ll have to play with the deck dealt you.

Paul has started out this letter, as he does with all his letters, with a greeting/self-introduction. He quickly goes off into a tangent which treats 1) the gospel he is proclaiming, 2) the nature of Christ, and 3) his own apostleship. It kind of breaks down like:

Greeting/self-introduction, part 1:
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus,
called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,

The gospel about Jesus; his pre-announcing and nature as both man and God:
**(**which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh,
but established as Son of God in power
according to the Spirit of holiness
through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul’s credentials and mission, as he sees it:
Through him we have received the grace of apostleship,
to bring about the obedience of faith,
for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,
among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;)

Greeting, part 2:
to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The key part for us on the 4th Sunday of Advent–the part that relates to the other Readings is the part I highlighted in violet above. If I were lectoring this Reading at Mass, I would give special emphasis to that portion by slowing it way down, etc. That way it would be at least somewhat set off from the rest of the Reading.

Hope that helps. If you want more insight on this Reading (and the 1st and Gospel Readings) I recommend you visit my thread on the readings found here.

 

[ultimate_ed]

Many thanks, I shall put that advice to use. Paul can indeed be a difficult read in some of his letters.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I was reader at a weekday mass a while back and had to read something by Saint Paul. I recall wishing they would break his sentences into paragraphs.

 

[grndslm]

If Paul wrote the first 7 verses of Romans today, it would sound more like this…
GNT; Romans 1:

1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus and an apostle chosen and called by God to preach his Good News.

2 The Good News was promised long ago by God through his prophets, as written in the Holy Scriptures.3 It is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: as to his humanity, he was born a descendant of David;4 as to his divine holiness, he was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death.5 Through him God gave me the privilege of being an apostle for the sake of Christ, in order to lead people of all nations to believe and obey.6 This also includes you who are in Rome, whom God has called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 And so I write to all of you in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his own people:

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

I like the first verse a lot, because it helps people to understand what’s actually happening.

This is similar to the introduction in Luke, which the GNT translates as so…
GNT; Luke 1:

1 Dear Theophilus:

Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us.2 They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message.3 And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you.4 I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

This makes it very clear that Theophilus is the receiver of Luke’s message.

I wonder how many non-seminary Catholics read the “official” Catholic texts, yet understand who Theophilus is, especially without the use of Wikipedia…