Gospel Readings

[khuldar]

I have a few questions:

Can anyone other than the priest read the Gospel reading?

Can the Gospel reading be acted out?

Thoughts

And yes I am asking these questions due to things going on in my current parish which have me baffled and have left me unsure.

God Bless.

 

[aspirant]

I have a few questions:

Can anyone other than the priest read the Gospel reading?

A deacon, priest, or bishop may read the Gospel at Mass. (More here.)

 

[JSCarolina]

A lay person designated by the pastor may read the gospel under circumstances where no ordinary minister (bishop, priest, or deacon) is available.

 

[1ke]

I have a few questions:

Can anyone other than the priest read the Gospel reading?

Can the Gospel reading be acted out?

Thoughts

And yes I am asking these questions due to things going on in my current parish which have me baffled and have left me unsure.

God Bless.

During Mass, a bishop, priest, or deacon reads the Gospel. A lay person may not do so in Mass. The Gospel is read in parts (a.k.a. “acted out”) only on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

Outside of Mass, a lay person may read a gospel reading (such as a communion service, liturgy of the hours, rosary, etc)

 

[khuldar]

Thanks for the replies, all i’ve got to do know is come up with a way to lovingly bring it up with the parish & the school.

 

[Cider]

A lay person designated by the pastor may read the gospel under circumstances where no ordinary minister (bishop, priest, or deacon) is available.

How would one not be available? They are praying the mass after all, so they are there.

 

[MarkThompson]

Thanks for the replies, all i’ve got to do know is come up with a way to lovingly bring it up with the parish & the school.

I suggest an irate but anonymous letter. Wait, wait no… how about a pleasant letter, with your name and phone number on it and a request to talk to the priest about the issue in person?

How would one not be available? They are praying the mass after all, so they are there.

A slightly different circumstance, but I have seen one case (that I can think of) in which the priest’s eyesight was too poor to read the Gospel and he deputed a layperson to do it for him.

 

[OraLabora]

How would one not be available? They are praying the mass after all, so they are there.

The OP did not specify that this was at Mass.

The Gospel may be read at a communion service by a lay reader. It may also be read during the LOTH by a lay reader, after the Vigil canticle when the Office of Readings is being used as a Vigil on Sundays, feasts and solemnities; and of course the Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis canticles recited at Lauds, Vespers and Compline respectively, are gospel readings. They are intended to be recited by whomever is participating in the LOTH, either communally or privately, regardless of whether a priest or deacon is present.

It is proclaimed during Mass if a deacon, priest or bishop is present. The ordinary minister for the Gospel at Mass is the deacon. When no deacon is present, a priest, or a bishop, fulfills the role of the deacon during the proclamation of the gospel (once a deacon, always a deacon, even after being ordained priest or bishop).