When the pastor of our parish comes up to read the gospel reading, he skips right to the “a reading from the gospel of…” instead of saying “the Lord be with you.” I noticed it the first time he did it and wondered if there was a change. When the associate pastor presided over the mass the following weekend, I noticed he left the line in. Then I wondered if our pastor just forgoet, but he has continued to drop this line for the past few months. Is this a liturgical issue? It just seems odd to me why he would do it.
Your pastor is making a mistake. I believe the dialogue before the Gospel is printed in the Book of the Gospels and the Lectionary; if it is, he is simply
not reading that part. Why? I have no idea. It’s part of the liturgy of the Mass, and he has no right to dispense with any part of it. It is odd for him to do it, and you might want to seek a charitable way to bring it to his attention.
I don’t have my Sacramentary with me (nor a copy of the Book of the Gospels, nor a Lectionary), but I do have the GIRM handy:
134. At the ambo, the priest opens the book and, with hands joined, says,
Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with you), and the people respond,
Et cum spiritu tuo (And also with you). Then he says,
Lectio sancti Evangelii (A reading from the holy gospel), making the sign of the cross with his thumb on the book and on his forehead, mouth, and breast, which everyone else does as well…
