Second LeComs General Assembly

The second General Assembly for Lectors & Commentators took place last May 6, a Saturday. The first hour was led by LeCom Coordinator Mel Novales who went through the calendar of activities for May and June. He reminded the group that the two remaining GAs are schedule for July 26 and October 21 and the schedule for renewal of current members is on September 16 in the afternoon at Lantana, Cubao. He also reminded the LeComs that at least General Assembly and two formation talks need to be attended to qualify again for next year.

Fr. Serge Maniba gave an Easter Reflection talk for the second half of the General Assembly, focusing on the Resurrection. First, he reminded the lectors and commentators present that Christ’s Resurrection is the bedrock of our Catholic faith. If we do no believe that He rose from the dead, then our Catholic creed, our code, our cult and our community collapses. But once we accept the assertion that Christ is risen, the next logical question is – so where is he?

That’s when Fr. Serge introduced the scripture story of Luke 24: 13 to 35, ‘On the Road to Emmaus’, where the two men are joined by a ‘stranger’. They recount the Easter narrative to the stranger, who listens intently. As they continue on the journey, a connection develops, with a hint of friendship between the stranger and the two devotees, enough for the two men to invite the stranger to break bread with them. Their guest “took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them”. When it dawns on them that the stranger is Jesus, he vanishes from their sight.

Fr. Serge emphasized that there are many truths revealed by the story. One, when they return to Jerusalem to tell the apostles about meeting Jesus, they brought the presence of Christ with them. Two, strangers remain strangers only when fear or prejudice stands in the way. Otherwise, walls break down and strangers become friends. And three, it’s Jesus Christ who breaks down those walls between strangers, which means he is here with us.

In conclusion, Fr. Serge reminded the lectors and commentators present last May 6 that the only way to meet the Risen Lord is to believe in the Written Word, which is the story of God with his people. As proclaimers of the ‘Word’,
lectors and commentators need to believe deeply in what they’r e proclaiming.