On Saturday 14 March, three seminarians, Mark Dunglinson and Mauro Iannicelli from Westminster Diocese and Laurence Bryce from Cardiff Diocese, were instituted to the ministry of Lector by Bishop Nicholas at Allen Hall.
The Ministry of Lector (or Reader) is the first ministry a seminarian receives during his time in seminary. During the institution, Bishop Nicholas gave a bible to each of the men saying, 'Take this book of Holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the Word of God, so that it may grow strong in the hearts of his people.'
Prior to the institution, Bishop Nicholas delivered the homily, in which he enjoined the men to develop their life of prayer, especially praying the Scriptures. He told them, 'it is about inhabiting the Word we meet in Scripture; making ourselves at home there.'
'It’s by inhabiting God’s Word ourselves that we discover joy in opening up the Scriptures; it’s by inhabiting the Word that it takes root in our hearts,' he said.
He said that praying Scripture is 'giving back to God here and now in this life the Word which we shall contemplate'.
(The full text of the homily can be found here.)
