Let's make the liturgy a little less wordy

An editorial from the author of Lector's Notes

It's the not so humble opinion of this writer that we talk too much at worship. Before you even get to the proposed Scripture introductions, your assembly will have heard a minimum of 270 words, not counting any hymns or ad lib calls to worship, calls to penance, etc. As Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said about modern architecture, "Less is more." We risk letting The Word of God get lost among many, many other words, in the hearing of our people. That's why these introductions to the readings are so terse.

Some spots where you're likely to find superfluous words:

Redundant greetings, like both "Good morning" and "The grace of our Lord Jesus, ...
Directions to stand, sit, etc., when a hand gesture, or no direction at all, will do
"The second reading is a reading from the first letter ..." instead of simply, "A reading from ..."
Explanations of ritual gestures that really speak for themselves
Those preachy petitions at the general intercessions
Post-communion announcemnts that duplicate what's printed in your bulletin

Last modified: Thu Nov 30 19:43:00 CST 2006