The Liturgy of the Word is not a lesson; it is a time to listen to the word of the Lord and to take it into ourselves. It is a meeting with the Lord in which a dialogue takes place between the Lord and ourselves.
This means that as we enter into the Liturgy of the Word, we are listening for two things: on the one hand, what the word of God is saying, and on the other, what these particular words arouse inside us, what effect they have in us and on us. It does not matter what our reaction to the word is, what matters is that we are honest about what we find arising within us. It is in this interaction going on in the liturgy that enables the word of God to speak to us. We may have a negative reaction to some particular readings, that is all to the good! That can also be a means by which we come to see what the word is saying to us.
Silence is intended to be part of the liturgy of the word so as to enable this ‘taking in’ of the word of God. There can be short periods of silence in several places during the Liturgy of the Word: before it begins, after the First and Second Readings or after the homily. It is also recommended in the Introduction of the Missal that any haste should be avoided to enable this pondering on the word (no 56).
We always need to remember that God does not ask us to set aside our experience or our thinking but to allow a dialogue to take place between his word and ourselves and to make room for a conversion to take place.
The Liturgy of the Word has a structure of Word and Response
| Word: | First Reading | Response: | Responsorial Psalm |
| Second Reading | Verse before the Gospel | ||
| Gospel | |||
| Homily | Silence | ||
| Profession of Faith | |||
| Prayer of the Faithful |
In the coming weeks, we will take a look at each of these parts of the Liturgy of the Word.
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