Homily for the Institution of Lectors and Acolytes

March 14, 2026
St. Mary’s Seminary
Baltimore, Maryland

Nehemiah 8:1-4, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18
Hebrews 9:11-15
Luke 24:44-48

The Word Proclaimed, the Word Made Present in Sacrifice, and the Word Entrusted to Witnesses for Mission. It is truly appropriate that we carry out the institution of both lectors and acolytes in the celebration of this Mass. Each of these ministries that mark your formation in the configuration stage of seminary formation can only be fully pondered and received in relation to each other as part of the Eucharistic mystery. There is an inherent unity in the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist that together give life to the Church as intended by Christ. Pope Benedict XVI once taught, “The liturgy of the word and the Eucharistic liturgy, with the rites of introduction and conclusion, ‘are so closely interconnected that they form but one single act of worship.’ There is an intrinsic bond between the word of God and the Eucharist. From listening to the word of God, faith is born or strengthened (cf. Rom 10:17); in the Eucharist the Word made flesh gives Himself to us as our spiritual food.”

The Word Proclaimed — in our first reading we hear proclaimed the story of the recovery of the Chosen People’s identity as God’s People, a people set apart. Ezra proclaims what he reads; he is prepared and what he proclaims he reads with reverence in an exterior and interior stance before God. It is a stance that manifests trust in who is being revealed, not simply the recitation of an ancient text. He is not using the text to get his point across to the assembly — rather the Word is using him as a willing instrument who has given himself to the Word in response to the Word’s gift to him. It is the Word proclaimed — not Ezra — who reminds God’s People who God is, what God has done for them, and who they are because of Him.

The Greek word for Truth is “Aleteia.” It literally means “not forgetting.” Ezra is a type for us to follow in our ministry of proclamation, the ministry of lectors, because the proper place for us to be reminded and to come to know and understand God’s Word is in the Liturgy. Likewise, in coming to know God’s Word in the proclamation, we come to know who God is and who we are as His Church, His People of the New and Eternal Covenant. We pray for these men who are today instituted in this ministry of lector and who give themselves to the mission of helping the Church to “not forget” through the grateful service to the Word proclaimed.

The Word Made Present in Sacrifice — as the People of God, we pray in today’s Responsorial Psalm: “The eyes of all look hopefully to you…You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” This generous feeding of us by the Lord happens through the ministry of the lector and also through the ministry of the acolyte. As the lector gives himself to the Word in proclamation, the acolyte gives himself to the Word Made Real and Present in the sacrificial offering of the Mass. He does this by serving at the altar, fostering adoration of Christ really present in the Blessed Sacrament, and with particular compassion he does so by feeding the sick, infirm, and homebound with the Eucharist — Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The acolyte in this aspect of his ministry gives himself to be used instrumentally by Christ as “His open hand who offers the Eucharist that satisfies every desire.”

The Acolyte’s ministry gives testimony that the altar is a place of sacrifice in the present moment for all time — and not simply a table for recollections or nostalgia. For this testimony to be effective, it requires of our acolytes the cultivation within themselves of generous hearts to foster participation in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ that continues to sustain the Church in her being, her identity, and Her mission — assisting in Christ’s internal cleansing of Her ecclesial conscience.

The Word Entrusted to Witnesses for Mission. All of this culminates in the transformation of us by Christ, the Word made flesh, the fullness of revelation whom we receive from both tables at every Mass. In today’s Gospel we hear proclaimed and we don’t forget that “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” All Scripture is understood in Christ. Understanding is not to be confused with intellectual mastery, rather understanding is humbly being received into the intimate mystery of our salvation — who is Christ. It is knowing with intimacy, not simply the abstraction of a universal truth.

Like the disciples in our Gospel, Christ makes each and all of us — and particularly you who are becoming acolytes and lectors — His witnesses, and you are sent, sent from Mass, sent to the infirm and homebound, sent to God’s People.

Proclamation, Sacrifice, and Mission — you are instituted in these ministries of lector and acolyte to prepare you to stand at the Altar of Sacrifice as priests who feed Christ’s people at the tables of Word and Sacrament set before the People in the Eucharistic banquet of the Lord. These ministries should remind you and us that the mystery we are drawn into is one of participation and not possession. It is Christ who speaks. Christ who sacrifices. Christ who commissions and sends. It is because of Him that we cannot forget the unconditional love and mercy for which He calls us to serve.