ROME — Three Charlotte seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College have been instituted as lectors, part of their ongoing formation towards the priesthood.
Archbishop John Kennedy, Secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, conferred the ministry during a special Mass Jan. 12 in the chapel of the Pontifical North American College, which serves as the American seminary in Rome.
The seminarians are: John Harrison (St. Mark Parish, Huntersville), Gabriel Lugo (Immaculate Conception Parish, Forest City) and Ronan Ostendorf (St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Gastonia).
They were among 34 seminarians instituted as lectors at the Mass.
Addressing the new lectors in his homily, Archbishop Kennedy encouraged them to proclaim the Word of God with faithfulness and joy. “By the faithfulness and commitment in your proclamation of the Word of God, the faithful will come to know how strongly you yourself believe in the word that you proclaim,” he said.
As part of the rite, Archbishop Kennedy placed the Holy Scriptures in the hands of each candidate and said, “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.”
The seminarians, currently in their first year of priestly formation, have three more years of theological, spiritual and pastoral formation before being considered for ordination in their home dioceses.
The ministry of lector is one of three important steps toward the priesthood: candidacy, acolyte and lector. The lector may give the readings at Mass, except proclaim the Gospel. He may also announce the intentions during the Prayers of the Faithful and, in the absence of a psalmist, recite the Responsorial Psalm. He may also recite the entrance and communion antiphons when they are not sung.
— Pontifical North American College
