The areas covered during the above workshop were:-
1. Presentation : “My New Year Resolution”.
2. Topic : Eye Contact
3. Discussion : The Painter
4. Written Exercise
5. Reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (for Sun 3rd Feb 2008 Children’s Mass)
1. Presentation : “My New Year Resolution”
Each child was invited to stand before the class to present his/ her New Year Resolution. Resolutions ranging from wanting to study harder, spending less meaningless time surfing the internet, sending less meaningless smses to friends to save in handphone bills and trying to be more loving towards family members were made. Questions were posed to each presenter as to the why and how will the presenter carry out their resolutions. The purpose of this exercise was to give the lector an opportunity to speak in front of a group to gain confidence. Each child was asked as to what was their greatest fear when speaking in front of a group. Fear of making mistakes, being laughed at and not being able to answer the questions posed to them were cited. Drawing their attention to that of a lector, one must be adequately prepared in knowing the content so that the Word of God can be delivered convincingly and meaningfully.
2. Eye Contact
(a) Purpose of eye contact with the audience.
(b) Various feelings the audience will have when the presenter display different types of eye contact such as:- being shy, afraid, stern, loving, indifferent, stoic etc.
The eye plays an important part in establishing a relationship with the audience. Feel the emotions through the the eyes of a person.
3. Discussion : “The Painter”
A light-hearted discussion on the story of “The Painter”. In this story, it tells of how a painter’s first attempt to paint a pig was construed by his friend to be a dead pig. After much thought, the painter’s second attempt was successful in protraying a lively pig where his friend exclaimed that he could have actually touch and smell the pig as though it was alive. For the lectors, do we paint the story of God’s Word in a deadpan manner or are we able to bring the scripture alive to the listeners?
4. Written Exercise
A written exercise was given to the lectors to complete as part of their catechism and revision as follows:-
Qn 1: We are now in which liturgical year? Year A or B or C? Which of the four Gospels are presently use in the Mass? Why do we have liturgical years?
Qn 2: Which day marks the beginning of the Lenten season? Which liturgical colour is used during the Lenten season? Why?
Qn 3: Where does the ashes, used for the imposition of ashes during Ash Wednesday, come from?
Qn 4: Which area in the Church does the lector and celebrant proclaims the Word of God? Why?
Qn 5: What are some of the preparation exercises a lector can carry out to prepare himself/herself before reading?
5. A Reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (for Children’s Mass 3rd Feb 2008)
The children were encouraged to apply what they have learnt during the workshop to understand the scripture passage with a deeper meaning in the likes of:-
(a) How many character(s) are there in the text?
(b) Who is speaking to whom?
(c) Where can you locate the essence of the message in St Paul’s letter?
(d) Why do you think St Paul delivered such a message to the Corinthians?
(e) In what manner do you think St Paul delivered the message to the people of Corinth assuming if you were standing beside him facing the crowd?
We hope that parents will take this opportunity to continue your journey with your child in this ministry by having a simple session of sharing at home to bring the Word of God to them.
