Inspiring Teens and Training Catholic Lectors: Two Practical Applications

Have you ever wondered how to go about training Catholic lectors or how to inspire teens as they begin preparing for confirmation?

In this special episode of_ Every Knee Shall Bow,_ hear two practical applications where Michael Gormley preaches first to Confirmation teens and then to lectors at his parish.

Snippet from the Show
"We shall not approach the text of the Word of God so casually when we are in the midst of the Liturgy. This is not a performance. This is a proclamation."
Shownotes

Inspiring Teens Who Are Preparing for Confirmation
In this first talk, Michael "Gomer" Gormley uses humor and personal testimony to relate to teens as they embark on their journey towards Confirmation. During his presentation, he holds up one of the Church's newly canonized saints, St. Cardinal Henry Newman, as a model for Catholics who question and seek:

• St. Cardinal Henry Newman - “A thousand questions does not a single doubt make.”

Training Catholic Lectors
In this second talk given to Catholic lectors in training, Michael "Gomer" Gormley explains the gravity and beauty of proclaiming God's word. Listen to how he connects a lector's role with personal spirituality and the goal of conversion. Here are the quotes he references during this presentation:

• Dei Verbum - “The Holy Spirit is the principle divine author of sacred scripture” Read the rest here
• Pope St. John Paul II - “I use the word communion not community because I don’t want people thinking the Church is a sociological reality, it is first a theological reality.”
• Romans 5:14 - “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.” Read the rest here
• Romans 6:3-4 - “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Read the rest here
• St. Teresa of Avila - “If you want to hear God talk to you, read scripture. If you want to see a miracle, go to Mass.”
• Francis Chan - “Imagine someone told you, ‘I want you to go to the nearest cemetery, and I want you to pray fervently to raise one person from the dead. Not the whole cemetery just one person.’ Who would you take with you?... I’ll tell ya who I’d take: I’d take that person who's known for always coming into the presence of God. Because to raise the dead is a miracle. And isn’t that what conversion is?”

Resources
1 Corinthians 15
Romans Bible Study
The Bible Timeline Chart
Ephesians 1