"The word of God, proclaimed in the sacred Scripture, enlightens our minds and hearts. When the Scriptures are read in the liturgical assembly, God speaks to us and calls us to respond in faith and love. The ministry of the reader, then, is important to the life of the Church, for the reader proclaims God's living Word." (Workbook for Lectors)

A lector is one who proclaims the Word of God for the assembly. It is the responsibility for the lector to engage the assembly in the listening and the hearing of the Word.

The role of the Lector is to proclaim God’s word. This is different from reading. To proclaim the word, the lector must be so familiar with what is being read that it becomes a statement of faith from the lector. In order to gain that familiarity, the lector must read the selection during the week and pray about it in order to know how best to proclaim it to make the meaning clear to God’s people. It’s less like reading a story than like telling a story. The word is personal and is to be delivered in a personal manner with eye contact, because the word that is read/proclaimed is the word from God to each of us and to all of us.