Herself got to do the second reading at mass on Sunday. Regrettably, we had become blasé and she only looked at the text at the last minute. It contained a number of words she had not previously encountered and of whose meanings she was unsure.
So we found ourselves saying as we walked up the road to mass, “That’s pronounced to rhyme with porgy,hard g as in gin, yes, f*rnication, it’s pronounced as spelt.” I would list all the relevant words but I fear that, even suitably asterisked, they would attract a rough crowd to a family blog. As Mr. Waffle remarked, “The Galatians must have said, ‘It’s another letter from Paul lads, everybody sit down.'” If you are curious, it’s Galatians 5:16-25.
The same reading came up for my grandparents’ anniversary mass one year – I and my two brother and my cousin all declined to read! so my mother (retired primary teacher, height of respectability) had to do it as the only person who could credibly do so without hypocrisy.
Oh Lord, your mother was very courageous all the same.