Q: A question was recently posed to me as to whether the acclamation, “The Gospel of the Lord” is able to used by lay people when the Gospel is read in a group setting? Or is the use of such an acclamation only strictly reserved to the proclamation of the Word of God in a liturgical context? Or rather, are these acclamations “not appropriate” for use outside of a Mass and liturgical setting? 

Furthermore, when a layperson proclaims the Gospel in the absence of a priest in a Liturgy of the Word or Distribution of Holy Communion Outside of Mass, would it be appropriate for them to use the acclamation “The Gospel of the Lord”?

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A: The ritual books are generally silent about this. However, Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery outside Mass outlines the Order of Distributing Holy Communion outside Mass. I understand that this ritual book was never made available to you in Canada. ICEL has a new translation, and it has been implemented in the United States. No. 29 describes the Celebration of the Word of God and recommends readings from several places in the lectionary. All those readings conclude with the dialogue in question. The same is true of Chapter IV of HC, which gives a complete collection of readings, and in the United States, each of them concludes with the dialogue, including the gospel. This implies that the dialogue/acclamation that concludes the proclamation of the gospel is not reserved to a deacon or priest. However, I would not conclude that every type of noneucharistic service expects the concluding dialogue to the readings. At Liturgy of the Hours, for example, the reading just comes to an end.