April 28th, Fifth Sunday of Easter
As I have said for several weeks now, this is really a delightful time of the liturgical year starting Sunday after Sunday with excerpts from Acts of the Apostles that enables us to jump over 2,000 years and in a sense walk with the very first followers of Jesus, the first Christians.
One of the reasons that I enjoy this experience so much is that it shows that although 2,000 years have elapsed since the scenes described in Acts, the problems in the Church continue and because the Church is so much bigger the problems tend to be larger as well. In today’s excerpt, you have the apostles complaining that logistical responsibilities get in the way of their prayer and preaching. “Is there a pastor with a soul so dead who never to himself has said this is my own, my native land….” Oops. This wonderful poem doesn’t really fit there. But pastors do complain about administrative responsibilities that block them from more effective ministry. I don’t believe that this was ever very true. The Church of yesterday often found it far easier to “run the parish” than to study scripture and prepare great homilies, but they did have an excuse because they had virtually no staff.
In my parish at All Saints in the 1930’s, the staff consisted of three priests, eight sisters and a janitor. There were no secretaries, no professional counselors, no business managers. Today, however, things are very different. Larger parishes at least are so much better staffed can we assume that the preaching has improved tremendously? Let’s hope.

Oops. I almost forgot about the deacons. Today’s first reading tells us how this level of Holy Orders came into being. It was to help the Church run more effectively. It was wonderful that the Second Vatican Council re-established the diaconate. Isn’t it interesting that there are three levels of ordination in the Church? They are bishops, priests and deacons, and the deacons have been around longer than the priests!
Onward through the fog.

Share on Facebook

April 14th, Third Sunday of Easter

The Catholic Church has many blessings and many weaknesses. One of the weaknesses of which most of us are very conscious is that the Church of the last two hundred years has not put a stress on the importance of good preaching. Some priests are naturals and their parishioners should thank God. A large percentage of us don’t work at it hard enough and some of us should never be allowed into the pulpit.
I know nothing about how seminarians are trained in today’s world in the art of preaching and I no longer have the opportunity to hear or evaluate the outcome of that process. However, I have listened to people for the last few decades and wonder that so many Catholics are so faithful to Sunday Mass. Theology is important, tremendously important, but if you can’t get people excited and motivated about what you say about it on Sunday, a potential strength and spiritual blessing is being lost. Priests can do many other things in the life of the Church – run schools, deliver social services, raise money, etc., etc. If the candidate cannot preach at all, he can be ordained but he should not be in the pulpit too frequently or too long. Needless to say, an exception has to be made in the case of a priest who is extraordinarily holy; the Cure of Ars, for example. Ordinarily, however, for most of us sanctity is in short supply.
The first reading today records a public homily in the life of the early Church. It is by St. Peter on Pentecost Sunday. It was moderately effective. Three thousand people joined the Church that first day. The response to today’s preaching is somewhat more modest than that.
 

Share on Facebook

I have been a Catholic priest since 1956. Therefore, it goes without saying that literally thousands and thousands of times I have had the opportunity and the responsibility to stand up and preach to men and women as to how life ought to be lived. There is plenty about which to speak. Sin and virtue abound on all sides, but the preacher must be very careful and real courage is involved.

When you are speaking to 500 people in a church or synagogue, you can be sure that the vast majority of the people know that you are just like they are, a frail and limited human being. It is very important that the speaker always identify himself with the group to which he is speaking. It should never be you – you – you but we – we – we.

While the majority of my public speaking has been in the area of preaching, I have also had the opportunity to do a considerable amount of teaching in various areas such as history, pressing social issues, personal development and other subjects. Regardless of the subject, I think it is extremely important to keep three aspects of your presentation front and center. First of all, a speaker must know his subject well. Secondly, he or she must feel strongly about it. Finally, you must condition your remarks in the context of where your audience is. The factors involved are the information or values to be transferred, the attitude and personality of the speaker and, most especially, how that information relates to or could be of value to the listeners. If any one of those factors is missing, the speaker will bomb out. Regretfully, most of us have experienced a number of such failures.

On the other hand, when a speaker (especially a preacher) pulls all these things together- we can be extraordinarily touched and affected.

Onward through the fog.

Share on Facebook