RBWords - Volume 25 - Number 9: September 2012
Something to Think About
Having lived so long in my campus ministry days on the academic calendar, I am inclined to view Labor Day as New Year's Day and start my “year” accordingly, even though I am no longer in campus ministry. I'm in full time preaching, but somehow I think I begin a new “season” of preaching at the beginning of September. This Fall I will have five parish missions and one priests' retreat to preach. When I'm in Houston on a weekend, I am often “helping out” at a local parish and at the Catholic student center at Rice University. I see this as an extension of my itinerant preaching. I do enjoy returning to a campus to preach even if I'm no longer interested in running a program!
People sometimes find it hard to understand what I do. I use the analogy of a “traveling salesman” for the faith. Whether it is a parish mission, retreat or novena (a nine day devotional series of preaching and prayers, usually in honor of a saint like St. Jude), I am doing some basic evangelization. Part of it is to give good example by preaching well. If there is one complaint I hear from Catholics, even those who love their local pastor, it is the poor quality of preaching in the parishes. It pains me to hear this since I think the problem is completely avoidable by good training. Not every preacher is going to be a “pulpit star” but I think every preacher can be at least competent with some good training. Our Dominican seminarians now get far better training that I did, and you can hear them at <www.preachingfriars.org>. They are a hopeful sign, especially for the “Order of Preachers,” which is what the “O.P.” after our names means. I am hoping that the same training is occurring in other seminaries.
I have read in a recent article in AMERICA magazine (Sept. 10-17, 2012) an article in which the author quotes a friend as saying that Catholics are often “homily hostages.....forced to hear priests retell the Sunday readings or rant about the one moral issue they are concerned about.” I have challenged Catholic pew-folks in the past to read the Sunday scriptures in advance and decide how they would preach about them. Then they should go to Mass and see if their pastor thinks the same! It might be instructive. They can always ask the pastor why he didn't talk about this or that! He might be surprised, but at least they'll give him SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!
It Has Been Said
“When preaching is done well, the Christian faith becomes infectious. If the church is serious about the new evangelization, it must engage in a massive overhaul of the practice of preaching. Until there is a revolution in the way priests and deacons proclaim the word, the faith of the baptized will not be energized, and few will want to share it with others. Instead, people will continue to walk out the door.”
from an article by Edward McCormack in AMERICA MAGAZINE, Sept 10-17, 2012