RBWords

     For the past week I have been preaching a novena devotion in honor of St. Jude the Apostle, patron saint of hopeless cases!  This has meant that I preach three times a day here at the shrine in New Orleans.  The variety of people has been amazing: rich and poor, short and tall, fat and skinny, etc.  and reflects the "gumbo" of the population in this unique city. One morning a gentleman who participates in a Bible study group here told me that his group was discussing one of my homilies and he said every person in the group "got something different from it!"  I didn't ask him for any particulars, but the comment reminded me once again that my ministry involves a lot more than my speaking.  There is the Word of God as animated by the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer!   The old saying I heard in philosophy class comes to mind:  Whatever is received, is received according to the manner of the one receiving it!  The Holy Spirit was working in different ways in each of those men in the Bible study group.

     When I preach a retreat for priests or deacons, I give much of one conference to the importance of preaching.  St. Paul's words, quoted above, really make the Word of God a kind of "eighth sacrament."  Christ speaks to us through that Word.  Poor preaching means that God's People are deprived of a true encounter with Christ.  Yes, one can encounter Christ in the scriptures by reading them on one's own, but for so many of us, that encounter really takes place only at Mass.  Preaching "puts skin on" that Word and becomes the instrument of the Holy Spirit "at work" in those who believe.  I encourage everyone to look at the scriptures assigned for a particular Sunday or weekday in advance and then see if the preaching makes those scriptures "come alive."  For myself, I must ever remember that God's Word is not a human word even if human words are used to speak it.  I have to say what I can say with the help of the Holy Spirit and then get out of the way!   AMEN