Learning how to preach

In the recent weeks, I've felt like what St. Jerome looks like in the picture. Granted, he's pouring over the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Bible as he is working on translating it into Latin. Me? I'm not translating Scripture into any other language, but here at the seminary, we have to learn how to prepare homilies. What does the text say? And how does a preacher learn to communicate that message of Scripture in a way that builds up the Kingdom of God. Last week, I had to give a homily in our preaching lab class to a few of my classmates. The text I prepared was Amos 8: 4-6, 9-12. Not an easy task! Then on top of that, we had to preach without notes as an experiment with a different homiletic style.

After a seemingly providential dinner conversation with one of the brothers, I found another avenue by which I could package the homily in a way that would work. The previous attempts seemed artificial to me and my personality. This conversation helped me to realize that what I really wanted to do in a 5 minute homily was to focus on that latter part of the text: the famine of hearing the Word of God. This famine is a result of sin-over-time of these businessmen. They were so consumed with their scheming that their worship of God on the Sabbath was distracted, at best, and not able to fulfill one of the foundational laws of Judaism: you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, all your soul, and all your strength (cf. Dt 4: 6). Though here in the seminary, we are not businessmen, we too can be prone to being so busy that our worship of God is distracted as well. Over the course of time, our fate could be the same as that of the Israelite businessmen: a famine for hearing the Word of God. This is not the sort of relationship that God intends for us with His Word.

My life will soon be charged with the task of "preaching the Gospel." I'm realizing how daunting a task that can be. But I'm also realizing that this will be one of my primary services to the People of God in the parish. It is for the upbuilding of the Kingdom that I am asked to learn how to use the biblical sciences in such a way that, when combined with spiritual insight gained through prayer and reflection, the sheer power of the Word of God is retained in all its splendor so that it can move hearts toward deeper union with the Lord Jesus.

It seems to me as though the famine for hearing the Word of God exists in our day as well, though in different expressions than in Amos' day. Various factors have contributed to a watered-down understanding of the power of Sacred Scripture. Generally speaking, we've lost a sense of the divine quality of the sacra pagina. As a result, we've lost an understanding of how Scripture can be a powerful influence in our daily lives.

I've recently read the Lineamenta for the upcoming Synod of Bishops, the XII Ordinary General Assembly which will focus on The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church. Perhaps, this is a providential move on the part of Pope Benedict XVI, seeing that that last Synod focused on the Eucharist, which culminated in a beautiful post-synodal exhortation penned by the pope entitled Sacramentum Caritatis. I think that he's trying to make the connection on the relationship between the Eucharist (as the source and summit of the Christian faith) and the Word of God, "for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom 15:4).

And as one preparing to exercise the ministry of the word by way of preaching, this message of hope in today's world is one that is very much needed. What shall be the source of our hope? How shall we Christians be "like shining stars in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation" (cf. Phil 2: 15)? Perhaps the lesser known prophet Micah gives us a hint: Live righteously. Love tenderly. Walk with God (cf. Mi 6:8). Live righteously, when all sorts of peer demands are pressuring you to ‘experiment’ with them. Live righteously, when the tides of politics are at odds with your Catholic faith. Love tenderly, when all around you people lust after self-interest. Walk with God, when everyone else seems to have abandoned you. Walk with God, on the only road that will lead you to your true home.

A well-crafted homily, given from the heart of the preacher having encountered the living person of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, can be "the voice of God" speaking to His people, urging, encouraging and maybe even challenging us to continue the pursuit of our upward call (cf. Phil 3:14)!