Video- conference Thursday 29 September 2005-
Preaching in the life of the church
In
order to establish the core dimension of preaching in the Catholic tradition we
need to link it to kergymatic proclamation and sacramental celebration. Thus
the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
states:
… a sermon is part of the
liturgical action…. The sermon, moreover,
should draw its content mainly
from scriptural and liturgical sources,
for it is the proclamation of
God’s wonderful works in the history of
salvation, which is the
mystery of Christ ever made present and active
in us… [ No 35 ]
In
accordance with the apostolic tradition the sermon or homily is far more than
doctrinal or moral instruction; it is more than explanation. Its primary
purpose is transformation. The homilist or preacher is not just a teacher but a
herald of Good News; his function is not just to inform but to transform. St
Augustine in Book Four of his De Doctrina Christiana says that the preacher is “ to teach, to
delight and to persuade “. Perhaps in line with Karl Rahner we could describe
the teacher or homilist not as a teacher
as such but, but, rather, as a poet: one who makes available to us the fruit of
his contemplation, stirs our imagination and brings about a metanoia , a real change of heart and
mind. The Word takes heart, as it were, in the hearer.
Remember
that the preacher proclaims Jesus, the Word made flesh, the foundational
sacrament. In Jesus there is both a personal and communal encounter between God
and humanity and one of the ways in which this sacramental encounter is
concretized is in the homily. The Word proclaimed is a dynamic and corporate
action manifesting the presence of God in our midst. Indeed, the proclamation
of the Word, reveals the real and active presence of Christ. In its liturgical
context the Word becomes fully what it is, that is, the living Word of God
present and active in our midst. The sacramental encounter is truly then the
visible Word: Word and Sacrament, indeed, are inseparable. Without the Word the
Sacrament can be a strange mystery easily misunderstood. Conversely, without
the Sacrament the Word is unfulfilled and thus not fully effective.
If
the sacraments are as Augustine calls them, visible words, these words are
expressions of faith by the Church and so the proclamation of God’s saving
will. We can now see the close relationship between the sacraments and the Word
of God. Although the visible word of the sacrament is at its most concentrated
in the actual proclamation, a most important form of its expression is the
liturgical homily.
In
conclusion, liturgical reform has been
expressed in the language of encounter, revelation and action. Preaching
pre-eminently fits this expression: it is not static explanation but an active
participation in the imparting of faith by both preacher and community: indeed,
an active participation in the paschal mystery.