The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others. Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. Gregory says: “A law is laid upon the preacher to practise what he preaches.” It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.
--St Anthony of Padua
Showing posts with label preaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preaching. Show all posts
Gift of tongues -- in action
ROLE OF STORIES IN PREACHING
Wise preachers always used stories to grab the attention of their listeners, and Christian preaching announces not a simple story, but the story of God among men. In Christian preaching stories are not a mere ornament to an a-historical doctrine but are themselves the very nucleus.
In this light it is clear what stories the preacher has to choose: in the first place those from the great book of the stories of God, the Old and New Testaments.
Besides this inexhaustible source of stories there is also the lives of the saints which also form part of this great story. In the great figures of the faith, from Polycarp to Kolbe, we really see what the imitation of Christ means; he becomes concretised in them. Their lives are not mere homiletic anecdotes but bear witness to the call of Christ. Only if we rediscover the saints will we also find the church.
--Joseph Ratzinger, Dogma e predicazione
PREACHING AND LITURGY
Preaching then must start from the reality of the liturgy and lead back to it, since Christocentrism is rooted in the liturgy. ...
Christian preaching therefore can never be purely doctrinal; it must be rooted in the liturgy, otherwise it would die.
--Joseph Ratzinger, Dogma e predicazione
THE GOOD NEWS IS JESUS HIMSELF
(Not just some words to be pronounced)
Christian preaching does not proclaim "words", but the Word, and the proclamation coincides with the very Person of Christ, ontologically open to the relationship with the Father and obedient to his will. Thus, an authentic service to the Word requires of the priest that he strive for deeper self-denial, to the point that he can say, with the Apostle, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me". The priest cannot consider himself "master" of the Word, but its servant. He is not the Word but, as John the Baptist, whose birth we are celebrating precisely today, proclaimed, he is the "voice" of the Word: "the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Mk 1: 3).
For the priest, then, being the "voice" of the Word is not merely a functional aspect. On the contrary, it implies a substantial "losing of himself" in Christ, participating with his whole being in the mystery of Christ's death and Resurrection: his understanding, his freedom, his will and the offering of his body as a living sacrifice (cf. Rm 12: 1-2). Only participation in Christ's sacrifice, in his kenosis, makes preaching authentic! And this is the way he must take with Christ to reach the point of being able to say to the Father, together with Christ: let "not what I will, but what you will" be done (Mk 14: 36). Proclamation, therefore, always involves self-sacrifice, a prerequisite for its authenticity and efficacy.
--Benedict XVI, General Audience, 24 June 2009
Contemplata aliis tradere
"I have often wondered about such poor anaemic, extenuated words, so thoroughly emptied of their substance that contemporary thought is reduced to stuffing them in order to preserve some semblance of life: by what miracle could they suddenly recover their freshness and muscularity? Here is the reply: before being uttered the words must be prayed.
"'I come back to contemplation. Although I do not live according to a contemplative rule, I can see very well that this ground of prayer in which each day is rooted comprises many profoundly contemplative elements and moments of great importance for my ministry and above all for the proclamation of God's Word. The ancient principle, Contemplata aliis tradere (hand on to others the fruits of prayer), is still topical and life-enhancing. It concerns in the first place the one who 'hands on', the preacher or servant of the Word: he is entitled to communicate--uniquely and exclusively--only contemplata, thoughts passed through prayer.'"
(André Frossard (on John Paul II's spirit of prayer), Be Not Afraid! p 33-34)
Whoever gathers water from the mountains and leads it to himself or draws it from springs, is himself a source of dew like the clouds. Fill your soul, then, with this water, so that your land may not be dry, but watered by your own springs.
He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others. So Scripture says: If the clouds are full, they will pour rain upon the earth.
Therefore, let your words be rivers, clean and limpid, so that in your exhortations you may charm the ears of your people. And by the grace of your words win them over to follow your leadership. Let your sermons be full of understanding. Solomon says: The weapons of the understanding are the lips of the wise; and in another place he says: Let your lips be bound with wisdom. That is, let the meaning of your words shine forth, let understanding blaze out. See that your addresses and expositions do not need to invoke the authority of others, but let your words be their own defence. Let no word escape your lips in vain or be uttered without depth of meaning.
(St Ambrose, Letter 2:1-2,4-5,7)
The ancient principle, Contemplata aliis trádere (hand on to others the fruits of prayer) ... concerns in the first place the one who 'hands on', the preacher or servant of the Word: he is entitled to communicate--uniquely and exclusively--only contemplata, thoughts passed through prayer.
(John Paul II, Be not afraid, p 34)
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