Preaching today

 PRIESTS have just been told recently by no less than the
president of the bishops’ conference to avoid homily abuse. “Long,
winding, repetitious, irrelevant, unprepared homilies are signs of a
sick spiritual life of the priest,” said he, and this kind of
homilies, he added, certainly harm souls.

            I, of course, immediately examined myself if I could be
accused of such charge. I must say that I have to plead guilty, of
course. No matter how much one prepares for it, there will always be
some imperfections.

            But I also know that the Holy Spirit has a way of
resolving all the snags, big and small, that can take place, both on
the part of the preacher and on the part of the listener. I believe
everyone can be rightly accused of some aspects of homily abuse,
including the Pope and the bishop who said that mouthful.

            I remember the first time Pope-now-Saint John Paul II came
to our country. I was very disappointed to hear him, since I was
expecting a good speaker. What I heard was a droning speaker, contrary
to what I thought was a good stage actor that he was touted to be.

            But, of course, I made up for it by reading what he said
later on, and I got the message quite well. I understood that St. John
Paul was not speaking in his mother tongue, and so I just had to make
the necessary adjustments. What I am trying to say is that preaching
is always a humbling experience, at least for me. There will always be
something that would not go well.

            It’s not a walk in the park to preach at the instance of
the Holy Spirit, which is what a homily is supposed to be. The best
that we can do is to try and try to be faithful to God’s word,
delivering it in the manner Christ himself would have delivered it,
given the kind of listeners and the context of time and place.

            It will always an act of approximation, an expression of
faith that can require nothing less than heroic efforts in humility,
docility and self-abasement, because the temptation for one to shine
out instead of showing Christ to the people would always be there and
would be quite strong.

            It would be hypocritical of any cleric to say that he has
not fallen into some kind of abuse in his preaching. I always get
frightened when an ecclesiastic presents himself as if he has the Holy
Spirit right in his lips.

            Just because one speaks well, or is adept in the art of
rhetoric, or is very theological or pastoral in his training and
exposure, or occupies a high position in the Church hierarchy, etc.,
is no guarantee that no abuse of some form can take place in his
preaching.

            I get bothered when after hearing a homily of a brother
priest, the main impression I get is that he sings well, or he knows
how to make a good show, or he is a good or bad lecturer or manager,
or he has a logical mind, or he is popular and much admired by the
people, or he is just terrible, etc.

            When these things happen instead of getting the feel that
I was listening to Christ or is touched by Christ’s teaching, I need
to make extra effort to draw what the Holy Spirit was trying to tell
me in those instances. Yes, the Holy Spirit can always convey
something regardless of the inadequacies of the instruments.

            Preaching is not so much a matter of techniques as it is a
result of a healthy interior life, marked by fidelity and humility,
and nourished by prayer, sacrifice, a solicitous pastoral charity that
is keenly attentive to the needs of the people.

            Of course, it would involve continuing study and
formation, constant contact with the people and the developments of
the world. The preacher has to be like Christ in that he has to
realize that he has to be the link between God and men.

            Of course, the sacrament of Holy Orders conforms one to
Christ as head of the Church and therefore has the power to preach in
the name of Christ, but that sacramental identity requires all-out
effort to be up to par to that standard.

            It may look tremendous, if not impossible, but when one
has faith, when one has humility, he will always be convinced that in
spite of his limitations and possible personal mistakes, Christ acts
through him, the Holy Spirit speaks through him. Christ has given him
everything that he needs to be a good priest and preacher.