Some notes on preaching

ALREADY for a number of years, I have been preaching and

also being preached to. I thought of sharing my experiences for

whatever they are worth.

  

            First of all, preaching is definitely not just a

performance, although we priests should try our best to perform as

best as we can as preachers. The people appreciate good performers.

And we just have to try our best to meet their expectations in that

department.

  

            Just the same, preaching is not merely a performance. The

clarification is important because preaching involves much more than

just being a good performer or a good actor. The preacher has to be a

faithful minister of Christ.

              As such, he is duty-bound, after he has been sacramentally

conformed to Christ as priest, head of the Church, to assume the very

mind and heart of Christ, the thoughts, desires and words of Christ as

head of the Church.

  

            He can only talk about God, whatever the situation or

circumstances may be. He has to present the living Christ, not a

theoretical Christ, and much less, his own self. The people should

take home a vivid, and even stirring memory of Christ, not someone or

something else.

  

            This, of course, is a lifelong affair that involves the

priest’s total commitment at praying, meditating and assimilating the

words of Christ, making them their very own and relating them to the

current issues, the temper of the times, the cultures of the people,

etc.

  

            In other words, the priest is primarily required to live a

unity of life that is patterned closely to that of Christ as priest,

head of the Church. This is a tremendous, if not an overwhelming task,

but it can and should be done, since all the means are already made

available in abundance. It would just need the priest’s free

cooperation and correspondence.

  

            The priest should prepare his preaching spiritually, by

praying and offering sacrifices. Then he has to study and start

composing his thoughts and words, always keeping in mind both Christ

and the people he has to preach to. Of course, he has to give due

consideration to the different circumstances—place, time, issues, etc.

  

            There are just a few points that I would like to

highlight. In preaching, we priests should present Christ in a

positive and encouraging manner, helping people how to relate to him,

and not to alienate them by threatening, scolding or lecturing to

them. We need to use the appropriate tone and words, avoiding a

condescending tone and being ever sensitive to the sensitivities of

the people.

  

            And while we priests may propose, suggest or even

recommend a particular way of doing things, we should not give the

impression that it is the only way when many other legitimate ways can

also be resorted to.

  

            We should always respect the freedom of the people, always

treating them the way they are but also keeping in mind the way they

ought to be. This can only take place when we exert the effort to

imitate Christ who is the very personification of the proper blend

between the exclusivity of truth and the inclusivity of charity.

  

            We priests should not just remain in the level of saying

“do this or do that.” We have to give people many ideas of how to “do

this or do that.” And more than giving ideas, we should be the first

to give living testimony of what we preach, to such an extent that

people can say we practice what we preach.