Preaching the Mystery of Faith

is appropriate to offer the faithful, prudently and on the basis of the three year Lectionary, “‘thematic’ homilies treating the great themes of the Chris tian faith.” 40 Consequently, diocesan bishops may offer occasional suggested themes for Sunday homilies in their own dioceses in order to guide the teach ing of the faithful by the clergy and to ensure effective and timely catecheti cal preaching on significant pastoral concerns, while at the same time pre serving the importance of preaching on liturgical seasons and the texts of the Lectionary for Mass . It would also be helpful for experts and publishers to prepare pastoral aids for the clergy to help connect the proclamation of the readings with the doctrines of the Church.The beautiful words of Ephesians express this apostolic longing to communicate the full sense of the Christian mystery: “ . . . that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:17-19). Therefore a wedge should not be driven between the proper content and style of the Sunday homily and the teaching of the Church’s doctrine. To encounter the living presence of the Risen Christ in the word of the Scrip tures and in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood is not incompatible with effective communication of what faith in Christ means for our lives. Without being pedantic, overly abstract, or theoretical, the homilist can effectively spell out, for example, the connection between Jesus’ care for the poor and the Church’s social teaching and concern for the common good; or Jesus’ pro nouncements on the prohibition of divorce and the Church’s teaching on the sacredness of the marriage bond; or Jesus’ confrontations with his opponents and the Church’s obligation to challenge contemporary culture about the values that should define our public life. Making a thoughtful and integral connection between the Scripture pas sages proclaimed in the Eucharist and the requirements of Christian belief and life should also be keyed to the seasons of the liturgical year: reflection on the ultimate purpose and direction of our lives in the Advent season; the gift of life and the joy of the Incarnation at the Christmas season; the need for repentance and renewal during Lent; the dynamic gift of the Spirit in our lives at Pentecost. We know, too, that at certain moments in the liturgical

40

Sacramentum Caritatis , no. 46.

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