Preaching the Mystery of Faith

is that the homilist must have empathy for human experience, observe it closely and sympathetically, and incorporate it into his preaching. 43 The goal of the homily is to lead the hearer to the deep inner connec tion between God’s word and the actual circumstances of one’s everyday life. In some instances one’s own experience—told in an appropriate way without drawing too much attention to oneself—can also be effective, espe cially when this experience is one that resonates with similar experiences of those with whom it is shared. Pope Benedict XVI makes this very point: “The homily is a means of bringing the scriptural message to life in a way that helps the faithful to realize that God’s word is present and at work in their everyday lives. . . . Consequently, those who have been charged with preach ing by virtue of a specific ministry ought to take this task to heart. Generic and abstract homilies which obscure the directness of God’s word should be avoided, as well as useless digressions which risk drawing greater attention to the preacher than to the heart of the Gospel message.” 44 However, the homilist cannot be content simply to repeat the biblical language found in the readings but must open its meaning and help illumine the experience of those who hear the biblical word. The homily is intended to establish a “dialogue” between the sacred biblical text and the Christian life of the hearer. The homily in its most effective form enables the hearer to understand the meaning of the Scriptures in a new way and, in turn, helps the message of the Scriptures, proclaimed in the context of the liturgy, to illumine the experience of the hearer. Thus the homily brings together both the biblical message and the contemporary experience of those to whom the homily is offered. Apt stories that illustrate human experience or the reali ties of contemporary culture help enliven the homily and open avenues for understanding the meaning of the biblical text, which comes from an ancient

43 The role of reflection on experience was a particular emphasis of Fulfilled in Your Hearing : “In order to make such connections between the lives of the people and the Gospel, the preacher will have to be a listener before he is a speaker. Listening is not an isolated moment. It is a way of life. It means openness to the Lord’s voice not only in the Scriptures but in the events of our daily lives and in the experience of our brothers and sisters” (10). 44 Verbum Domini , no. 59.

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