Preaching the Mystery of Faith

time and culture but still has the capacity to transcend the chasm of time and to touch, inspire, and challenge the contemporary Christian.

The Homily as an Ecclesial Act

We should also note that the preaching of a homily, since it occurs in the context of the Church’s liturgy, is by definition a profound ecclesial act, one that should be in evident communion with the Church’s Magisterium and with the consciousness that one stands in the midst of a community of faith. The homily is not an isolated example of biblical interpretation or a purely academic exercise. It is directed from faith, that of the Church and of the ordained minister who preaches in the name of Christ and his Church, to faith—that is, the faith of the Christian community gathered in a spirit of prayer and praise in the presence of the Risen Christ. Thus the words of the homilist should be in harmony with the spirit and teaching of the Church. While the homily should be respectful of those who hear it and therefore be thoughtful, well-prepared, and coherent, the Sunday homily is not a time for theological speculation. It is a sacred ecclesial act meant to lead from the bib lical word to the Eucharistic action and thereby to nourish faith and build up the Body of Christ gathered in prayer. This ecclesial sensitivity in liturgical preaching was a hallmark of the Church Fathers, many of whose extant writ ings are in fact the record of their preaching. Fidelity to the Church’s Magisterium does not mean, however, that the homily should be an abstract affirmation of doctrine. The purpose and spirit of the homily is to inspire and move those who hear it, to enable them to understand in heart and mind what the mysteries of our redemption mean for our lives and how they might call us to repentance and change. Here again we can find wisdom in Jesus’ own example. One of the most enticing scenes in the Gospels is Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John’s Gos pel (Jn 4:4-42), a passage provided in the Lectionary as appropriate for the rite of preparation of adult candidates for Baptism. John tells us that Jesus, making his way from Jerusalem to Galilee, passed through the region of Samaria. Tired from his journey, he sat down by a well associated with the Patriarch Jacob. Samaria was a place that Jews typically avoided, yet John presents Jesus, the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11), as not hesi tating to extend his mission to this region. To the well, at the hottest time of the day, comes a Samaritan woman. John relates how the ensuing dialogue of

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