Preaching the Mystery of Faith

and spirit of the early Church Fathers. The Patristic writings are a primary resource for proclamation in the Eastern Churches; each of them has a trea sury of outstanding preachers who share in the common mission to proclaim the word of God within the celebration of the divine liturgy. In the last fifty years, our country has received substantial numbers of immigrants from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, China, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, and many other places. This influx of peoples has made the United States one of the most culturally diverse countries on the planet, and a very significant number of these new immigrants are Catho lics. The Church in the United States has benefited greatly from the cultural wealth and diversity of experience that these new immigrants have brought to our shores. In many cases, the presence of Asian, Latin American, Eastern European, and African Catholics has meant new life for parishes that had been fragile. So much diversity is both an opportunity and a challenge for any preacher. Particular cultures often have their own preferences for which style of preaching they find most compelling. Take, for example, the tradition of preaching in African American communities. 56 The fruit of a rich and fer tile past, this tradition has matured into an actual style and art of delivering a homily. In the African American experience of preaching, the style of the homily often becomes more interactive between the homilist and the assem bly, with the assembly often making a response from their hearts: “Amen!”; “Yes, Lord!”; “Thank you, Jesus!” As In Spirit and in Truth reminds us, “Tra ditionally, good ‘Black preaching’ is rich in content and expression, relies heavily on the biblical text, and draws generously from story, song, poetry, humor, anecdote, and descriptive language. . . . The homily must enable the community to worship God with praise and thanksgiving.” 57 Once he has come to know the customs, mores, practices, history, and religiosity of a people, a homilist can draw on that richness in order to make his presentation of the faith fresh and enlivening. Moreover, by examining a culture or Catholic ritual tradition other than his own, he can learn different expressions of the one Catholic faith, and this can only enhance his own appropriation of the faith and his presentation of it to others. Learning a new

56 See Plenty Good Room: The Spirit and Truth of African American Worship (Washington, DC: USCCB, 1990). 57 In Spirit and in Truth: Black Catholic Reflections on the Order of the Mass (USCCB, 2005), no. 35.

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