Preaching the Mystery of Faith

IV. Interpreting the Scriptures and Preparing the Homily

Interpreting the Scriptures in the Community of Faith

Preparing an effective homily necessarily entails interpretation of the Scrip tures. In the context of preaching, such interpretation cannot be simply an intellectual exercise but must be a serious attempt to understand the Scriptures in the light of faith. The homilist today has access to numerous resources for such a study of the Scriptures, including commentaries, articles, books, and websites from reliable Catholic sources. Several publishers also provide homily aids that are geared toward the Lectionary readings and provide both exegesis of the biblical pas sages and leads for preaching. Many priests and deacons use the Lectionary readings as an ongoing source for their prayer and meditation, merging homily preparation with their daily habit of prayer; for this, too, there have appeared several new resources that provide reflections on the Lectionary readings, draw ing on both Patristic and contemporary sources. The modern Church has benefited enormously from the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation, the stated purpose of which is to under stand the intention of the particular human authors of the Scriptures as they addressed their own audiences and to reconstruct the historical and social con text in which the biblical texts originated. Historical criticism reminds us that biblical religion, unlike mythic systems, is rooted in real events and persons and that God has deigned to reveal himself in the realities and particular cir cumstances of human history. This accords completely with the fundamental conviction of the Incarnation. Furthermore, the recovery of the original sense of the biblical books in their historical contexts enables the Church to set aside

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