Preaching the Mystery of Faith

and mission of Jesus Christ. Thus the Fathers of the Church delighted in typol ogy—finding prefigurement of events in the life of Jesus or the Apostles in the great figures and experiences of Israel in the Old Testament. Homilists today, while respecting the integrity of the Old Testament as Scripture, can also art fully use the whole spectrum of the Bible to convey the message of the Gospel. 69 The Magisterium of the Church, inspired by faith and the guidance of the Spirit, views theology and dogma not as distortions but as clarifying inter pretive guides to the Bible, the reliable unfolding of the authentic mean ing of the scriptural texts. Accordingly, the Church encourages exegetes and preachers to approach the Bible with a keen sense of the sacred text’s essen tial unity as well as with an appreciation of how the Logos , Jesus Christ— articulated and developed theologically in the course of Sacred Tradition— provides the proper interpretive lens for the whole of Scripture. 70 Fulfilled in Your Hearing provides practical advice about how best to prepare for the Sunday homily, advice that is still valid. 71 This text continues to serve as an important resource in many seminaries, permanent diaconate formation programs, and continuing education programs. Good homiletic preaching begins and ends with an engagement with the word of God. Preparation begins several days before the Sunday liturgy with attentive reading of the assigned Scripture passages, listening to them in one’s heart and mind and praying over them in silence. Next should come study of the text, perhaps consulting a good commentary or articles on these bibli cal texts, study that will trigger further reflection. The homilist may need to wrestle for a while with the challenging aspects of the biblical word, search ing for ways it could connect to ordinary experience and how it might be pro claimed to the congregation the homilist serves. Then comes the process of drafting the homily in a thoughtful manner, finding the right words, moving examples, and apt metaphors that will bring home to the listener the beauty and truth of the Scripture—and then reviewing and revising the text of the homily until it is ready. Good homilists often practice their homily ahead of time, hearing how it sounds out loud and seeking to preach it with passion Preparation for Preaching the Homily

69 See CCC, no. 130. 70 See CCC, nos. 128-129. 71 See Fulfilled in Your Hearing , 29-39.

44