Dear Parishioners,
As I write, I am attending our
annual Presbyteral Convocation in
Avalon. This meeting of our priests
serves a number of purposes: it renews
our priestly fraternity in union with our bishop, it allows us to relax, to
reflect and to pray, and it gives us various opportunities to be informed and
updated. This year the main topic of our
conferences is preaching. There is an emphasis on the effective
communication of the Word of God,
especially during the Sunday homily.
When thinking about this vital
task of every priest, I believe that it may be insightful if I tell my own
story. I used to think (as a child and a
teenager) that it would be okay to be
a priest—except for the part about speaking
in public. I am quiet, shy and
introverted by nature and did not have a lot of self-confidence whenever I had
to talk in front of others. This doesn’t
exactly bode well if you may have to preach
to others on a regular basis.
God certainly has a sense of
humor! What exactly is it that I have
spent most of my life doing? Try teaching in a classroom in front of
teenagers and preaching in front of a
congregation on a daily basis!
I remember the first homily that
I gave as a deacon at Mass. I had been
up all night tossing and turning, so nervous about the task ahead of
me. When Mass began, I had to make a
decision. I could read what I had written from a text verbatim or I could preach (without reading from the text) from my heart. With
the second choice, I would take the chance of freezing up, of
forgetting what I was supposed to say and of possibly looking like a fool. Maybe I should be a fool for Christ (see 1 Cor. 4:10)?
I chose to go without reading the prepared text and stepped up in front of the altar. I said a simple, spontaneous prayer which I continue
to say each and every time I preach:
“Lord, touch my lips that I may touch people’s hearts.” The rest is history.
Lest people ever think that there
is not some vital preparation for my Sunday homily each week, I begin with prayer and a reading of the Sacred Scriptures.
Then I look to some biblical
commentary to shed some light on the text itself. I think of stories, events or examples to
make the biblical text come alive and then try to apply it to contemporary
situations or events. In the entire
process, I am open to the Holy Spirit
to guide me to speak the words that God wants the congregation to hear.
It’s always a challenge to stay
fresh, to be interesting and not to seem repetitive. It is sometimes intimidating to preach the
Gospel in season and out of season
(see 2 Tm. 4:2), when the message is popular and when it goes against the tide in society.
Most importantly, the Gospel of Christ, when preached in all
of its richness and purity, is truly life-giving! To a world that is hungering for truth,
direction, meaning and purpose, the Gospel
has the answers! Together with the Holy
Eucharist, it fills the hungers of the human heart.
I will try to do my best to
preach it to you accurately, with love and conviction, as God’s Word to us!
Fr.
Ed Namiotka
Pastor
Beautiful and inspiring!
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