Preaching the Gospel of Christ in the Modern World - Essay Example

LITURGY Module Module ID: Homily simply refers to the sermon delivered by the priest or deacon during Sunday service at the church after the reading of holy verses from one or more of the four canonical books of Gospel; the books attributed to the Jewish and Gnostic traditions are also included in non-canonical Gospels. Reading the verses from the Gospel has been a tradition observed by the churches for centuries, where it is performed while standing at the seats, though the Bible is listened to by the people attending Liturgy while sitting on their seats It has frequently been witnessed that churches follow different religious traditions while delivering sermon during liturgy; sometimes, the priests deliver sermons, called homily, by concentrating upon the verses recited from the Gospel (Chadwick, 1975, p.259)1. Similarly, many a times, the priests select the verses from one or more of the sixty two Books of Holy Bible to include in the church service as homily. Although the church ministers and priests had established the church decorum in the aftermath of Paul’s first letter to the church of Corinth (Latourette, 1975, p.196)2, yet apostles and saints had not defined one specific rule to be applied related to homily. Consequently, both these traditions are followed by the ministers and priests at the churches. Somehow, the churches maintain divergent views about the subject of homily being delivered to the people on Sunday as well as other days of the week. The supporters of selecting the same verses read from the Gospel for homily are of the opinion that since Gospel is taught during the church service, the same should be selected as homily as well. Aidan Kavanagh has also stated in his work that “the homily is always on the gospel of the day” (1982, p.27)3, which simply means that the church minister must take the material from Gospel for delivering homily to the people gathered for attending the church service. In most of the churches of England, the Second Service Lectionary is the appropriate provision for a Sunday afternoon or evening service, where a Gospel reading is always provided so that this lectionary can, if necessary, be used at Holy Communion (Church of England, 2010, p.5)4. Consequently, homily in the UK churches contains the parts of Gospel already read by the attendants while standing. The supporters of applying the verses from Gospel in homily are of the opinion that since Eucharist is not complete without Gospel reading, and thus reading the same is compulsory and mandatory, continuation of the identical part of the Holy Scripture would be beneficial in understanding the verses already studied en masse earlier. Secondly, it is actually the Gospel, which could be stated to be narrating the sacred life of Jesus Christ, which the Old and New Testaments are unable to give account of. Moreover, being the sum of the message of the Christian Faith, according to Damascene, and especially the good news that Christ has saved mankind from the eternal consequences of sin, that He has overcome the central problem of the world—death, both bodily and spiritual—by means of His Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection, all have been described in the four books of Gospel (2009, p.223)5. Since the is no other source more authentic, powerful and accurate than the Gospel, which could provide a detailed account of the life, sayings and journeys attributed to Christ, reading the same is the best possible way of communicating Christ’s holy message to his followers (Littleton, 2001, p.106)6. For instance, the Bible is unable to provide a detailed overview of the Sermon on the Mount, on which the foundation of the basic moral teachings of Christian faith is erected. Hence, the Christians have to consult chapter 5, 6 and 7 from the Gospel of Matthews7 in order to get acquainted with the sacred message the Holy Christ has communicated to entire humanity. Furthermore, it is Gospel that elucidates his noble mission, astounding miracles, painstaking preaching and stupendous paintings through the records (Littleton, p.110)8, preserved by his most committed followers including Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. McDowell is of the view that the Hebrew Bible (i.e. Old Testament) was written by forty different authors at different times and different places (2006, p.13)9. Additionally, different authors inscribed it in three different languages including Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, translation of which in any of these languages could observe alterations in the actual meanings of the text. On the other hand, four books of Gospel have been written by only four authors, all of which belong to the same culture, society, time-period and locality (McDowell, pp.13-14)10. It is therefore it is in a better position of depicting the Christ’s days with slight differences in the way of the portrayal of the same only. On the Sunday Mass, we make different kinds of postures during prayers at church. It has always been the tradition of all churches that Gospel’s reading is performed while standing, though the homily related to the Bible is exercised in sitting position. It not only affirms the great significance of Gospel as the most sacred part of the Scripture, but also validates the very point that Jesus’ account should always be made in a most respectful manner at church and at any other place as well. Although we sit for the first and second scriptural readings and the Homily, yet Gospel reading is not exercised in the same posture of listening (Chadwick, pp. 258-59)11. Nevertheless, there are some reservations regarding including the verses from the Gospel for the homily instead of including the part of Holy Bible for the same. Since Bible consists of Old and New Testaments, and provides a complete historical background from the creation of the first parents of humanity to the Great Deluge of Noah, Abraham’s entering into Covenant with Almighty Lord, the Creator, (Genesis 12: 1-3) and his further adventures, the tales of Sodom and Gomorrah, description of Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and their successors, the days of slavery and humiliation of the House of Jacob, Moses’ rebellion against Pharaoh, details of their liberation (Book of Exodus), and narration of the disobediences committed by the Children of Israel including the worship of the golden calf, and others-- all have been explained in the Bible, rather than the Gospel (Dimont, 2003, p. 104)12. Consequently, putting aside the Bible and lessons from it would keep the people ignorant about the development of their religious faith as well as the fate of the defiant and rebel nations of the world. Moreover, it is the Bible that provides the commandments of God in details regarding leading life according to these commandments. By getting acquainted with the account of the ancient and previous nations, through the most authentic source i.e. the Book of God, will teach the followers the result of non-compliance with the instructions and advises made by the holy men sent from the Lord to guide and preach the humanity for their eternal bliss. In addition, setting aside the Bible from including in the homily simply means ignoring sixty-two books from the Scripture, which could not let the church minister to fulfil his religious duties and moral obligations in respect of communicating the word of God to His people. In addition, different books of Scripture elaborate different tales in a morally preaching manner, which fill the hearts of the followers with great religious fervour. For instance, the Book of Ezekiel narrates the sacred spiritual experiences that had given birth to doctrine of spiritualism and mysticism among Israelites, Jews and Christians; the Kabbalah experiences are also the outcome of the same (McGinn, 2006, p.9)13. To conclude, it becomes evident that both Gospel and Bible maintain great religious significance in them, which could not be ignored altogether while delivering the homilies. The arguments, aptly made in favour of taking Gospel for the homily the sermon always follows the Gospel, i.e. the part of Gospel is always selected for reading before prayers and homily. As a result, even if the verses from the Holy Bible are taken for the homily by the church minister or priest, these would be recited later than the Gospel reading during the prayer services at the church. On the other hand, if Almighty God wanted us to read and learn from the Gospel only, He would not have given us the rest of the Bible, and had confined it to the Jewish people only. Since, liturgy enjoys central place in all religious rituals, it should be comprehensive, wide-ranging and thorough, so that the people gathered at the church could gain maximum spiritual guidance from the centre of their religious and spiritual activities. Bibliography Chadwick, Henry (1975) The Early Church The Pelican History of Church 1 Penguin Book p.5, pp. 258-59 Damascene, Hieromonk (2009) Preaching the Gospel of Christ in the Modern World The Orthodox Word Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood p. 223 Retrieved from http://www.theorthodoxword.com/back%20articles/OW%20PDFs/250/Preaching%20the%20Gospel%20of%20Christ.pdf Dimont, Max I. (2003) Jews, God and History 2nd Edition New American Library pp. 101-200 Kavanagh, Aidan (1982) Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style Paperback p.27 Latourette, Kenneth Scott (1975) A History of Christianity Volume I Harper Collins p.196 Littleton, Mark (2001) Jesus Westminster John Knox Press p.106 McGinn, Bernard (2006). The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism New York: Modern Library p.9 Church of England Organisation (2010) Weekday Lectionary Retrieved from http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1172724/weekday%20lectionary%202005.pdf The Gospel of Matthews V, VI & VII The Bible Gateway http://www.cncumsl.org/pdfs/Outline_of_Mass_2.pdf Read More