Contemporary American Catholic Homiletic Theory and Practice - Case Study Example

Overview of Contemporary American Catholic Homiletic Theory and Practice Luke 4:16-21 The foundation moment in Christian preaching is written in Luke4:16-21, when Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth and stood up to read the scroll of the prophet Isaiah “and he begun by saying to them, ‘today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’”. (Luke 4:21) Upon the ripening of time, Jesus stood at that moment as the prophetic speaker proclaiming God’s scriptural Word, declaring the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah in his person. He spoke in revelation of the fulfillment of written words to a congregation, laying down the foundation of Christian preaching that has since been the basic implement in the sustenance and propagation of the Christian faith throughout the world. The event, happening in a congregational setting and in a “liturgical” space being in the synagogue on a Sabbath, was pointedly significant in that the hearers of that preaching moment were “bearers” who were in the position of religious influence and authority of the time to witness to the momentous revelation of a prophetic fulfillment. Jesus intended the declaration of the fulfillment of the Word to proceed in time and to all the Earth. The Christian Preaching A publication of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) entitled “Fulfilled in Your Hearing: The Homily in Sunday Assembly” contains that the fundamental elements of Christian liturgical preaching are three: The preacher, the Word drawn from the scriptures and a gathered community. The dynamics that occur between the preacher, the text and the hearer community are applicable to all kinds of Christian preaching that are commonly categorized as “Catechetical or Sacramental teaching, Kerygmatic witness or Liturgical proclamations.” Historical Overview Beyond Luke 4:16-21, the earliest recorded Christian Homiletics were delivered by the Apostle of Jesus whom he has explicitly instructed himself. Most notable were the apostles Peter who debuted on Pentecost (Acts 2:22-40), Stephen in Acts 7:1-53 and Paul in Antioch (Acts 13:17-41). These three specifically as they share the same rhetorical approach, recapitulating the history of salvation that ultimately finds fulfillment in Christ Jesus. The early Christian communities afterwards continued by tradition developing along the way the next 2 centuries a unique type of rhetoric as the faith spread to the Roman and Greek civilizations. According to Thomas K. Carroll, it was Origen (185-253) an early Greek Christian scholar and theologian who called the unique Christian rhetoric “Homilia” in Greek and later “Sermo” in Latin. Origen distinguished “Homilia” as direct, free and popular exposition and application of scriptures while “Sermo” follows the form of classical rhetoric. The difference in style between Homilies and Sermons also seems cultural: the Greeks having been pedagogical in their methods, The Romans having been rather patristic in theirs. Early on too there was distinction between Homiletics and Catechesis, the latter putting forward persuasive argumentations and were specifically instructive. As extensive were the influence of Romans and Greeks on civilizations and cultures at that time, so were they on the early Church’s order and worship. Greco-Roman influence transformed the Jewish prophetic declarations to “didache” or teaching, with emphasis on the consistency and authority of Christian tradition as handed down by traceable transition from bishop to bishop back to Peter the Apostle. Thomas Carroll notes specifically four transitions that occurred in that period: first, the transition in the notion of the preacher from that of “charismatic prophetic” to that of a “hierarchic priest”; second, transition in the notion of worship from the Jewish synaxis (plain assembly for worship) to Christian Eucharist which is centered on the salvific act of Jesus; third, the emergence of a new form of exegesis, meaning the interpretation or the explanation of a scriptural text, from the previous Jewish allegory (figurative, symbolic) to Christian typology (systematic classification); and fourth, the development of more formal rhetoric from the Judeo biblical diatribes. By the 4th century, the highly rhetorical Latin Sermon exerted more influence on Christian preaching. St. Agustin’s De Doctrina Christiana(396 A.D.) synthesized Latin Christian preaching into a distinct rhetorical discipline incorporating Logos, meaning the Word, Ethos, referring to the disposition of the hearer or the congregation in attendance, and Pathos, referring to the ability of the preacher to evoke emotional responses from the congregation. Aristotle influenced the incorporation of inductive and deductive argumentation in the Christian rhetoric. The middle ages saw a period when rhetorical style has emerged to high consciousness it became the particular preoccupation in sermons, their form and delivery tending to become the end of the exercise. The reverend Paul Scott Wilson, Professor of Homiletics in Emmanuel College of Victoria University, presents a most picturesque analogy to present the case. He says that the early Church provided the “bones beneath the material” which typically deployed the five traditional laws of classical rhetoric: invention (the argument), arrangement (structuring the argument), style (selection of words and images), memorization and delivery. “As the style almost became an end, they begun to protrude”, he adds. Deductive argumentation too became the method more used in constructing sermons in the middle-ages and a great deal of catechesis was incorporated becoming less liturgical and more doctrinal and instructional. Starting at the 18th century Europe, sectarian groups started to express dislike how Christian states got at each other in their political bickering with objective appeals to scripture and Christian traditions. As a result, they turned inwardly to more individualistic and subjective concessions of the Christian faith. These led to the development of a preaching style that acknowledged the disposition of the hearer congregation. Eventually, homiletics developed into the contemporary “communication” mode which understands that the listeners’ engagement is crucial to the very performance of the homily itself. The long tradition of deductive preaching now has given way to inductive styles. Contemporary American Catholic Homiletics The most significant influence in the transformation to inductive preaching the last century, however, has been those at the receiving and of the homilies themselves - the hearers. Modern American culture has transformed the mere hearers into consumers, into corporate receivers of information and images. The movies, radio, television and print media are utterly inductive in strategy and approach, deliberately engaging the real experiences of the audience. The advent of the consumer culture effected a most profound change in the people’s way of knowing. An “epistemological shift” has thus started to occur. “Communication” now becoming the term of reckoning for preaching, J. Randall Nichols explains, “communication is a receiver’s phenomenon”. “Although much of the traditional homilies focuse on the preacher’s work in constructing a sermon, a communication approach recognizes that communication is an inherently constructive process in which the receiver of the message actively builds meaning on the basis of information at hand, both by the sender and the existing or ambient information in the receiver’s field.” Further, contemporary communication lean towards audience participation. Pathos centered, the homily moves towards “transactional communication” and fully engages the congregation. This particular phenomenon has made common sight Catholic preachers engaging their audiences with “amens” and “hallelujahs” that elicit audience responses and interactions. Newer demands Contemporary homiletics requires more from the preacher than attention to substance and form. There is as much demand now to know, to understand who the Gospel message is being delivered to. In the book Preaching at the Double Feast: Homiletics for Eucharistic Worship edited by Fr. Michael Monshau, OP, a suggested outline for a contemporary homiletics construction is presented in Chapter 1 from page 22 through page 44 . Lengthy and rather thorough, the outline pretty much encapsulates the demands of modern homiletics to be effective. It begins with a “prequel” or a preparation stage which recommends at least three praying points in its already 11-point approaching-the-task part alone. The Construction Phase which is the part where the homily is composed follows. Delivery of the homily is part three and it is in this part of the task that a preacher is instructed to obtain “sound anthropology” to attain “respect for the humanity of the members of the congregation”(Monshau, p. 37). Further, the homilist is advised to have information of the “personality type” of his audience when it is applicable. Balance Learning the lessons of history, the homilist, to be effective communicators of the Gospel message, has to acquire balance in the capacities at his disposal. Preachers who have mastered, for instance, their delivery prowess can be dominated by the Pathos, their personal charism, and become a mere spectacular show bereft of the salvific message they are supposed to deliver. The congregation, in such instances, is reduced to entertained spectators rather than upheld to become enlightened believers. When completely audience-centered, on the other hand, there is the danger of the homilist and his message loosing authority and getting diffused in the varied experiences of the listeners. On the matter of this latter, it is to be remembered that it was listening to the words of Jesus, not the experience or the expectations of those who heard him that fulfilled the Word he proclaimed during his time. Relevance: Is there yet any more need for preaching? In this age of consumerism and secular preoccupations, of information access and overload, we ask the question: ”is there yet remaining in people a desire to hear out and find comfort in the Gospel message?” In his book Preaching to the Hungers of the Heart, Fr. James A. Wallace writes, “the hungers Cardinal Bernardine spoke of are perennial and deep: authentic faith, spiritual experience and moral guidance.”(p.26). Further he says the hungers that preaching can respond to are “the hunger for wholeness, the hunger for meaning and the hunger for belonging.” (p.27). Indeed it is in such times as these that the Gospel message is most needed and perhaps even intended for, whether or not people are aware. Fr. James Wallace concludes, “Preaching is a call to feed the people of God. It is a privileged calling, seldom an easy one, but people have come from a great distance and need to be fed, else “they will faint on the way, and some of them have a long way to go”(Mark 8:3).”You feed them”.(p.27) Works Cited: 1. Fulfilled in Your Hearing: The Homily in Sunday Assembly, Bishops Committee on Priestly Life & Ministry, USCCB, 17th printing, Feb 2002. 2. Nichols, J. Randal, Building the Word: The Dynamics of Communication and Preaching, June 1980 3. Monshau, Michael, Preaching at the Double Feast: Homiletics for Eucharistic Worship, Liturgical Press, October 2006 4. Wallace, James A., C.Ss.R., Preaching to the Hungers of the Heart The Homily on the Feasts and Within the Rites , Liturgical Press, 2002 Read More