Preaching to our needs

An excerpt on the subject of preaching from Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula, "The role of the Priest in Promoting the Gospel of Life," Latin Mass (Winter 2008), pp. 26-29:

As Cardinal Ratzinger stated in a brilliant homily the day before he was elected to the See of Peter:

"How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves -- flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects spring up, and what Saint Paul says about human deception and the trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph. 4:14) comes true. Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be 'tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine', seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires." [Joseph Ratzinger, Homily at Mass Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice, Monday April 18th, 2005.]

Many of those errors are the consequence of priests having presented false doctrines. However, in many cases these errors are caused by the fact that for many years the faithful in the different parishes have not heard a clear and articulated presentation of the totality of the Faith. They have heard exegeses of the biblical texts that are orthodox at best or simple banalities. Instead the Code of Canon Law mandates that in the Sunday homily "the mysteries of the faith and rules of Christian living are to be expounded." [C.C.L. 767.] Also we should keep in mind, as the Commentary of the code by the University of Navarre points out, that "A homily, therefore, need not necessarily be focused on the Gospel of the day." [Code of Canon Law Annotated (University of Navarra -- Saint Paul University: Wilson & Lafleur Limitée, Montréal, 1993), p. 504.]

First and foremost we have to strengthen the knowledge of the Faith, both at a dogmatic and moral level. The doctrine of the Faith has to be presented in an integral way. As a consequence of that we will be able to encourage a fervent spiritual life and the practice of works of charity. Religion cannot be based on a vague feeling nor in a sort of thoughtless solidarity with those who are perceived as disadvantaged. Religion has to be grounded in an objective and precise knowledge. Today we hear a significant amount of talk about the need to encounter Christ and this is fine. But a concrete and recognizable encounter happens through the adherence to a series of concepts about Him that the Church teaches as the faithful administrator of the treasury of revelation. We can only build an accurate identity of Christ with the descriptive concepts that the church gives about Him. Thus we cannot find Christ in isolation from the church. [John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor, August 6, 1993, n. 7.] Remember that Christ said: "For whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother." [Mt. 12:50.] We became members of the Family of God, not through a vague sentimental attachment, but through a concrete observance of His commandments. At the same time we need to be fully aware that the study of the Faith is "not only knowledge of the propositions of the Faith in their historical formulation and practical application, but is also always knowledge of them in faith, hope and charity" as Pope Benedict XVI pointed out recently. [Benedict XVI, Address to the Pontifical Gregorian University, November 3rd, 2006.]

There is no doubt that we have to increase the catechetical content of our preaching. Most likely it would be a good idea to have some type of homily plan in which, through the duration of the year, we would deal in an orderly way with all the teachings of our Faith, using for this purpose in a particular way the Sundays after Pentecost. We should start with the presentation of God as the Creator of all that exists, both of the spiritual and the corporal creatures as it is underlined in the Creed of the IV Lateran Council, Firmiter. We should not ignore the tragedy of the rebellion of the spiritual creatures since it introduced evil into Creation and is closely connected to the fall of our first parents. We cannot ignore that those rebel spiritual creatures who, due to the mysterious permissive will of God, continue to exercise their deleterious influence in the world. This is a reality that has to be presented wisely, affirming its horrible existence, but at the same time avoiding that our listeners be overly preoccupied with it. In the rebellion of the angels we see the culture of death, which is a desire for self-destruction, entering into a good creation. As Saint Thomas Aquinas reminds us, because we were created out of nothingness we always have the temptation of returning to nothingness. [Saint Thomas Aquinas, ST, I, q. 104, a, 3, ad. 1. Charles Journet, El Mal (Madrid: Rialp, 1965), p. 140.] The temptation also consists in believing wrongly that it is actually possible to go back to nothingness as a way of liberating us from the pains of the current existence, when, on the contrary, natural reason and revelation teach us that we are going to live forever -- obviously either in perfect beatitude or in total pain and anguish. The man who rebels against the love of God will only find emptiness and anguish which through a merciful disposition of Providence gives him a preview of hell and might lead to repentance.