What makes good preaching?

I remember thinking about this question back when I was in graduate school and not yet a Catholic. I had heard hour-long sermons that seemed like ten minutes, and ten minute homilies that seemed like an hour; sermons so rich in content that one would take out a pad of paper and take notes, and sermons that were so forgettable one couldn't say what they were about five minutes afterward.

The first thing one has to ask is: What is a homily for? What is it's purpose? It's not primarily entertainment, although it helps if it's engaging. It's not primarily education, although it helps if it's edifying. It's not primarily therapy, although it helps if it's personally illuminating. It's not primarily moral exhortation, although it helps if it's morally challenging. A homily is the voice of the Good Shepherd telling us what we need to hear, not necessarily what we want to hear -- guiding us toward the safety of our heavenly fold.

A good homily builds a bridge from Jesus to ourselves. It bridges the historical chasm separating Palestine 2000 years ago and ourselves living where we are today in the 21st Century. It takes a theme or text from the Bible, like the story about the Prodigal Son, and draws an application. This is where the rubber meets to road. It has to engage us here and now in our own lives. We have to encounter the living God, Christ as our own Contemporary, and hear His call to repentance, to contrition, to acceptance of the Father's mercy, to holiness. This is what it means when a homily "touches" us.

Fr. John Ricardo is a priest from Our Lady of Good Council, a parish in Plymouth, MI, a suburb of Detroit. He is a good communicator, who makes good preaching look natural and easy. I wish we had more Catholic priests like him.