14th Week OT (R): Crisis
Preaching
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
The
Catholic preacher stands on the ancient witness of Scripture; the
incarnated revelation of the Father in the divine person of Christ
Jesus; and the ordered, intelligible beauty of creation. He stands on
God's Self-revelation in the Bible, in Christ, and in creation to
accomplish one necessary task: to proclaim the Father's freely
offered mercy to sinners. The Catholic preacher gives his voice
to the Word of God so that the People of God may know that their
Father has forgiven them their sins through Jesus Christ. Knowing
that their sins are forgiven, God's people are then exhorted to
receive His mercy through the sacraments, thus growing in holiness.
And with their growth in holiness, they are charged with going out
into the world to bear witness – in word and deed – to the mercy
they themselves have received. In season and out, the Catholic
preacher preaches one Word, one message, one revelation, one Gospel –
Jesus Christ is Lord! From the throne of one's heart, Christ
rules. In season and out, in sickness or in health, for better or
worse, for richer or poorer, the Church is the eternal bride of the
bridegroom. The preacher preaches standing on this immovable rock.
Jesus
says to his disciples, his apostles: “'As you go, make this
proclamation: The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” The kingdom IS
at hand. Not used to be at hand, or will be at hand at some point.
But IS at hand. Right here, right now. Whether that right
here, right now is a
hurricane or a beautiful spring day; an economic depression or record
economic growth; a bloody civil war or a nation celebrating its unity
in peace – right
here, right now –
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, and Jesus Christ is Lord. The tides
of history in this world will ebb and flow, will come and go, but the
Lordship of Christ for those who follow him never wavers. When
confronted by a crisis, some disastrous eruption in the ordinary
patterns of daily life, the Christian remembers faith, hope, and
charity. He/she remembers to trust in God's divine providence; to
expect that God's promises will be fulfilled; and to love
sacrificially for the good of the Other. The Catholic preacher will
be a personal sign, an embodied symbol of this memory among his
people. The proclamation of the presence of the Kingdom is ancient,
contemporary, and eschatological. Then, now, and to come. If you will
serve the Lord as his priest, you will serve him as a voice crying
out into whatever wilderness he sends you.
Our
Enemy, the spirit of this age, will tempt you to compromise the Word,
to make “prudent adjustments,” to skirt around the Hard Stuff and
focus on the Easy Stuff. You will come to think that you are being
cooperative when you succumb to this temptation. That you are being a
“team player.” After all, there are bigger problems to tackle.
Larger issues to consider. There's the parish budget. The diocesan
tax. The capital campaign. There's the media to think about and how
this will be received in the chancery. If you are being an ass in the
pulpit, you should worry about these things. But if you are preaching
the Good News that the Father has freely forgiven our sins through
Jesus Christ, then you have nothing to worry about. Hurricanes? Your
sins are forgiven; receive God's mercy. Record unemployment? Your
sins are forgiven; receive God's mercy. Civil war? Riots? Pandemic?
Your sins are forgiven; receive God's mercy. Every crisis is a chance
for both the Church and her greatest Enemy to preach their respective
gospels. For our Enemy, that gospel is: fear,
anger, paranoia will keep you safe.
For the Church, that gospel is and always will be: your
sins are forgiven; receive God's mercy.
Just
in case I haven't made myself clear: a crisis changes nothing about
the Gospel or its preaching. Preach the Gospel before a crisis, and
how you preach the Gospel during and after a crisis should look
exactly the same. Did the Roman Imperial persecutions change the
Gospel? No. Did the Gnostic nonsense of the Patristic period change
the Gospel? No. Did four hundred years of the Arian heresy change the
Gospel? No. Did the collapse of the Roman Empire; the invasion of the
Moors; the nominalist revolution of Luther; the French Revolution;
the rise and fall of Napoleon; the 19th century modernist
scourge; the Bolsheviks, the Nazis, the Maoists, the Sexual
Revolution, or the Internet change the Gospel? No. When we preach
faith, hope, and charity, and live these virtues well, we participate
in the Divine Life. The Divine Life does not change. But we do. We
grow in perfection and though the world around us may be falling
apart, we endure not b/c we are immune to natural disaster or
disease, but b/c our inheritance is the Kingdom. The Catholic
preacher preaches standing on this immovable rock.
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