Talking About the Church

Many people have various opinions of the place of preaching in the Sunday liturgy. Some prefer more of a sermon style, which explains a thematic in careful detail. Often enough this leads to more of a classroom feel to the preaching, where the preacher has the answers and the congregation then becomes like students who, by insinuation, know less.

Since the Second Vatican Council, the homily has been restored to its privileged place in the liturgy. The homilist reads and prays the scriptures assigned to the particular Sunday. The task prior to preaching is for the preacher to know and experience the Word. Part of the preaching task is to place the meaning of the readings in the context of lived experience. Life is the context of our hearing and sharing the Word of God. The contrary is also true in that our reflections on where God is in our life are the scriptural Word.

Often enough in our contemporary religiosity, some would view the scriptures as a place to go for answers. A simple "yes" or "no" would be appreciated. An example of this approach is the popular bracelet of a few years ago: "WWJD". As honorable a thought as that is, the fact is that our lived context of life is not the same as Jesus' life. "What would Jesus do?" is only beginning of a conversation with the Word.

The preaching task, as is the moral decision making task, is precisely the process of being in conversation with the Word of God in our life. What Jesus would have said or done is the starting point of the conversation. Another conversation point is what in fact did Jesus say or do? And further we need to ask, knowing and living in our world context, how would Jesus articulate his words.

Homily as Dialog
This past Sunday is an example of the homily as a dialogue or conversation. After several of the Masses parishioners were energetic in their verbal response to what they had heard in the homily at their Mass. They were affirming of the preached Word and wanted to continue the conversation with the preacher. The homily had touched their lived context of Catholic life. Something had touched some of their thoughts, beliefs, and questions. The preached Word in the homily was the beginning of searching for a solution to their concerns and to the problematic which faces the Church in our modern world.

The Word of God was the metaphor of shepherd and sheep. The verbal imagination was challenged by the meaning of the story. What does it mean to be shepherd? What does it mean to be sheep in the flock? Like all parable-like teachings of Jesus, one is offered the option of not choosing either shepherd or sheep. What is given is that both images have possible meaning for the hearer of the story.

A conversation of the hearer has to be engaged in with the original context of shepherding. The shepherd provides for the sheep, he feeds them, he bathes them, he gathers them, and he protects them. The shepherd knows which sheep are his and which belong to someone else. The listener needs to know how intimately the sheep depend on the shepherd for their life.

One can know how sheep have an absolute dependency on their caregiver. Without his care they would not survive.

In the conversation with the metaphor, the hearer of the gospel story has to learn how he or she is different or similar to the story. One could choose that we, as sheep within the Church, are an idyllic family without problems. Our context tells us otherwise. One could say that those in the hierarchy are exclusively the shepherds and, in some sense, be correct. One could also surmise that all are called to shepherd each other: to feed, nurture, water, bath, and give one's life for the other.

I can only presume that Jesus, in his parable story, does not imply that we are like sheep unable to care for one another. Rather, the opposite is true. We are called to shepherd each other. Nor does our shepherding deny anything of the shepherding of our bishops, priests, and deacons. All are called to shepherd in the Church.

The dialogue at the Church doors spoke about the love and concern of the laity for the Church. Their conversation with the preachers spoke of the possibilities, if all believers speak within the Church. The resolution of our present problematic will lead to more transparency of understanding. The laity within the Church wishes to speak to their shepherds. Such dialogue and conversation can be for the good of the whole flock. Keep talking, keep listening, and who knows the Church will grow beyond our imaginings.

CDH