Is preaching in America in a particularly bad state?
Read moreCategory: Homiletics
Summer 2012 Sunday lectionary preview and the long form of the readings
In the summer of 1970 (July 26th to be exact, the 17th Sunday of the Year B according to the new calendar) my pastor breathed
Read moreThoughts on This Sunday: Advent II
As a semi-regular feature, Pray Tell will be running “Thoughts on This Sunday,” which will be some rather informal remarks on the readings for the upcoming Sunday. These are not complete homilies or even comprehensive notes on the readings, but simply some ideas or texts to get the homiletic juices flowing.
Read moreUsing the homily to prepare for the Roman Missal
Teaching at Mass, or teaching through the Mass?
Read moreArguing with God
There are a few “arguments with God” in the Bible. I have always found these stories fascinating. In the Hebrew Bible, the protagonist is a chosen friend of God, holy and righteous. When the LORD threatens destruction to human life, the protagonist protests and attempts to persuade God. The human protagonist in these stories temporarily appears to have a better grip on God’s essential character – righteous, generous, and merciful – than the LORD himself! On August 14, we meet a New Testament version in the person of the Canaanite woman.
Read moreSmarter Than You Think
“Sheep can perform executive cognitive tasks that have never been shown to exist in any other large animals apart from monkeys.”
Read more“When they had sung the hymn…”
“How is it possible to be truly human without ever making music?”
Read moreNew Praenotanda, new RCIA, new Congregation department for art and music?
Are the future actions mentioned in Llovera’s interview with Tornielli just the final convulsions of an unhappy reign, or might they actually come to pass?
Read moreCongregations gone wild
The unspoken reason why American clergy are burned out is that their congregations want sermons that entertain rather than offer moral counsel.
Read moreDo homilies work ‘ex opere operato’?
Could it be that it doesn’t matter how well or poorly prepared or preached a homily is, since the homilist is acting not as himself but in persona Christi? I don’t buy it.
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