I was reflecting on what I wrote last night--mine in a certain sense is a battle for self-acceptance--in the aftermath of some family troubles (please pray for us) when I believe the Lord gave me this insight: I have David's heart. When I thought it, my next thought was, "Don't kid yourself, buddy." But David was far from monolithic in his time here; he had great highs in his walk with the Lord, and great lows. But always the strongest desire in the core of his being to be with God. Have you ever felt this tension, between what you know of yourself in your sinfulness, and yet that your strongest desire is to be loved and accepted by Him?
Back when, at the Old School, I took some training in preaching. (Yes; try not to faint.) When they taught us, they said: "Avoid 'be like' sermons." As in, be like David, or be like the other heroes in the biblical story. As an aside, so-called "expository preaching" involves unfolding a particular biblical text: the purpose for which it was written, the audience, its place in biblical theology, an applied purpose or problem for one's own situation, and the textual features that may be relevant to living life as a believer. And then you'd just preach it, man. I'm going to be blunt: Most homilies in the Catholic Church suck, at least here in America. And the reasons are very simple: Some of her ministers do not know the love of Christ. And you cannot give what you don't have. And secondly, her ministers mistakenly assume not only biblical knowledge, but biblical faith. They are rudely awakened when the people persist knowingly in grave sin, and do not show forth the fruit of the Spirit, but the conceit is still there.
It should be noted, however, that the heart of Catholic liturgical life is the Eucharist, not the homily. So that gives us a context to adjust our expectations accordingly. Still, even accounting for the different preaching method and purpose, there is work to be done. St. John Chrysostom, pray for us! If you want to know why people persist in various theological errors as Protestants, despite the fact that it seems so clear to you or me what the catholic and apostolic faith is, try to understand: there is power in holiness. I can know all I care to know about the true doctrine of the Church and the Eucharist, etc. but a Protestant knows holiness when he sees it. And he knows its opposite also. The Reformation in some sense is justifiably a rebuke to a lifeless Church.
I digress. I don't fear to tell myself to be like David and the other saints now, because an effort on my part has a theological context of grace and the whole biblical story to back it up. Perhaps for others in the Church, that is not so. Though we as Protestants had read and heard the story many times, we never presumed that we did not need to hear it again. We could learn from the separated brethren in this way.
So then, it is really a crisis of catechesis that it reflected in the homily. We have the treasure of the fullness of truth. It's time to use it.
Back when, at the Old School, I took some training in preaching. (Yes; try not to faint.) When they taught us, they said: "Avoid 'be like' sermons." As in, be like David, or be like the other heroes in the biblical story. As an aside, so-called "expository preaching" involves unfolding a particular biblical text: the purpose for which it was written, the audience, its place in biblical theology, an applied purpose or problem for one's own situation, and the textual features that may be relevant to living life as a believer. And then you'd just preach it, man. I'm going to be blunt: Most homilies in the Catholic Church suck, at least here in America. And the reasons are very simple: Some of her ministers do not know the love of Christ. And you cannot give what you don't have. And secondly, her ministers mistakenly assume not only biblical knowledge, but biblical faith. They are rudely awakened when the people persist knowingly in grave sin, and do not show forth the fruit of the Spirit, but the conceit is still there.
It should be noted, however, that the heart of Catholic liturgical life is the Eucharist, not the homily. So that gives us a context to adjust our expectations accordingly. Still, even accounting for the different preaching method and purpose, there is work to be done. St. John Chrysostom, pray for us! If you want to know why people persist in various theological errors as Protestants, despite the fact that it seems so clear to you or me what the catholic and apostolic faith is, try to understand: there is power in holiness. I can know all I care to know about the true doctrine of the Church and the Eucharist, etc. but a Protestant knows holiness when he sees it. And he knows its opposite also. The Reformation in some sense is justifiably a rebuke to a lifeless Church.
I digress. I don't fear to tell myself to be like David and the other saints now, because an effort on my part has a theological context of grace and the whole biblical story to back it up. Perhaps for others in the Church, that is not so. Though we as Protestants had read and heard the story many times, we never presumed that we did not need to hear it again. We could learn from the separated brethren in this way.
So then, it is really a crisis of catechesis that it reflected in the homily. We have the treasure of the fullness of truth. It's time to use it.
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