Welcome to thepreachinglife.blogspot.com

Welcome to the Preaching Life.

http://www.lib-art.com/imgpainting/3/5/18853-st-peter-preaching-in-the-presence-fra-angelico.jpg

 The title of this blog was inspired by a number of publications in the area of homiletics over the past few years. Barbara Taylor and  Michael Pasquarello have both written volumes with phrase in the name. As the title says, my hope for this site is to provide a 'thought service'! We all have endless insights garnered from experience of faith and ministry. What I post is the result of my own reflections. Yours may be very different.

Each Sunday, and week after week, we are challenged to provide the people in our care with  genuine spiritual nourishment, rooted in the Scripture and tradition of the Church.  It can be a challenge to constantly come up with new or fresh ideas. It has been said, I don't know by whom,  that we preach out a pool of a few good ideas, and each time we go to the ambo, we produce a variation on a theme. I'm not a priest that long, and I am the first to admit to giving into temptation of using some very good canned thoughts; stuff that sounds acceptable; neither hot nor cold; grand; just all right. It is a place I do not want to get trapped in,  but it can easily happen.  The Word of God is alive and active, the best news imaginable; and its what we have the privilege of sharing in the midst of all kinds of joy and sadness.

 I would be very interested in learning how others approach the readings in the Liturgy. It is not easy to preach! Even if you are the best communicator in the world, it is not always easy to find the words that will bring life both to you and the people that are listening.  This blog will offer nothing except a chance to think a little more, and share the fruit of that thinking in the spirit of our vocation to preach Christ and Him crucified.

I hope this blog will be of help in some little way as we grow in the preaching life.

See thoughts for Sunday, August 15th below