Readings
Reading I: ZEC 2:14-17 |
Preaching TipThe Homily Should Be Preached within the Cultural Context The feast today shows beautifully how God brings his Word to people in a context that is adapted to the time and place. The American peoples were having difficulty accepting a religion that was foreign to them. Mary made sure to give the people what they needed. As such, she does not appear on the Tilma as a European or Middle Eastern woman. Mary appears as an Indian maiden. She gives the European bishop his sign: flowers from Spain. She gives the local people their sign: a native mother who they can relate to, and who crushes the worship of the sun and the moon. Mary becomes a part of the culture. We as preachers must also preach from our culture and to the children of our culture. What this means today may surprise you! We live in a post-modern culture. This has significant repercussions as to how we should be preaching. Understanding the cultural mindset is to understand the assumptions about life and reality that the people are making. In today’s culture, we are fully in a post-modern world. How do we preach to a people that does not understand history, tradition or the great meta-story behind all of reality? This is no easy question to answer. But as preachers, we should seek to be aware of the assumptions our parishioners are holding. To understand them well is already half the battle to overcome them. A homily should also be tailored to the needs of a particular community. Pope Francis speaks eloquently to this point in Evangelii Gaudium 139: The same Spirit who inspired the Gospels and who acts in the Church also inspires the preacher to hear the faith of God’s people and to find the right way to preach at each Eucharist. Christian preaching thus finds in the heart of people and their culture a source of living water, which helps the preacher to know what must be said and how to say it. Just as all of us like to be spoken to in our mother tongue, so too in the faith we like to be spoken to in our ‘mother culture,’ our native language (cf. 2 Macc 7:21, 27), and our heart is better disposed to listen. This language is a kind of music which inspires encouragement, strength and enthusiasm. |