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It is almost impossible for me to preach if I have not been paying attention all week. That certainly means paying attention to the Holy Spirit through prayer and to the text through study, but it also means paying attention to the context of the lives of the hearers and to the prevailing narratives that seem to be giving people meaning, community, authority, and transcendence.

Not bad advice, but the counsel given by Pope Benedict XVI to Seminarians last August is better:

Combine the preparation of the Sunday homily with personal meditation to ensure that these words are not only spoken to others but are really words said by the Lord to me myself, and developed in a personal conversation with the Lord.

For this to be possible, my advice is to begin early on Monday, for if one begins on Saturday it is too late, the preparation is hurried and perhaps inspiration is lacking, for one has other things on one's mind. Therefore, I would say, already on Monday, simply read the Readings for the coming Sunday which perhaps seem very difficult: a little like those rocks at Massah and Meribah, where Moses said: "But how can water come from these rocks?".

Then stop thinking about these Readings and allow the heart to digest them. Words are processed in the unconscious, and return a little more every day. Obviously, books should also be consulted, as far as possible. And with this interior process, day by day, one sees that a response gradually develops. These words gradually unfold, they become words for me. And since I am a contemporary, they also become words for others. I can then begin to express what I perhaps see in my own theological language in the language of others; the fundamental thought, however, remains the same for others and for myself.

Thus, it is possible to have a lasting and silent encounter with the Word that does not demand a lot of time, which perhaps we do not have. But save a little time: only in this way does a Sunday homily mature for others, but my own heart is also touched by the Lord's Word. I am also in touch with a situation when perhaps I have little time available.

Lutheran (ELCA) Ping!

May Christ, the Son of the living God, be manifest in you!

It is to encourage you and to invite lively and thoughtful conversation.

Unless you question Mark S. Hanson about the ELCA's promotion of homosexual activism or its support for Islamic radicalism in Gaza and the West Bank. Then he doesn't care quite so much for lively and thoughtful conversation.

Mr. niteowl77