September 27, 2007
Focus: Teaching and Preaching
Dear Friend,
As many know I’m teaching homiletics at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park this semester. After four weeks of classes, I’m pleased to say how much I enjoy doing it. The men are open and very desirous of learning how to become better preachers and in teaching, I myself am being taught.
One of the main insights I have tried to convey is that an effective homily is comprised of two critical parts. The first is a good text, that is, a well-prepared homily, and the second is a dynamic delivery. Without an excellent text you’re only an entertainer. Without a dynamic delivery, you’re a “dry-as-dust” classroom teacher.
The preacher, whatever his style – and there are three classic styles: the Herald, the Pastor, and the Poet/Story teller – must recreate in the hearer the excitement and the discovery that he experienced in preparing the presentation. The homily truly becomes a homily only in the interaction with the assembly of believers.
As I write and peer out the window of my study, I see that the leaves are beginning to turn and I also realize that we are officially in autumn. What a beautiful harvest moon we had last evening! Enough of my daydreaming; back to work!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
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