Chapter Two

TEACHERS OF THE WORD

"Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation" (Mk 16, 15)

1. Priests, ministers of the Word "nomine Christi et nomine Ecclesiae"

A correct understanding of the pastoral ministry of the Word begins with a consideration of God's divine Revelation in itself. "By this revelation, the invisible God (cf. Col 1, 15; 1 Tim 1, 17), from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends (cf. Es 33, 11; John 15, 14-15) and moves among them in order to invite and receive them into his company".(²⁹) The proclamation of the Kingdom in Scripture not only speaks of the glory of God but also spreads that same glory by its very proclamation. The Gospel preached by the Church is not just a message but a divine and life-giving experience for those who believe, hear, receive and obey the message.

Revelation, therefore, is not limited to instruction about God who lives in inaccessible light since it also recounts the marvelous things that God does for us with his grace. The revealed Word, made present and actualized "in" and "through" the Church, is an instrument through which Christ acts in us with his Spirit. It is both judgment and grace. In hearing the Word, the actual encounter with God himself calls to the heart of man and demands a decision which is not arrived at solely through intellectual knowledge but which requires conversion of heart.

"It is the first task of priests as co-workers of the bishops to preach the Gospel of God to all men...(so as to)... set up and increase the People of God".(³⁰) Precisely because preaching the Gospel is not merely an intellectual transmission of a message but "the power of God for the salvation of all who believe" (Rm 1, 16), accomplished for all time in Christ, its proclamation in the Church requires from its heralds a supernatural basis which guarantees its authenticity and its effectiveness. The proclamation of the Gospel by the sacred ministers of the Church is, in a certain sense, a participation in the salvific character of the Word itself, not only because they speak of Christ, but because they proclaim the Gospel to their hearers with that power to call which comes from their participation in the consecration and mission of the incarnate Word of God. The words of the Lord still resound in the ears of his ministers: "Whosoever listens to you listens to me; whosoever despises you despises me" (Lk 10, 16). Together with St Paul they can testify: "the Spirit we have received is not the world's spirit but God's Spirit, helping us to recognize the gifts he has given us: We speak of these not in words of human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, thus interpreting spiritual things in spiritual terms" (1 Cor 2, 12-13).

Proclaiming the Gospel is a ministry deriving from the Sacrament of Orders and is exercised by the authority of Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all the acts of sacred ministers in the same way. In the administration of the sacraments this guarantee is assured to the extent that not even the sinful condition of a minister can impede the fruit of grace. There are many other acts in which the human qualities of the minister acquire notable importance. Those qualities can serve to promote or impede the apostolic effectiveness of Church.(³¹) While the entire munus pastorale must be characterized by service, it is especially necessary that service characterize the minister of preaching since the salvific effectiveness of the Word becomes more operative when its minister, who is never master of the Word, increasingly becomes its servant.

Service demands a personal dedication on the part of the minister to the preached Word. Such dedication ultimately is made to God "to whom I render worship in my heart by preaching the Gospel of his Son" (Rm 1, 9). The minister may not place obstacles in its path by pursuing objectives extraneous to its mission, or relying on human wisdom, or by promoting subjective experiences that can obscure the Gospel. The Word of God can never be manipulated. Rather, preachers "should firstly become personally familiar with the Word of God...and be the first "believers" in the Word, fully conscious that the words of their preaching are not their own, but those of the one who sent them".(³²)

There is an essential relationship between personal prayer and preaching. From meditating on the Word of God in personal prayer, comes that spontaneous "primacy of witness of life which discovers the power of the love of God and makes his word convincing.(³³) Effective preaching is another fruit of personal prayer. Such preaching is effective not only because of its speculative coherence but because it comes from a prayerful, sincere heart which is aware that sacred ministers are bound not to impart their own wisdom but the Word of God and ceaselessly to invite all to conversion and holiness".(³⁴) The preaching of Christ's sacred ministers, to be effective, requires that it be based on their spirit of filial prayer: "sit orator antequam dictor".(³⁵)

Personal prayer provides priests with support and encouragement for their sense of the ministry, their vocation in life, and for their living and apostolic faith. In personal prayer they draw daily zeal for evangelization. Once personally convinced of this, it is translated into persuasive, coherent and convincing preaching. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours thus is not simply a matter of personal piety nor is it the totality of the Church's public prayer. It is of great pastoral use(³⁶) since it is a special opportunity to interiorize and become familiar with biblical, patristic, theological and magisterial teaching which can subsequently be returned to the People of God through preaching.