Don't take" kerygma" for granted: Coleridge tells Synod

Vatican II called for a renewal of preaching that has only partly been achieved, Canberra-Goulburn Archbishop Mark Coleridge told the Bible Synod, suggesting that a Homilectic Directory be prepared to foster a new proclamation of the "kerygma".

"The Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of preaching which involved a shift from the sermon understood primarily as an exposition of Catholic doctrine, devotion and discipline to the homily understood primarily as an exposition and application of Scripture," Archbishop Coleridge said, according to a VIS report.

"Such a shift has been accomplished only in part. One reason for this is that preaching too often takes the 'kerygma' for granted, and this at a moment in Western cultures when the 'kerygma' cannot be taken for granted. If it is, there is the risk of a moralistic reduction of preaching which may evoke interest or admiration but not the faith that saves," he said.

"A new evangelisation requires a new formulation and proclamation of the 'kerygma' in the interests of a more powerful missionary preaching.

"To promote such a preaching a General Homiletic Directory could be prepared along the lines of the General Catechetical Directory and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Such a Directory would draw upon the experience of the universal Church in providing a framework without stifling the genius of particular churches or individual preachers," Archbishop Coleridge suggested.

Kerygma is the Greek word used in the New Testament for preaching (see Luke 4:18-19, Romans 10:14, Matthew 3:1).

The New Testament teaches that as Jesus launched his public ministry he entered the synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. He identified himself as the one Isaiah predicted in Isaiah 61.

The text is a programmatic statement of Jesus' ministry to preach or proclaim (Kerygma), good news to the poor and the blind and the captive.
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(Source: CTH)