Lay ecclesial ministers learn about preaching

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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Fr. Ray John Marek, OMI listens to a question during his presentation on preaching, given Feb. 16 to the members of the English lay ecclesial minister formation program.

SALT LAKE CITY — A priest who teaches homiletics and Catholic theology to seminarians in the Oblate School of Theology spent Feb. 16 giving a workshop on preaching to members of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s English-speaking lay ecclesial minister formation program.

Fr. Ray John Marek, OMI, who also has given preaching workshops to deacons in the diocese, acknowledged that laypersons may not give the homily at Mass, but nevertheless have a baptismal call to preach in other situations.

Many of the members of the LEM class teach RCIA and CCD; others are involved in jail ministry. All of those are occasions that may call for preaching, said Fr. Ray John, who also will give the April 6 Lenten retreat that is open to all in the diocese.

In the early Church, men and women who were not ordained did preach. “The preacher was recognized as the one who could tell the story, who could interpret the story for the people of God,” he said.

The Church is re-opening the doors to lay preachers, in part because of the Vatican II call to “ressourcement,” a French word meaning “to return to the sources,” he said.

“Since Vatican II, there has been a call for laity to be well-formed, and that includes preaching skills,” said Susan Northway, director of the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, who directs the LEM program in English.

People can encounter Christ not only in Scripture but also through good preaching, Fr. Ray John said. “In the words that the preacher crafts and constructs we hear the enfleshment of Christ, and then we can understand Christ present in bread and wine.”

Fr. Ray John gave several tips on how to prepare to preach; steps include studying the scriptural text that will be the source of the reflection, making use of different exegetical perspectives, and pondering what the Word means to today’s audience.

The 13 candidates in the LEM class are scheduled to be certified in August. Applications for the next class in English will be accepted until May; contact Susan Northway,  susan.northway@dioslc.org or 8081-328-8641 ext. 326.