August 28
Preaching is Sharing
any people seek
to discover God's mercy and faithfulness from the sacred books, and yet,
when their learning is done, they live for their own sakes and not for
God's. They are intent on their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
They preach mercy and faithfulness without practicing them. Their preaching
proves that they know their subject, for they would not preach without
knowledge. But it is a different matter in the case of someone who loves
God and Christ. When such a person preaches God's mercy and faithfulness,
he seeks to make them known for God's sake, not his own. This means that
he is not out to gain temporal benefits from his preaching; his desire
is to help Christ's members, that is, those who believe in him, by faithfully
sharing with them the knowledge he himself possesses, so that the living
may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for all.
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from
Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman
The "Daily Reflection" page on the Villanova University web site is sponsored by
the Office for Mission Effectiveness. For more information about the office, contact Dr.
Christopher M. Janosik,
christopher.janosik@villanova.edu
This page was updated on
Monday July 28, 2003.
