February 8, 2002
In the
Deacons and wives ascend mountains for continuing By REV. MR. GERALD POTKAY Correspondent LENOIR — Deacons and wives from around the diocese made the trek — some as long as three hours — through the mountains of Lenoir to attend a continuing education class on homiletics at St. Francis of Assisi Church Feb 2. Upon completion of the morning prayer, Rev. Mr. Arthur Kingsley, coordinator for continuing education of deacons, introduced Father Francis T. Cancro, pastor of St. Eugene Church, who gave three sessions on homiletics. Prior to coming to the Charlotte diocese, Father Cancro taught the art of preaching for six years at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. “The three key aspects of preaching,” said Father Cancro, were “the word, the preacher and the context.” Using the perspective of the Vatican Council II document “Dei Verbum” (“The Word of God”), Father Cancro revealed how the word of God lives and breathes in the life of the church. “In this context” he said, “the word of God is big and broad. It is not narrow and limited to only a single interpretation.” Referring to encyclical “Evangelii Nunciandi” (“On the Evangelization of the People,” written by Pope Paul VI), Father Cancro said, “The word of God is a living,
active, dynamic reality that must be proclaimed, read, and acted upon. It is a process that must be internalized, proclaimed and actualized by the church.” To achieve this goal, using historical criticism, we must understand the authorship and culture of the times in which the Gospels were written, as well as the theological context of the authors. With the Christmas narratives as an example, Father Cancro showed the different approaches of Luke and Matthew. “The preacher must be sensitive to all of these theological overtones presented in the Gospels. This, with an openness that can only come from a disposition of prayer, which includes the Liturgy of the Hours and the Lectionary,” said Father Cancro. “The preacher must also know when to stop. There needs to be a balance between church and society. Secular holidays are not liturgical,” he stressed. With a quote from ordination: “Believe what you read. Preach what you believe. And practice what you preach.” Other sessions focused on the practical such as good hygiene, testing eyesight and hearing regularly and becoming aware of those annoying chronic physiological preoccupations. In addition, preachers must become sensitive to stresses because of family or workplace situations.
Another important aspect was for the preacher to push the extroversion button as much as possible, for without proper socialization, a preacher would tend to loose credibility. But Father Cancro also warned about spreading oneself too thin. “When preaching, we should avoid anything that interferes with the delivery of the message.” Those distractions Father Cancro considered as “noise.” Father Cancro sanctioned the use of props if they fit personality, are big enough, are used correctly, and are put into the right context. Most importantly, “practice your homily ahead of time,” Cancro urged. “Time it so that it falls into the comfort range of the listener — between eight to 10 minutes without ever going over 12 minutes.” “The preacher must also be very sensitive when preaching to multi-ethnic populations,” Cancro said. “At the same time, we must be in tune with the social vocabulary of all the people, young, old, new and old Catholics, the disabled, those with alternate life styles and people with various income levels.” Augustinian Brother Bill Harkin,
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regional representative of the Augustinian province, said of the presentation: “I think Father Cancro is very practical and theological. He knows what he is talking about and gave me new methods on how to preach with reference to other people.”
Elizabeth Steinkamp and Rev. Mr. Vincent Shaw discuss the program during the Continuing Education Class on Homiletics at St. Francis of Assisi Church Feb. 2.
Photos by Rev. Mr. Gerald Potkay
Deacons and their wives mingle during a break at the Continuing Education Class on Homiletics at St. Francis of Assisi Church Feb. 2.