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The inner word

21 May 2017 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Proclaiming the Word of God, receiving the Holy Spirit, sacrificing for what is good: Scripture for this week presents some of the great themes of Christian life. How do you make your preaching into proclamation? If someone were to ask you "What is the Holy Spirit?", what would be an answer you could give them that would open the reality of the Spirit for them? What (or who) is the Holy Spirit for you? The Letter of Peter says, "It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil." Where in your life have you had to change your behavior, make a difficult choice, or renounce something you desired because of your faith in God? To what good did these sacrifices lead?

Holy Spirit proclamation

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Exploring the word

25 Apr 2021 - Fourth Sunday of Easter; Good Shepherd Sunday, Cycle B

Years back I spoke to a youth group about the church. I offered them the opportunity to “vote” on the models of the church as described by Jesuit theologian Avery Dulles. I outlined each one and had the students consider the ideas privately before pledging their allegiances. The majority of the takers went for the Mystical Model, which is not unexpected. Young people are spiritually hungry, eager for God encounters, idealistic in their beliefs, and far purer in their hearts than those of us who’ve spent a few more decades on this planet. The next largest group adopted the Sacramental Model, because community and friendship are appealing at an age when friends frankly seem more important than family. The usual percentage of do-gooders latched onto the Servant Model, insisting that doing what Jesus did is more important than talking about it. Once more, it’s the idealism in teenagers that fires them up for service and compassion more so than jaded and cynical adults. A small but fierce trio of young men remained staunchly dedicated to the Institutional Model, insisting that rules are rules, and somebody needs to be in charge of the show. But not one of the 70 adolescents in the room was willing to commit to the Herald Model. “Doesn’t anyone think that church is ultimately about proclaiming the Good News of Jesus to the whole world?” I asked. A few of the Servant adherents stirred uneasily, but no one was willing to relinquish his or her current position in favor of becoming the messenger. World Day of Prayer for Vocations If there is a vocation crisis, perhaps this little exercise illustrates one source of the trouble. One can seek God, share community, serve others, and run the shop handily without a personal sense of mission. The call to proclamation, to bring the word of God to the people of God, is a highly specific and encompassing occupation. As every preacher knows, it’s not exactly something you can do as a hobby on the side. Proclamation is not merely an activity but also a lifestyle. You become the word you proclaim—or you become the worst form of hypocrite. The heralds of the church—priests, preachers, missionaries, catechists, religion teachers, sponsors, and reconcilers—have eaten the prophet’s scroll and tasted its sweetness. Many of them have stood with Jesus on the mountain and heard him say, “Go, and make disciples . . . .” And they take these words to heart. They have understood that God’s story and their own personal stories are one. They feel a burning commission to help others connect the dots between salvation history and salvation present, so that Easter morning may dawn again in a world tending toward death. If it came down to a matter of percentages, I suppose we would do well to have more people excited about personal communion with God, fellowship with others, and service toward the disadvantaged. But we do need a handful of people to turn on the lights and keep order, and a few heralds for every gathering of the faithful. When no one in the room wants to take responsibility to tell the story, however, we are in real trouble. The place for leadership Vocations have taken a hard hit in the present generation for another obvious reason, of course. Catholics have undergone a crisis of confidence in their leadership. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord,” the Psalmist assures us, “than to trust in people.” Even in princes, he adds. Granted, trusting in people, royal or otherwise, is a long-term losing proposition. As my high-school religion teacher used to lament, “We are human, therefore limited, therefore imperfect, therefore disappointing to ourselves and others.” High-profile people on the global scene are just as likely to disappoint us as the folks next door under these conditions, because they are no less human. Putting our ultimate hopes in mortality, ours or anyone’s, is just a disaster waiting to happen. So as the money tells us, “In God we trust.” Divinity does not disappoint because in God there are no limits or imperfections, no unexpected shortages, and no personal crises to navigate. As the Letter to the Hebrews puts it, “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Forever is a tremendous forecast from the perspective of our mortality. So why not trust in God and leave it at that? Precisely because we are mortals, that’s why. Even as we place our ultimate confidence in God, we look for human leaders to marshal the communal effort. These leaders do not merit our highest allegiances but they do require our cooperation and support. Whether they are civic, religious, or global leaders, they cannot lead unless the rest of us are prepared to follow. On this Sunday when we pray for vocations worldwide, we’re not asking for miracles, just capable leadership. Applying the word Good shepherds Jesus the shepherd is our model, the one who’s not for hire and can’t be bought. Yet we couldn’t put a price on what he offers, salvation at the cost of his own life. This rejected cornerstone is the keystone of the whole structure. He is the reason “we are all God’s children now,” as amazing a statement as that is. We don’t have to find shepherds to do what Jesus did—Jesus accomplishes all the saving we need. All we require are shepherds surrendered to Jesus himself, and to the task of bringing his gospel forward and outward to all the world. If we proclaim this gospel effectively, we won’t have any trouble raising the next crop of heralds. Related scripture links Jesus is the same: Heb. 13:8 Trusting in God: Ps. 32:10; 37:3; 40:4; 131:1-3; Prov. 3:5; 20:22; Isa. 26:4 Other shepherd images: Jer. 23:1-4; Mic. 5:3; Ezek. 34:11-24; Matt. 18:12-14; 25:31-46; Luke 15:1-7; 1 Pet. 5:1-4 Catechism links Good shepherd: CCC 551-553; 606; 609; 649; 753-754

Authors Alice Camille

World Day of Prayer for Vocations proclamation heralds of the church

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Featured Exploring the Word

19 Oct 2025 - Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

We call scripture the “word of God.” That’s a grand claim. If God said it, or wrote it, such an idea carries a great deal more currency than if you or I take the credit for it. We may be smart on a good day; God is the very author of Wisdom and remains the source of truth through all eternity. That’s the difference. It’s considerable. Today’s passage from 2 Timothy is celebrated in Dei Verbum, Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. This document tells us how Catholics understand the Bible, especially how it acts as revelatory source and inspired text for us. All scripture is inspired and useful, it declares. All. This includes what we dismissively refer to as the Old Testament—which was, to the writer of Timothy, what he meant by scripture to begin with. So the story about doddering old Moses getting a little help from his friends in the task of prayer is at least as useful for our consideration today as the parable—or the psalm. Bible scholar Raymond Collins even wrote a book called Preaching the Epistles for those brave enough to do that on a Sunday. When it comes to the word of God, we often operate from a false sense of biblical hierarchy. Furthermore, this much-cited passage from Timothy tells us how scripture is useful: It equips us for the good work we’re called to do, for our vocation to discipleship. So when we consider the three old men literally holding down the fort in spiritual warfare against Amalek, that helps us to appreciate how our faith-sharing groups, Rosary before Mass, and monthly adoration crowd contribute vitally to the life of the church. Reflecting on our confidence in God’s fidelity—as the psalmist does—enables us to step out in faithful action more boldly. When Jesus tells a story about the need for a tireless commitment to prayer (scholar Mary Ann Getty calls Jesus “Our Prayin’ Lord” in Luke’s gospel), it’s a wake-up call to take the injunction to pray unceasingly more seriously. All of that is inspired advice, full of the breath of God waiting for us to exhale it into the world. Proclaim this word whether convenient or inconvenient, we’re told in Timothy. But which word, just the letter itself? Hardly. It’s the divine word we’re exhorted to proclaim—and proclamation obliges us to more than mere profession of it. It’s not enough to say, “Oh yeah, the Bible is God’s word, I believe it.” Good for you; proclamation, however, involves trumpeting this message far and wide in speech and lived example. And proclamation is not just Father’s job, as some of us were raised to imagine. Don’t forget: When it comes to doing God’s will, even Moses couldn’t do it alone. Related scripture links Pray unceasingly: 1 Thess. 5:17; Eph. 6:18-20; Phil. 4:6 Paul is inconvenienced: 2 Cor. 11:24-27 Paul in Ephesus: Acts 19:1-39 Jesus on prayer: Matt. 6:5-13, 7:7-11; Luke 11:1-13, 18:10-14; John 15:7, 16:26 Jesus' example in prayer: Mark 14:32-42; Matt. 11:25-26, 26:36-46; Luke 6:12, 10:21, 22:40-46; John 11:41-42, 17:26 Living stones: 1 Pet. 2:4-8 Catechism links Justice: CCC 1807; 2401-2449 Adapted from a previously published Exploring the word.

Authors Alice Camille

proclamation proclaim the word

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