At his diocese’s Chrism Mass, Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida offered some stirring words to his priests and deacons about the importance of preaching.

I thought it worth sharing:

Without abusing the privilege of preaching, we must reclaim the challenge of prophecy. Jesus walked into that synagogue, sat among his friends and recalled one of the most uncomfortable passages of Scripture to use as his launching pad. How about we who preach the word of God? Is it pabulum, or prophecy or something in between? He was willing to pay the ultimate price for preaching the truth. How far are we willing to go?

So many people look to the church to provide light in the occasional dark moments of their lives. We are anointed, my brothers, imbued and filled with the Spirit. And to our deacons here present, I remind you as I did 10 days ago that you also have been given the privilege of preaching. The spirit has been given to you and to me, and we have the special grace to both enlighten and challenge our generation. Make preaching one of the hallmarks of your ministry. Encourage and challenge. Cajole and confront. Proclaim and apply. God’s people look to us to inspire them to greater openness, generosity, care, compassion and responsibility.

The Old Testament prophets preached both judgment and hope. In preaching judgment, every one of them first convicted themselves, holding themselves as well as their hearers accountable for their/our actions. Their task was to hold God’s people accountable to live morally responsible lives. Micah got it: Act justly, love constantly and walk humbly before the Lord.

But, every prophecy was accompanied by words of hope. There was no sin so unpardonable, no circumstance so dark that they could not also cry out in the same breath, “Comfort, comfort my people says your God.”

A non-Catholic theologian (David Bland) commenting on the role of prophetic preaching has written, “In a real sense, then, prophetic preaching ‘comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.’” And genuine prophetic preaching springs from a life of prayer, faithful study of God’s word, and a deep love for God and his church. Such preaching does not rely on human experiences to transform lives, but on what a God of steadfast love as done through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Our people gather. They hear the word of God. You and I have the awesome privilege to break it open for them. My prayer today is that every time you and I bring the Liturgy of the Word to its conclusion, and we have done our best to preach prophetically like Jesus, Isaiah, Elijah and Elisha, Micah and Jeremiah and Zephaniah, we can take our seats and say to ourselves: “Today, together, we will fulfill these Scripture passages, which we have heard. For we have preached the just word.”