In a recent address, a leading American archbishop has offered a word or two of wisdom to those who seek to preach The Word.

From CNS:

Preaching effectively in U.S. multicultural communities hinges upon believing passionately in God’s word and his universal plan of salvation, Atlanta’s archbishop told U.S. seminarians studying in Rome.

“If the preacher truly, deeply, passionately embraces the word,” then the word of God “will find a home in the hearts of those who listen,” said Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta.

“The word itself and the graced hearts of the listeners will adapt the preaching so that it becomes hearable in a given context,” he said Jan. 13 during the 2008 Carl J. Peter Lecture at Rome’s Pontifical North American College.

The annual lecture seeks to foster preaching skills for seminarians preparing to serve in parishes. The African-American archbishop’s talk was titled “Preaching in a Multicultural Church — Highlighting the Latino, African-American and Asian Communities.”

The archbishop said a priest’s main task is proclaiming the word of God.

He said priests, as ambassadors of Christ, need to present themselves as “sources of wisdom” and truth, which is often difficult in a culture in which people “are much more likely to go to Oprah or Dr. Phil or a blogspot” for words of wisdom.

While today’s secularism poses enormous difficulties, it is not the first time Christians have struggled against the times; even the early apostles had great obstacles to overcome in spreading the word of God, he said.

“In some sense, it is the perennial state of any preacher to work against the odds, to be confronted with massive crises,” he said. Therefore a priest needs to have an unshakeable confidence in his mission, and that comes only from a solid foundation of faith: “to pay attention to what we believe, how we believe, in whom we believe,” he said.

“This is not spiritual narcissism,” he said, but is the source for speaking credibly and communicating effectively “the word of life.”

Archbishop Gregory said there are some misconceptions about preaching to members of the Latino, African-American and Asian communities that need correcting.

For example, while minorities living in the United States have been victims of inequality, discrimination and oppression, attention also must be paid to their dignity and hope for the future.

Preaching must “proclaim God’s gracious empowerment” and “insist on the revolutionary power of forgiveness and reconciliation,” he said.

You can read more at the CNS link.