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Schools of preaching
By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
DateFirst Posted 22:05:00 03/22/2010
Faith has to be communicated effectively, according to the Institute of Preaching of Santo Domingo Church and the Social Pastoral Communication program of UST A WELL-ATTENDED CATHOLIC SERVICE is the evening Mass at the Christ the King seminary in Quezon City.
Parishioners like that the bespectacled priest descends from his seat in the altar to dialogue with them during homily. They love it whenever the lights are dimmed at one point, giving the Mass the nostalgic feel of a school recollection.
On a recent Sunday, his metaphor was a huge fish bone, which, when pulled out of one’s throat, gives unparalleled relief. Such was the comfort a believer would get when forgiven of his sins, he pointed out in his sermon.
Never mind if the prop seemed unwieldy. He got the Gospel message across. He pulled it off.
To some extent, preaching is “performance,” according to Fr. Nilo Lardizabal, OP, assistant director of the Institute of Preaching housed at the nearby Sto. Domingo Church compound.
It involves strategies and techniques—and even “gimmicks”—all with the clear purpose of communicating the living Gospel of more than 2,000 years ago in the here and now.
But with people “tweeting” and “Googling” nowadays, preaching is probably more challenging and more dynamic today than in any other point in human history.
What it means to be a 21st-century preacher is inescapably defined partly by fresh perspectives and new technologies.
Pope John Paul II spoke of the “Areopagus” of the modern world, referring to new forms of media that could be used for evangelization. There is now a new marketplace of ideas where the Catholic hierarchy no longer dominates the conversation, but instead simply “participates” in it.
In this context, much is expected of the modern preacher. He has to keep pace with the changing world while keeping his fidelity to the Gospel.
The Dominican Province of the Philippines had recognized the urgency not long ago, and came up with the Institute of Preaching in 2005. It offers certificate and Master of Arts courses designed to further train the religious, the clergy—and the laity as well—to become “better and more effective preachers,” said Lardizabal.
Pastoral communication
At the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, there’s a related and more comprehensive graduate and licentiate course on Social Pastoral Communication (SPC) introduced in 2001 by German Fr. Franz Josef Eilers, SVD.
Both programs are a trailblazer of sorts—the Institute being the only program in the country devoted solely on homiletics or preaching, and the SPC being the first of its kind in Asia.
Lardizabal said it is but natural for the Dominicans—the more popular name of the nearly 800-year-old Order of Preachers—to further nurture their charism to become more relevant and effective in the modern world.
He cites instances when some priests, no matter how academically grounded they are, fail to establish a “connection” with their flock during homily. The result, he says, is either a monologue or outright pontification.
“We reflected upon our own preaching and we realized that sometimes, it seemed like packaged preaching,” Lardizabal told the Inquirer. “Not that we failed, but there’s always room for improvement.”
Besides tackling the historical and theological aspects of preaching, the Institute of Preaching offers extensive training on actual preaching. It prepares the clergy, the religious, and the laity in a life of preaching that cuts across cultures, demographics and preoccupations.
“We discourage pontificating,” Lardizabal said. “We have to be casual. We have to take off from the Internet, YouTube, Twitter—cool, funky, unsophisticated.”
In one subject, students are required to preach in front of the camera. Presentations are then critiqued by a panel of accomplished preachers, the likes of famous Dominican preachers such as Fr. Sonny Ramirez and Fr. Enrico Gonzales.
So far, the Institute has attracted even lay professionals and housewives who intend to spread the Gospel message in their respective work environments and communities, according to Lardizabal.
One couple enrolled because they wanted to raise their child better in a Catholic environment, Lardizabal said.
Communicating the Gospel
The SPC program of Eilers, a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in the Vatican, covers the wider perspective of pastoral communication—the communication dimension of all the ministries of the Church.
In his lectures, Eilers often points to the need for pastors and Christian communicators in general to nurture an “inner disposition” grounded on the Gospel.
“Pastoral communication formation has to start on the personal and interpersonal level, and is based more on inner dispositions than on techniques and thinking only,” Eilers wrote.
The course is probably the first to collate relevant church documents on social communication—the Vatican II document Inter Mirifica and the resulting pastoral instruction Communio et Progressio, to name a few—as a solid basis for the life and functions of the Christian pastor.
Graduates of the SPC course—many of whom came from all over Asia—have since returned to their respective dioceses to take charge of communication programs. Closer to home, Fr. Nick Lalog of the Diocese of Malolos, a former TV news reporter himself, is now editorial consultant of Radyo Veritas. He is also part of the SPC program.
Students of the SPC have been taught methods, like coming up with a comprehensive pastoral plan based mainly on the document Aetatis Novae. Or how communication in and out of the hierarchy should be structured—who should speak, when and how.
For inquiries on the Institute of Preaching, call (02) 7437760, 7437758, or 7126275. For the SPC program, call the UST Graduate School at 7861611 loc. 8247.
