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Preaching the Jubilee

Wally's Words:
Preaching on and Rejoicing in the Year 2000

I recently called my friend Wally two nights before he was to have surgery resulting from prostate cancer. I asked him how he was doing. "Just great," he replied. Although the tone of his voice did not betray his words, I knew he had to be concerned. One doctor had told him that the cancer was too far gone. There was nothing that could be done except, of course, to enjoy whatever time the Lord would give him here on earth. Then came a second opinion from a doctor at a Baltimore hospital, specializing in the treatment of prostate cancer. Surgery could be performed if Wally so chose. The cancer was indeed serious but the second doctor believed that surgery was worth the risk. It was the only option that my friend had left if he was going to fight his illness. Because of the type of cancer Wally had, neither chemotherapy nor radiation would be an option.

With the reality of surgery now staring him in the face, Wally (a permanent deacon) said: "You know, I don't want to sound like I'm preaching..." But, I exclaimed, "Wally, you are preaching and it is not even Sunday." He continued:

"Whatever suffering that I am going to go through both during and after the surgery is little compared to what Jesus went through. He was going to have his last supper with men he thought were his friends yet, one was going to betray him, another would deny him, and most of the others would hide out of fear. I am going to have supper with my family and friends in a nice restaurant who have come to support me. After supper, Jesus was arrested, tortured, mocked and embarrassed. For my part, I am going back to a beautiful hotel near the hospital for a peaceful night's sleep before the surgery. Jesus was put to death by soldiers who didn't care to know his name. I am undergoing surgery at the hands of doctors who care about me and are guided by the Holy Spirit. No matter what the outcome of the surgery or the illness, I have lived a good life supported by a loving wife and family. God has blessed me in allowing me to serve the Church as a deacon and has given me a fruitful ministry." [Besides serving in the parish to which he is assigned, Wally has been chaplain to a men's state prison where he has led bible study groups, conducted religious services, and visited inmates]. "Whatever suffering I have to go through is minimal compared to what Jesus underwent in body and in mind."

Soon after, our telephone conversation ended. Yet Wally's words kept ringing in my ears: "I don't want to sound like I'm preaching ... but ... whatever suffering that I am going to go through ... is little compared to what Jesus went through." It was the best homily I had ever heard and I am sure, one I will never forget.

Being a priest who has conducted more than a few parish missions, served in parish work and given several retreats, I am embarrassed to say that I have never reflected on my own words as I did upon Wally's words that night. His words were not only statements about his own faith. They were, in fact, words that were spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit. I was at the hospital the day Wally had his surgery. The surgery itself went well but as I share this story with you, Wally's family still awaits the results of the pathology report from the surgeon.

By now you may be asking what all of this has to do with the title of this article. The answer is both simple and profound. Wally's words caused me to give my first serious consideration to the arrival of the new millennium. What did it mean to me? I knew that it meant more than simply the arrival of another new year. I had so often read the Holy Father's references to and the connection he made between arrival of the year 2000 and evangelization.

The more I reflected on his words, what became clearer to me was his appreciation for the life that God had given him thus far and for whatever life he would be able to enjoy and spend in the Lord's service in the future. The change to a new millennium may very well be the opportunity to reflect on the experience of our own lives.

Catholic preaching, especially since the advent of the Second Vatican Council, has sought to raise the consciousness of the faithful by challenging us to reflect on our lived experience of faith. In all honesty, there have been times when we have not been open to such challenges. At other times, preachers of God's word have not done their best to bring the Lord's word to life thus making it difficult for us to reflect on the right questions. What the year 2000 brings into focus is the reality that for two millenniums, Christ Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, has been alive and acting through the members of his body to continue the work of building the Kingdom of God. By in large, the Church has sought to do this through the task of evangelization and the preaching of God's word.

Most of us, from our experience of preaching (whether we've been preachers in the strict sense or have sat in the pews and listened) know that effective and challenging preaching occurs when the experience of the human person is interpreted in light of God's word. Such experiences of preaching touch the very core of our being and call us to become more accountable as people who bear the name of the Lord Himself: Christian.

Wally's story is only one example of that. It is a story that was not told from a pulpit but one that will have a deep impact on all who hear it or have lived it in their own experience. To be able to share those experiences and how they build our own faith is at the heart of preaching.

Yet, preaching is not just the responsibility of the ordained ministers in the Church. It is the responsibility of all who share in the ministry of Christ through baptism. In whatever ways that God enables us to share our experience of faith, we become preachers of God's word. Preaching God's word is not the same as simply sharing a story or an experience. Preaching involves reflection on the experience and upon how God has communicated with us through it. When such reflection has taken place, then the sharing of it will bear an impact upon the hearer and cause him/him to reflect on like experiences he/she has had. That is how we become aware of God's movement in our lives. That is the reason why Wally was able to express gratitude for the life and ministry God has given him and to place his hope in God in the future.

When we read the Sacred Scriptures, and in particular the Gospels, we see why Jesus' preaching had such a profound impact in the lives of people. His preaching made a difference in the lives of the hearers. He used occasions in which he preached (whether to a large crowd or just in the presence of his disciples) to bring about a change in the lives of real people: sins were forgiven, people were cured, demons expelled. His preaching caused people to reflect on the experiences of their lives and where they felt dejected and ashamed they found in Jesus' words acceptance and gladness of heart.

In sharing these experiences with others, the people who heard Jesus preach and took his words to heart had a profound impact on others. What they discovered was that they too could speak in the power of the Holy Spirit to effect a change in others. Have our experiences of being preached to brought about any change in our lives? Have our experiences of preaching, sharing our faith with others, effected any change?

The onset of the new millennium is a reminder to us that as our world keeps changing, so must we. God gives us the great gift of time to grow deeper in his image which is the image of Christ. That will not fully happen until all Christians take their responsibility to evangelize and preach seriously.

To be effective preachers of God's word, we need to listen. We must listen to our own experiences and our own faith. We must learn how to interpret our experiences through that faith and have the courage to share it with others. What we Christians throughout the world need to realize is that we are becoming part of salvation history because God continues to work in us.

A new chapter in the history of salvation is about to open as together we enter the new millennium. Will we have the courage to take seriously God's work of evangelization and preaching and thus carry the message of salvation to the people of the next 1000 years? The Second Vatican Council, in its decree on the missionary activity of the Church, stated:

The fathers of the Council together with the Roman Pontiff, being deeply conscious of their duty to spread everywhere the kingdom of God, affectionately salute all preachers of the Gospel, and making themselves sharers in their sufferings, they especially salute those who suffer persecution for the name of Christ.

They are inflamed with the same love that inflames the heart of God towards men. Aware that it is God who makes his kingdom-to-come on earth, they pour out their prayers, together with the Christian faithful, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, the nations might soon be led to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4) and that the glory of God, which shines in the faith of Jesus Christ, might shed its light on all men through the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 4:6).

The Jubilee Year is a time to evangelize and preach for Christ with more enthusiasm and seriousness than ever because God has given us 2000 years of history to both benefit and learn from. Our task is to reflect on those experiences and interpret them in the light of faith so that we not only know where we have been, but in fact, where we are going.

Father Mark Tucker is a Redemptorist priest of the Baltimore Province. He is a native of Massachusetts. He is presently stationed in Baltimore, MD, and works for the Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Washington. He was ordained in 1989 and has served in parishes and conducted parish missions and retreats.