Yesterday the Church celebrated the feast of Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo is considered one of the great masters of the Latin Church's homiletic tradition.It has been my persuasion for some time now that we are gifted in our day with the example of a homilist who will rank among the great ones in the history of the Church: Pope Benedict XVI.Sandro Magister of www.Chiesa fame has now edited a book of the Pope's homilies in Italian, spanning the liturgical year. Of course they are all available separately on the Vatican website, but it is a joy to have them gathered in an accessible way. I hope the book will soon find an English translator.At the presentation of the book Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the emeritus Vicar for Rome, offered some reflections. Here is an excerpt:

the homilies collected in this approachable volume demonstrate how the texts of the biblical readings of the individual celebrations can be understood in their full and authentic meaning, historical and theological, precisely as an integral part of liturgical action, and how on the basis of this fullness they can live in the present of the faith and speak to us. For this reason, reading and meditating on the homilies of Benedict XVI has become for many priests a valuable aid, and almost a paradigm for their personal preaching: in this regard, I myself have experienced how much listening to many of these homilies in person has helped my preaching, improving its connection to the Bible and the liturgy, and stimulating the attention and participation of those present. This book is therefore also a practical aid easily available to every priest, as a model to take as inspiration in his own homilies, not through rote repetition or imitation, but as a point of reference for his own personal efforts in assimilating and communicating the word of our salvation.

The rest of Cardinal Ruini's remarks may be found here.

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is a longtime Commonweal contributor.

Also by this author
© 2024 Commonweal Magazine. All rights reserved. Design by Point Five. Site by Deck Fifty.