Publisher Description

The growing awareness of the importance of preaching is a sign of our times. In the past decades, conscious that a renewal of preaching is essential for a renewed evangelization, many seminaries have implemented homiletic courses. However, there is still a real limitation of good and systematic resources in order to learn the theological depth and practical elements of the art of preaching.

The Art of Preaching: A Theological and Practical Primer aims to fill that gap. It explores the theological understanding of the homily, lessons from classical and contemporary rhetoric, the relevance of preaching for the life of the Church, highlighting recent teachings of the Magisterium, and it presents the incarnation as the foundation for preaching, understood as an essential aspect of the priestly life and mission.

This primer also offers a simple and effective method for the preparation and delivery of homilies, illustrating this by the example of brilliant preachers and exploring the idea of preaching as locus theologicus, i.e., the privileged place for the exercise of theology today. It is in deepening in the value and importance of preaching that theology can be renewed as a living and essential part of the daily life of priests. Seeing the homily not as a burden but as an occasion to fulfill the priestly identity will offer the opportunity to embrace the preparation for preaching as a key for unity among the many tasks and demands of pastoral life. In the homily prayer, study, and work come together.

The Art of Preaching will also provide a selection of homilies from the great preachers of the Church, organized chronologically, with brief introductions and commentaries that highlight what those homilies teach us for our preaching today. Only learning from the best preachers can we hope to preach effectively in our times.

Author Biography

Daniel Cardo is the Pope Benedict XVI Chair for Liturgical Studies at St. John Vianney Seminary.

Review Quote

"Approaches to homiletic preaching are far too often governed by private theories about what a homily ought to be and do, so Rev. Cardo's approach brings welcome objectivity to this conversation without abandoning that subjectivity which is a necessary element of the preaching ministry."?Rev. Charles Fox, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, MI "It is refreshing to find a book on preaching that draws upon the heritage of great preachers in the Church, that discourages moralism and favors instead promoting an encounter with the mysteries of the faith in all of their beauty and depth, and that draws on the experience of those of us who listen to homilies Sunday after Sunday. The anthology of great homilies from the Tradition is an added boon!"?John C. Cavadini, McGrath Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame "Many of us who are deacons, priests or bishops find preaching to be a great joy; others of us find it to be a heavy burden. All of us who preach will find this book by Father Daniel Card

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