Quote of the Day - On Preaching

Richard John Neuhaus, writing for May 2008 issue of First Things:

I am asked whether I prepare two different homilies [Rev. Neuhaus is a Catholic priest], one for Immaculate [Conception] and the other for the more "sophisticated" types at Columbia [University]. Definitely not. In both cases, and I would suggest in all cases, the aim is to preach up to the people rather than, in the name of relevance or "meeting them where they're at," preaching down to them. And the aim is to try not to be dull. It is an extraordinary act of clerical abuse to bore a captive audience for fifteen minutes, or thirty minutes, as in the case of many Protestant churches. Catholic priests routinely claim that people today have a short attention span. Maybe they do - for the kind of preaching to which they're accustomed. They have a long enough attention span for many other things that interest them.

Link to First Things online.

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