Do you want to preach?

Here are 8 Suggestions From An `Old` Preacher

Hi, Preachers. And Would-Be Preachers.

Im also a Preacher. Been one for 25 years now.
But many times, Im also your audience.
Many times, Im also the ordinary Mr. Guy-At-The-
Pew because I too listen to Lay Preachers and
Priests give their talks. So I see you, the Preacher,
the way 90% of the world sees you: A figure in
front some seventy feet away, three-fourths of
your body covered by an old pulpit.
Competing against your talk is the humidity of the
Philippines, the noisy kids around me, plus the
lovely girl in front of me wearing a spaghetti strap
blouse that exposes her exquisite neck and
flawless shoulders.
And as if all these arent enough, Im very
distracted by my problems at my job and my
family that keep replaying in my mind like the
refrain of a hit song on radio. Im thinking of my
big and small concerns. The debt that needs to be
paid on Tuesday. The electric fan that my wife
asked me to fix 6 weeks ago. The DVD that my son
wants me to rent after Mass
How can you compete?
I have 8 suggestions.
I gave this talk to a group of 90 priestsand they
were immensely grateful.
Here they are
For starters, I want to see you.
Move out of the pulpit. Dont hide.
If you have something to say, show yourself.
Remember, youre speaking to a generation raised
by television, spending 5 hours a day with it since
birth. So were visually-wired. We need to see
something moving in front of us if you want to
speak to us.
Second, connect with me.
My friend complained, When my parish priest
gives his talk, I sometimes feel hes autistic. He
just babbles his words to the wind. Its as though
were not even there in front of him. I have this
great desire to shout and wave my hand, Yoohoo,
Father, Im here! Hello!
Yes, Preachers.
Speak to me. Look at me. Talk to me. Converse
with me.
Connect.
Third, use small words.
For example, I noticed that priests love this word:
Dichotomy.
I cant count the number of times Ive heard it
from the pulpit.
Father, youre no longer a seminarian taking a
compre, impressing your theo prof.
Do people go to the market and say, Isang kilo
lang ang bibilhin ko sa malaking isda na yan. Paki-
dichotomize mo nga I dont think so.
If you know that 90% of your listeners dont use
the word dichotomy, and your goal is to
communicate, then dont you use it.
You might as well speak German if you do.
Fourth, tell stories.
Heres what Ive learned from sales people: Facts
tell but stories sell.
I need to see it in my imaginationand then Ill
understand it.
Use analogies. Use personal experiences. Use
details, and make me see, touch, taste, smell, and
feel the story.
Like Jesus and his parables, be the best story-teller
in the world.
Dont say its impossible. Hone your craft!
Fifth, dont forget my needs.
You may criticize Mike Velarde for his neon-colored
barong, but you have to admit that hes an
incredibly effective speaker. (Proof? 300,000
people gather in front of him every week
voluntarily.)
Why? He always speaks with their problems in his
mind.
Your audience is a bunch of people that have debts
to pay, fears about their kids, burdened by marital
fights, suffer from hypertension, arthritis,
migraine, and cancer.
Believe me, the Gospel of the day is very far from
their minds.
So when you begin your homily by saying, The
Gospel for the day is about you tune out half of
your audience.
Begin with where people are. And then talk about
how the Gospel addresses their problems.
Sixth, speak more than fifteen only if youre really
good
A fifteen-minute talk is purgatory if youre boring.
But a thirty-minute talk from an excellent preacher
is bitin.
So if you know youre still growing in the skill of
preaching, shorten your homilies. Some great
preachers are even known for the brevity of their
talks.
Many love (adore, worship) Bishop Soc Villegas
three-minute sermons, which I compare to solid
punches to ones solar plexus. On target, every
timewith the least amount of words.
Seventh, be real.
Tell me a bit of your struggles. Your sins. Your
temptations.
Tell me about the problems you go through.
I need to know youre just like meneeding God at
every breath.
Open up and Ill open up to your message.
Doing so will make you cease being another statue
in church.
Youll become a friend.
Eight, speak from your passion.
Im not talking about bombast.
You could speak very quietly, but I know if youre
speaking from an inner passionor if youre
speaking from your head and your hastily prepared
notes.
This is probably the most important lesson in
preaching.
Dont talk about trust, or repentance, or love, or
serviceif you dont feel a fire in your belly for
trust, or repentance, or love, or service It just
wont work.
People will know youre a phony.
PREACHERS HABITS
Ive been preaching for 25 years.
Here are some habits that have helped me through
the years
Read as much as you breathe
Listen to preaching videos and audiotapes
Prepare your talks way in advance
Most of all, deepen your relationship with God
The last point is decisive. I try (strive, strain,
struggle, stumble) to strengthen my spiritual life.
Thats where the passion comes from.
For without passiona love for God and for others
the preacher is a noisy gong and a clanging bell.
PS. One of my dreams for next year under the
Kerygma FamilyA School for Catholic Leadership.
One important Subject: how to preach! Pray for
this. Join the Kerygma Family and be part of a
growing ministry that will impact the world.
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