Promoting the Word of God Among The People
By Very Rev. Robert M. Kearns, SSJ
Pastor, St. James Major Catholic Church
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 In his pastoral ministry Pope Benedict XVI,
thus far, is giving much attention to teaching the word of God as an
instrument of evangelization. The Pope has designated the year of St. Paul
June 28, 2008 through June 29, 2009 to focus on the letters of St. Paul
in the mission of evangelization.
The Pope has set the theme of the twelfth
ordinary Synod of Bishops; The word of the Lord in the life and mission
of the church. The Synod is due to take place from 5 October through 26
October 2008.
The challenge is how do pastors preach and
teach the word of God that it gives life to the faithful. Having served
in African American parishes for over forty years, I am aware of the
challenge to bring the word to the people in the pews.
There has to be good biblical based homilies
every Sunday. The preacher must demonstrate and witness that the word of
God gives him life. I have met too many former African American Catholics
who tell me that the preaching did not set their hearts on fire. (I am
reminded of the story of the travelers on the road to Emmaus "were not
our hearts burning while he spoke to us on the way and opened the
scriptures to us" Lk.24:32).
I have found in preaching it is most beneficial
to point out the relations of the word to the liturgical action, the
Catholic worship is always word and sign.
How do we attract people to attend
Bible study and formation classes? In pastoral experience,
offering two classes a week for many years, you may have ten or
more at midday class; a similar number for an evening class.
The midday class is typically retired folks. The response is always
positive with the folks establishing bonds of a community. The evening
class has a younger group. Their questions and concerns tend to the
moral implications of the scripture. Due to work and family obligations,
the night class isn't as stable.
I am always looking for ways to attract
more folks to Bible study. I have a suggestion. Many parishes have
Vacation Bible school. The focus is children. This year in the parish,
St. James Major parish, we decided to have a Vacation Bible school for
children and adults. Including adults was a first effort for us. The
response was far better than expected, regularly there were seventeen
participants. These were not the regular Bible study goers. Many were
young parents.
The goal was to motivate the adults,
parents of the children, to know the word and to share the word
with their children. The response was again very positive, with a
regular attendance of seventeen participants. Quite unexpectantly,
a Pentecostal minister and his wife attended the class. They had
children in the children's program. Their response was most positive
to the Roman Catholic approach to the Bible. What will come of it?
Seeds are planted. Leave it to the Spirit for the increase.
Another means to promote the
word of God is to distribute to the people small seasonal
booklets for Advent, Lent, Easter and Pentecost with the
focus being scripture reading of the day. These booklets
are published by the little book office of the Diocese of
Saginaw. The response of the parishioners was overwhelming.
I need to order more booklets in the future.
I think Pope Benedict is
spirit-inspired on his emphasis on proclaiming and
teaching the word of God. If pastors support this effort,
our African American Catholic faith communities may burn
with a new fire. It is needed.
Very Rev. Robert M. Kearns, SSJ
Pastor,
St. James Major Catholic Church
Prichard, Al
Email: sjm@josephite.com
P.S. I am interested to hear of the
experience of pastors in promoting the Bible in their pastoral work.
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