Hospitable Preaching is Making Parishioners Feel at Home With God - An Interview With Monsignor Gerard H. McCarren

“Wisdom Figure” Monsignor Gerard H. McCarren, S.T.D. (Father Gerry), rector and dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICSST) discussed hospitable preaching; an act of making people feel at home with God.

Monsignor recounted a few places of feeling home with God, including his childhood parish of St. Rose of Lima in Short Hills, New Jersey, his high school, the Delbarton School, Morristown New Jersey, and his time studying at ICSST. Monsignor recalled the beginning of his time studying at ICSST as the “happiest extended period of time” of his life, where he was growing in prayer and being led to embrace a life of ministry. Monsignor compared his feelings of being at home in ICSST to St. John Henry Newman’s description of his arrival in the Roman Catholic Church from Anglicanism in 1845: “It was like coming into port after a rough sea” (Apologia pro Vita Sua). Home is where one can feel safety, rest and be at peace.

Monsignor notes the homily as a place of being at home with God’s Word. Preaching is one of the most personal ways to encounter the faith. Preaching is a kind of spiritual direction; it seeks to enter into people's hearts. Reflecting on the question, “What is a homily supposed to do?” he recalls his Carmelite teacher here at the ICSST, Father John Russell, stating, “The Sunday homily is about inspiring the troops.”

Monsignor shared a few insights on how he prepares homilies. His inspiration is the Word of God and people’s experiences. His ultimate desire is for the homily to be live and present, not so much to be perfectly polished. This creates the ability for an engaging and comforting experience, even if it is also a challenging one.

He stressed the importance of praying with the Scripture before a homily. Earlier in the week, he tries to engage the Scripture readings on their own prayerfully, before looking at commentary.  It is best for him to encounter the Word directly and to let some ideas percolate. Part of his prayer asks, “What does the Scripture mean? And what does the Scripture mean for the congregation?”

When he is preparing a homily, often something comes to him. This is an act of trust and being hospitable to the Word of God. This allows the Word to come into his heart. Monsignor notes, “God receives us. God is love, and God’s love is hospitable to us. It is how the Lord meets us; God is hospitable to us.” Monsignor seeks to receive the Word of God and to be open to the congregation; ultimately his goal is to bring people to God.

The Preaching as Hospitality Formation program of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology seeks to form seminarians, diaconal students, and religious and lay graduate students of theology to be compelling preachers who will offer a hospitality of the heart as they break open the Word of God. The initiatives help to form preachers who will understand and embrace preaching as hospitality — a ministry of inviting, welcoming and offering compassion. The program also focuses on newly ordained priests and deacons and newly appointed pastors (less than five years) who are invited to re-imagine their preaching through the lens of Christian hospitality.

To learn more about Wisdom Figures of Preaching, or ICSST’s Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program, please contact Alyssa Carolan at [email protected].

Categories: Faith and Service