Speaking from the Heart: An Interview with Monsignor Richard M. Liddy

A breeze blew through the serene courtyard at Immaculate Conception Seminary on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, as Monsignor Richard M. Liddy, Ph.D., professor emeritus of religious studies at Seton Hall University, reflected on his personal influences and what preaching means to him. The former rector/dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICSST) was interviewed as part of the Wisdom Figures of Preaching series of the Preaching as Hospitality program, a key initiative of ICSST.

A native of West Orange, New Jersey, Monsignor Liddy earned his B.A. from Seton Hall in 1960 and then entered Immaculate Conception Seminary (Darlington). He was ordained in 1963 and earned his doctorate from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1970. He served as spiritual director of the North American College in Rome from 1980 to 1984 and helped facilitate the Seminary’s move from Darlington back to the Seton Hall campus in 1984. He was appointed rector/dean of ICSST in 1985 and served until 1990.

Monsignor Liddy’s work and preaching are inspired by the hospitable words of St. John Henry Newman (1801–1890) and Father Bernard Lonergan, S.J. (1904–1984), a prominent Church theologian and one of Monsignor’s professors in Rome. Monsignor Liddy contributed to St. John Henry Newman’s canonization process and has started writing his own work on the saint, whom Father Lonergan called his “fundamental mentor.”

Monsignor points to St. John Henry Newman’s motto, “Cor ad cor loquitur” (“Heart speaks to heart”), when preaching or preparing a homily. After reading the Scriptures ahead of time, Monsignor reflects on what the Scriptures say to him personally and how he can make them hospitable and meaningful for his audience. He encourages new preachers also to use this method: “Even if it’s one line that strikes you and it speaks to you, begin there,” he said. “Begin with your own heart and speak from that.”

This heartfelt preaching is enhanced through storytelling. Monsignor shared a story from his high school football days and how he included it in one of his homilies to make his preaching more relatable and open. This allows him and his listeners to build relationships and strengthen their faith. “I try to be as personable as I can, maybe an experience from my own life that can bring the Gospel alive,” he explained. “Telling a story would be one thing that I think invites people into your world.”

Monsignor Liddy’s preaching has also been shaped by the Second Vatican Council, which continues to influence him six decades later. He strongly advises preachers to follow Father Lonergan’s takeaway from Pope St. John XXIII’s intention: to continue preaching the Good News, especially to the poor. In his writings on St. John Henry Newman, Monsignor notes that everyone is poor and needs to hear the Good News from a heartfelt preacher. “That would be the one thing I emphasize about preaching, it should be good news,” he stated. “Something that really explodes in people’s hearts and in their minds.” This is the heart of hospitable preaching.

Monsignor also emphasized that the Good News should be communicated to today’s youth. He enjoys being on the Seton Hall campus and hosts weekly night prayer groups with students, providing support and inspiration for their personal and academic lives. “Young people need to hear the Good News,” he said. “They’re struggling, I’m sure, they struggle in a lot of ways, so I just hope to give them some courage for the journey.”

An effective preacher speaks from the heart, and Monsignor Liddy strives to preserve this lesson. Reminding us of St. John Henry Newman’s motto, he hopes future preachers will continue to share the message of Vatican II and proclaim the Good News with passion and sincerity. “Hopefully, priests and their preaching may speak from the heart to the hearts of others.”

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 reimagine 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