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PREACHING-CANTALAMESSA Mar-3-2008 (290 words) xxxi
Papal preacher: Church risks obscuring word of God with excess words
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The church today risks obscuring the word of God with too many useless words of its own, said the preacher of the papal household.
Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, in a Lenten meditation to Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials Feb. 29, said preachers ought to focus more on the essential Gospel message and less on their own embellishments.
The "chatter" of the profane world has little to do with the church's mission, Father Cantalamessa said.
"Too many human words, too many useless words, too many speeches, too many documents," he said.
"In the age of mass communication, the church too risks sinking into the straw of useless words, pronounced just for the sake of saying them, written just because there are magazines and newspapers to fill," he said.
Father Cantalamessa said preachers would do well to stick to the "simple and plain word of God" rather than filter it through "a thousand distinctions and clarifications and additions and explanations."
These explanations may even be correct ones, but they end up weakening the impact of the Gospel in people's hearts, he said.
He said preachers should also be careful not to allow their talks to be exploited for political or partisan purposes.
Where the preacher has no realistic chance of bringing his listeners to the point where he can say, "Convert and believe," then it's probably better just to witness the Gospel in silence, he said.
When writing sermons or similar talks, Father Cantalamessa said, preachers should leave room for divine stimulation. Rather than praying afterward, as if to ask God to bless their words, they should pray beforehand for inspiration, he said.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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