BOOK PICK: ‘The Art of Preaching’: Catholic Priests and Preaching: Preaching Must Be Intrinsic to Who a Priest Is

By Father Paul Scalia, EWTN News, November 6, 2021

The Art of Preaching, A Theological and Practical Primer

By Father Daniel Cardó, The Catholic University of America Press, 2021, 224 pages, $34.95, To order: amazon.com

Perhaps the most constant complaint heard from Catholic pews is about the poor quality of the preaching. Although saddening, it might also be a small consolation to know that such seems always to have been the case.

I’ve heard people express a longing for the days of such great preachers as St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom. But those men stand out in history precisely because, sadly, they weren’t the norm.

Along with this perennial cri de coeur have come the Church’s attempts to improve her clergy’s preaching. The great reformer St. John Fisher sought to improve the education and thus the preaching of his priests. The Catechism of the Council of Trent was meant to be a handbook for preaching, so that the parish priest would at least be communicating solid doctrine. Mother Church is well aware of her sons’ shortcomings. …

Continue reading >>>>