Why Preach?: Encountering Christ in God's Word

by Peter John Cameron

Well known for his teaching, writing, and editing of Magnificat , the widely popular monthly publication containing the Scripture readings and prayers for the Mass used weekly by several hundred thousand Catholics, Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., offers here expert spiritual and practical help for priests, pastors and seminarians desiring to preach effectively. Why Preach draws from the author's rich understanding of the Word of God as the challenging, encouraging, and healing presence of Christ, as well as from his own experience as both a preacher and a teacher of homiletics. With an eye focused on the works and examples of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, Father Cameron illustrates that good preaching derives from and leads to an encounter with Christ, the Word of God made Flesh, who comes to us through the Scriptures. The objective of the book is to help preachers to think about preaching in a new, dynamic way. Its aim is to provide a fresh and helpful vision of preaching geared to deepening a preacher's appreciation of what preaching is, and the great spiritual impact that good preaching can have on its audience, so as to increase his desire and ability to preach well.

Genres: Christianity

250 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2009

About the author

Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., (Playwright, Director) holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting from the Catholic University of America. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is the author of more than a dozen plays. His first play, Full of Grace, received the David Lloyd Kreeger Creativity Award and was performed in showcase at the Kennedy Center in 1988. Fr. Cameron's play about the life of St. Therese of Lisieux, The Sacrament of Memory, was produced in 1998. He recently wrote a screenplay for a video about the vocation to the priesthood produced by the Knights of Columbus. Fr. Cameron is the former Artistic Director of the American Catholic Theater, and the former Director of Creative Affairs for Paulist Productions, Los Angeles, and the founder of the Blackfriars Repertory Theatre.

Reviews

[Christian Raab, OSB · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best book on preaching I have ever read. It got off to a slow start for me. The first chapter, a discourse on theological anthropology, was not what I was expecting and did not really provide me with any new insights. The remainder of the book, however, was phenomenal. The author proposes that preaching is primarily the facilitation of an encounter with Jesus Christ which makes it a different exercise than teaching or catechizing. Preaching is especially different from moralizing, which Cameron really sees as a kind of anti-preaching. Preaching uses stories to lead people to deeper awareness of the story they are living and the presence of Chirst in their story. Preaching should be convsersational without being silly, for ultimately it is a generative activity - a dialogue through which people are renewed and reborn.


The author is a Dominican and through this book he brings honor to the order of preachers. He is not narrow in his range of influences/references. They include: Augustine, Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Newman, Balthasar, Benedict XVI, John Paul II, Giussani and other CL thinkers (Albacete, Caron).

[Fr. Peter Mottola · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book asked all the right questions and gave very unsatisfactory answers. That strength in itself, however, makes it a worthwhile read in an age where preaching is a custom "More honor’d in the breach than the observance."
Cameron encourages his reader, when preparing his homilies, to ask 'How is Christ happening to me now?', 'In what way is Christ breaking in on my life at this moment?' It is a method very much rooted in the thought of Fr. Luigi Giussani, which I appreciate, yet nonetheless this is one of those books where I found myself yelling at the pages in disagreement. His approach, to my mind, did not take sufficiently into account the rich Catholic tradition of scriptural exegesis, viz. the "four senses" of Scripture still spoken of in the Catechism, and thus I imagine the end result of Cameron's suggestions would be homilies that, while certainly more engaging and meaningful than most, would still fall far short of the great sermons of the Fathers and saints.

[Nick Senger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why Preach? is a spiritual must-read, and not just for preachers. Every church-goer would appreciate Fr. Cameron's insights into the nature of preaching. Though I read this primarily through the eyes of a deacon candidate who will be called upon to preach, the book has already profoundly affected the way I view Scripture and homilies. Rather than write a how-to manual for homilists, Cameron, the editor-in-chief of Magnificat magazine, gets to the root of what it means to preach the Word of God. Superb in every respect.