Tale of Two Sermons

Asking the Holy Spirit to speak through us

03/01/2021

Luke 6:36-38 Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

One of my favorite things to do as a priest is prepare and preach homilies or sermons. I always go through a four-step process for preaching. First, I say a prayer to the Holy Spirit, the traditional, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, etc.” The Holy Spirit provides the words, I am the voice. He is the music, I am the instrument. Second, I read the scriptures for the Mass, beginning with the gospel and ending with the first reading; the opposite of how we hear them at Mass. Stephen Covey taught, “begin with the end in mind,” and so the gospel of Jesus Christ is both the Alpha (the beginning) and the Omega (the end) as it says in Rv. 1:8.

Third, I sit and think. It takes me 2-3 hours to come up with something to say for five minutes. Usually, I read the scripture commentary provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' website, which is very good. Stephen Covey also said: “There are always two creations: the mental creation and the physical creation.” So, before I write the first word of my homily (the physical creation), I have already hammered out the homily in my head (the mental creation). Thinking is the first step, writing is the last step.

One day a little girl was watching her father, a pastor, prepare his Sunday sermon. She was noticing how he would write something, and then make corrections. She asked him: “How do you know what to say?” He smiled and answered: “The Holy Spirit tells me what to say.” She looked at his paper and asked, “Then why do you keep scratching stuff out?” Apparently, that pastor needed to spend more time on his mental creation.

And fourth, immediately before I deliver the homily, I whisper this little prayer: “Come Holy Spirit, help me to say what you want me to say, and help them to hear what you want them to hear.” Why do I say that prayer? Well, because what I say and what you hear can be two very different homilies. In a sense, there are always “two sermons” every Sunday: the sermon that leaves my lips, and the sermon that enters your ears.

One Sunday a nice lady thanked me for my very moving homily. I replied: “Thank you so much. I will be sure to pass your kind remarks to the deacon who preached today.” What I say (or what the deacon says) and what you hear can be two very different sermons, and so we need the Holy Spirit to bridge the gap, and be the One who is really preaching.

Today’s gospel is a small section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount according to St. Luke. Did you know there are actually two versions of the Sermon on the Mount? Matthew’s version covers three chapters (5-7) and Luke’s barely goes one full chapter (ch. 6). In Matthew’s gospel Jesus ascends a mountain to preach, but in Luke’s gospel, Jesus descends onto a plain (level ground) to preach. Luke’s version, therefore, is often called the “Sermon on the Plain.”

Still, both sermons begin with the Beatitudes, and end with the building on the two foundations: rock or sand. In other words, again we find a tale of two sermons: one sermon left Jesus’ lips and another sermon entered Matthew’s and Luke’s ears. Here again, however, the Holy Spirit bridges the gap and so we have confidence that both Matthew and Luke faithfully relate the words of our Lord. At least they did not think the deacon preached the sermon.

Folks, some of you may be sitting there thinking: I sure am glad I don’t have to get in the pulpit and preach Sunday after Sunday and people misunderstand my message. Or, some might be thinking: please let me preach instead! But do you realize that there is a tale of two sermons every time you open your mouth to speak? What leaves your lips is not what always enters another person’s ears. This truth is the great secret of spousal communication.

Last week I was counseling a young couple who was having marriage problems. I abruptly stopped and asked the wife: “What did you hear me saying?” She paused and tried to think of what I had said, but couldn’t quite remember. I thought: Don’t worry, this happens to me every Sunday. Husbands and wives (like priests) should ask the Holy Spirit to bridge that yawning gap between what is said and what is heard, or they, too, will end up with a tale of two sermons.

My friends, I take a lot of time and I pray before preaching my homilies. Maybe we should all take a little more time and even pray before we open our mouths to speak or open our ears to hear. Maybe all spouses should start their conversations whispering: “Come Holy Spirit, help me to say what you want me to say and for my spouse to hear what you want him/her to hear.” Then, maybe you will love spousal conversation as much as I enjoy preaching homilies.

Praised be Jesus Christ!