Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend
Bishops discuss integration of doctrine, Scripture, preaching
Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, meets with Bishop John M. D'Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend during the "Eloquence of Teaching" seminar in Mishawaka, Ind. (Photo by Diane Freeby)
By Don Clemmer
MISHAWAKA, Ind. — Continuing a discussion begun at the Second Vatican Council, around 40 U.S. bishops gathered at the convent of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration for
a seminar exploring the relationship between doctrine and Scripture in Catholic teaching, especially homilies. The event was sponsored by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame.
The Feb. 11-13 seminar, entitled “Eloquence of Teaching: Doctrine, Scripture and Preaching in the Life of the Church,” included talks by Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dr. John Cavadini, chair of the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, along with professors of theology from Notre Dame and other universities. It was a follow-up to a 2005 conference at Notre Dame marking the 40th anniversary of "Dei Verbum," the Second Vatican Council document on divine revelation.
While the event was originally to be hosted on the Notre Dame campus, the bishops made a collective decision to move the seminar off campus to nearby Mishawaka because of the likelihood of the presentation of the play, “The Vagina Monologues,” at Notre Dame, according to a statement by Bishop John M. D’Arcy in the Feb. 17 issue of Today’s Catholic, the newspaper of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind.
The seminar itself looked at the problem faced by priests who feel they must choose between preaching on the Scriptures or preaching on the church’s doctrines and moral teachings. “Dei Verbum,” the seminar noted, does not see the two as mutually exclusive, but rather as two components that can work well together.
“We have to find ways to improve homilies so that they are at one and the same time genuinely exegetical — genuinely interpretative of Scripture — and genuinely catechetical,” explained Cavadini.
Cavadini gave a talk on how the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be a resource to priests be helping to identify Scripture passages related to certain doctrinal or catechetical themes.
In his keynote presentation, Cardinal Levada noted that the trend to eliminate catechetical homilies after Vatican II was not really in the spirit of "Dei Verbum," but that the Scripture commentary aspect of the homily was emphasized because it had been so lacking prior to the council. He said the church should now seek to integrate these two aspects.
According to Cavadini, this integration should not be so difficult, noting, “All of the major doctrines of the Catholic faith were articulated in defense of Scripture and with scriptural language, while the canon of Scripture itself — what books were chosen and what books preserved — was a function of doctrinal considerations.” In other words, “Scripture itself has a doctrinal shape, and doctrine has a Scriptural context,” Cavadini said.
Other sessions at the seminar were presented by Dr. Lawrence Cunningham, Dr. Gary Anderson, Dr. Ann Astell and Dr. John O’Keefe.
“The bishops were very pleased with it, very positive,” Bishop D’Arcy recalled, noting that the seminar was effective for helping the bishops to better exercise their ministry. “The bishop is a preacher of the word of God. If you look at the Second Vatican Council, it’s very clear that part of his role is to preach. (The purpose of the seminar) was to help us preach and to help our priests to preach.”
Preaching his homily on the final afternoon of the seminar, Cardinal Levada recalled how God called upon Jonah to save the people of Nineveh by preaching his word.
“If Jonah could be eloquent under those circumstances,” said Cardinal Levada of the reluctant prophet, “how much more eloquent, brother bishops, can you and I be? An eloquence not from our own skills, but from the Spirit teaching us."
He continued, “Only Jesus can lead us in the Spirit and make us sharers in the Holy Trinity. It’s not what we say or do, but the person of the risen Christ, present in the word and the sacrament. This is how we are drawn into communion with God."
At the conclusion of Mass, Cardinal Levada thanked the central organizer of the seminar — Cavadini, the presenters, the Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame and the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration.
Diane Freeby contributed to this story.
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