Why Preaching | The Introduction to Why Preach: Encountering Christ in God's Word | Peter John Cameron, O.P.
"How necessary is the office of preaching without which the human heart would not rise to the hope of heaven." — Bl. Humbert of Romans, O.P.
A Treatise on Preaching, 13th century
One Labor Day not long ago, a close member of my family suffered a devastating medical trauma. When the call came, my family and I—spread throughout the Northeast—immediately jumped in our cars in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Connecticut and raced to the hospital in Hartford. We hurried to the emergency room waiting area, and there we did all that we could do: we waited. And worried. And waited. From what little we knew, the situation was dire. The passing of each mute and interminable minute made things seem more ominous. We sat with our eyes glued to the door, dying for a doctor to come through it to report that the one we loved was not going to die. Our whole life, in anguished anticipation, was fixed on that announcement; our entire existence had become one huge begging for a life- giving word. We were not going to leave that place without it. And then it happened. The door opened. The physician appeared. And the announcement was made: The condition was serious—very serious. But ... he would live. The news was good.
I would venture to say that many people live their lives in more or less the same predicament. Almost every day of their lives they confront some crisis ... maybe a calamity ... at the very least some conflict (even though they may not be aware of it). And in the face of it, they feel utterly powerless. They will not give up, but they know that, on their own, they cannot conquer or quell the problem that oppresses them. They live waiting for a Word that will make a difference ... for breakthrough News. They will not leave without it. And the only thing that can give them relief, that will enable them to go on, is the arrival of an expected authority, who at long last appears, who comes specifically for them, mindful of their agony, and who proclaims to them Good News.
This is why there is preaching in the Church.
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