A COHORT of seminarians, clergy, religious and lay ministers were in for three days of Spirit-led conversations at the Xavier School of Preaching, held at Holy Spirit Seminary in partnership with Australian Catholic University and Brisbane archdiocese.
ACU’s Xavier Centre for Theological Formation director Sr Maeve Heaney said the sessions were going brilliantly.
The school started yesterday with Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge, she said, who gave a “beautiful, rich and deep input and challenge” on what it meant to know and transmit the Word of God.
Sr Heaney emphasised the importance of preaching to the life of the Church, saying people are drawn to God’s life-giving message wherever it is spoken.
“They will bring their brothers and sisters, they will bring their friend who needs some hope, they will bring their kids,” she said.
She said the way we preach impacts the future of the Church.
It was important to have schools like this that could help people develop their skills in preaching and demonstrate what preaching could feel like, she said.
In a presentation on testimony as preaching, MenALIVE founder Robert Falzon said it was every Christian’s responsibility to preach the Gospel.
He said effective preaching will lead people to an encounter with Jesus.
He asked how many people had experienced an encounter with Jesus through preaching and the response in the room was unanimous.
Preaching, he said, led to mission.
Rockhampton Deacon Peter Doherty, who was ordained last month, was among the participants at the school.
He said it was great to have so many experienced preachers at the school who could share their wisdom, but who also had an awareness that more could always be done.
“Everyone preaches within their own context: whether that’s in schools, around the dinner table within their families and there are particular skills, approaches and models of preaching that enhance what we try to say.”
ACU campus ministry leader Colleen Tracey was also participating in the school.
“For me, it’s about realising that preaching is not just about the words that are spoken from the pulpit,” she said.
“Preaching is about the faith conversations we have with everyone, every day in all situations.”
That was the thinking behind the Xavier School of Preaching.
The school is for anyone, men and women, who preach the Gospel in the life of the Church, including – parish lay ministers, priests, deacons and seminarians, teachers and school leaders, diocesan and catholic education leaders, members of ecclesial movements, catechists, and youth ministers
Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese hosted the first school in 2022.
The Xavier School of Preaching seeks to enable participants to –
- Speak and preach confidently the Gospel in a variety of contexts, life situations and ministries in which they are involved;
- Deepen their understanding of the dynamics of communication – both verbal and non-verbal – in contemporary society and in relation to the Church’s mission;
- Connect their life of faith and prayer to the ministry of preaching and teaching, as well as acquire appropriate theological knowledge on the background, theological and ecclesial dimensions of the Word;
- Identify and understand their strengths and weaknesses in relation to a life of communicating the gospel and discover a personal road-map to develop their vocation as a disciple-apostle entrusted with the Word of God.
If you’d like to find out more about the Xavier School of Preaching, please head to: https://evangelisationbrisbane.org.au/schoolofpreaching
