HOMILIA OBRZĘDOWA ‒ ANTIDOTUM NA KRYZYS WIARY W KOŚCIÓŁ CHRYSTUSOWY
The Homily at Ceremonies: A Useful Antidote for the Crisis of Faith in the Church of Christ

Summary/Abstract: The distinct feature of our time is a crisis of belief in the Holy Catholic Church. There are numerous voices that try to assess and judge the Church merely as an institution and not a community of faith with Jesus Christ as its Founder. The search for ways to reach out to people with the Good News is directly related to the phenomenon of secularization among the faithful or the crisis of their faith, yet it also applies to that other group of people who actually want to strengthen their relationship with Christ. The disappearing need for systematic participation in the Sunday Eucharist should inspire preachers to try to win back those faithful who appear in church just occasionally (a wedding, funeral, baptism). Therefore the homily at such ceremonies, one which is well-prepared and delivered with the preacher’s profound commitment, can help the listeners to enter or re-enter the path of faith or searching for the faith. It should also be a form of interpreting of the human experience in the light of God’s Word. The homily delivered during various religious ceremonies can therefore become an antidote to the current crisis of trust for the Church. At the same time it can nourish the faith as experienced individually when it meets appropriate requirements. There is a need for this kind of preaching to take into account the specific context of preaching and its circumstances. The content, the form of the homily and the attitude of the preacher of the Word of God should be an invitation to deepen their faith in Christ.

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