Books

The Practical Preacher: Handy Hints for hesitant homilists, by Paul Edwards SJ

Reviewed by Anthony Cappello

Contents - Sep 2003 - Buy a copy now Editorial: The future of the Anglican Church - Peter Westmore New auxiliary bishops appointed to the Sydney Archdiocese - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World - AD2000 Dissident US group establishing a foothold in Australian parishes - Mary-Ruth Monsour Catholic summer conferences in the United States: signs of hope - Richard Egan Culture: Second 'Carnivale Christi' Catholic arts festival scheduled for Melbourne - Michael Gilchrist Events: Hearts On Fire Vocations Congress for Melbourne Archdiocese - Joanne Grainger Understanding the Catholic Liturgy since Vatican II - Dom Alcuin Reid OSB Pope John Paul II calls for greater use of Latin - Denis Murphy Homosexual conduct: how Gospel teaching can be distorted - Bill Muehlenberg Letters: Not closing ranks (letter) - Alan Gill Letters: Hidden agenda (letter) - Dr Arthur Hartwig Letters: Liturgical choices (letter) - Marguerite Fennell Letters: New Mass (letter) - Philip Robinson Letters: Converts (letter) - Kevin Tighe Letters: Selfhood (letter) - Robert Prinzen-Wood Letters: Prophetic words (letter) - Errol Duke Letters: Freedom to be born (letter) - George F. Simpson Abridged Papal encyclicals available - Fr M. Durham Letters: Correction - Chris Hilder Books: OLD THUNDER: A Life of Hilaire Belloc, by Joseph Pearce - Scott J. Bloch (reviewer) Books: Some Fell On Rock, by Fr John O'Neill - Fr Peter Joseph (reviewer) Books: The Practical Preacher: Handy Hints for hesitant homilists, by Paul Edwards SJ - Anthony Cappello (reviewer) Books: Great books at the best prices! Reflection: A Christian response to bereavement: Jesus' ministry to the sick and dying - Fr Dennis Byrnes

THE PRACTICAL PREACHER: Handy Hints for hesitant homilists
by Paul Edwards SJ

(Gracewing, Paperback, 161pp, $22.95. Available from AD Books)

Paul Edwards, a Jesuit priest based in North Wales, began to write and teach in 1962. Beginning his ministry as a classroom teacher, he rose to the exalted rank of Master of Campion Hall, Oxford University. It was during this period, while preaching in parishes, schools, religious communities and at universities that he compiled this book titled The Practical Preacher.

Everyone, argues Edwards, wants to be a competent preacher or public speaker; and, in addition, prefers to listen to a confident and engaging speaker. So such a book as this, written in a readable and easy-to-follow style with a wealth of amusing and instructive anecdotes, should be a valuable resource for priests, religious speakers and all those involved in evangelisation.

For the priest, one of the key aspects of his ministry is to proclaim the Word of God. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Those who are called to the ministry of preaching must suit their words to the maturity and understanding of their hearers, as they hand on the teaching of the mysteries of faith and the rules of moral conduct."

And as the then Bishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Arundel and Brighton (UK) remarks of The Practical Preacher: "In my view, [Edwards'] book on preaching will be of enormous help to clergy who have been many years in the ministry and who need to reflect and renew in their own lives their ministry of preaching the word of God."

The author concludes his book: "Long Live the Preacher, the Practical Preacher, of course."

Anthony Cappello is National Secretary of the Thomas More Centre

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 16 No 8 (September 2003), p. 18