Presentation of the Preaching Activity in the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia
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E-Theologos, Vol. 2, No. 1 DOI 10.2478/v10154-011-0007-0 Presentation of the Preaching Activity in the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia Ľubomír Petrík University of Prešov in Prešov, Greek-Catholic Theological Faculty Introduction The Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia in an integral and living constitu- ent of the Catholic Church. It is characteristic for the Byzantine rite 1, which is one of the eastern rites. It is used by the Orthodox and the Melchits. In the Slovak republic, according to the census conducted in 2001, the Greek-Catholic Church with the number of its faithful reaching 219 831, was the third largest church after the Roman-Catholic and the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession. 2 On 30 January 2008, Holy Father Benedict XVI elevated the Greek- Catholic Church to the status of metropolitan church sui iuris with its seat in Prešov. He elevated the Prešov eparchy to the status of archeparchy and the seat of the metropolia, the apostolic excharchy in Košice to the status of eparchy and founded a new Bratislava eparchy by its detaching from the Prešov eparchy. He named Ján Babjak SJ, then the Prešov eparch vladyka, to be the first Prešov metropolitan archbishop, exarch vladyka Milan Chautur CSsR, then the Košice exarch, to be the first Košice eparch, and a priest and the protopresbyter (protopriest) in Bratislava, father Peter Rusnák, to be the first Bratislava eparch. Thereby, a new period in the history of the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia began. The priests of the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia realise that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ“ (Romans 10, 17). Therefore, they preach not only on Sundays and feast days but they have a short speech every day. 3 1 Individual confessions and rites in the Catholic Church have been denoted as confessio- nal since 1993. See in: VASIĽ, C.: Naša sebaidentifikácia. In: Gréckokatolícky kalendár 2010 . Košice : Byzant, s. r. o., 2009, p. 23. 2 In May 2011, there will be a new census. 3 See in: Circular 4/2004 . Prešov : Gréckokatolícke biskupstvo Prešov, 2004, p. 2, point n. 3: “We ask the priests to have at least a short speech to the faithful during the liturgy even on 67 E-Theologos, Vol. 2, No. 1 DOI 10.2478/v10154-011-0007-0 The Greek-Catholic Church is specific for instance in terms of rite, li- turgy, its spirituality, and also its history. In a way, this is reflected also in the preaching activity of the Greek-Catholic priests in Slovakia. This activi- ty leans on the papal documents and the documents of the Catholic Church on which it is based. Homily Church emphasises one kind of sermon, a homily , which is the purest form of the sermon. „By means of the homily the mysteries of the faith and the guiding principles of the Christian life are expounded from the sacred text, during the course of the liturgical year; the homily, therefore, is to be highly esteemed as part of the liturgy itself; in fact, at those Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the people on Sundays and feasts of obligation, it should not be omitted except for a serious reason“ (SC 52; see in: CCEO, can. 607 and can. 616). It is necessary to understand the term of the sermon in its broader sense as the term of the homily, which is a specifically determined prea- ching. Therefore, both terms are used in this lecture. Generally, it is po- ssible to refer to the homily as to the sermon, but not every sermon is the homily. At the fullest form of sermon, however, we prefer the term homi- ly , so that there is no confusion which would not respect the fundamental difference between the homily and the sermon. The homily is defined as a sermon, based on the holy text, which had been read from the Holy Gospel or the liturgical text, while taking into consideration the celebrated mystery and specific needs of the listeners. 4 Of course, there are also topical and periodic sermons for various topics. They are not completely excluded but the homily has an exclusive posi- tion. Unless there is a serious reason, it cannot be omitted on Sundays and feast days (see in: CCEO, can. 614, §2). Especially due to the fact that it is flexible and adaptable, it is possible to inform the people about any topic. Therefore, Holy Father Benedict XVI even speaks about "thematic" homi- lies which treat the great themes of the Christian faith, on the basis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church .5 So the homily is not only the exegesis of the biblical text, but it is connected with the application for the concre te life of the people. The application has also the social context. (see in: CCEO, can. 616, especially §2). But the kerygma in the preacher’s activity cannot be lost! “But priestly preaching is often very difficult in the circum- ordinary days. It should be matterofcourse that a sermon, either in the form of short homily or a short speech, is a part of every celebrated holy liturgy. On ordinary days it is sufficient to speak shortly 3 – 5 minutes.“ 4 See in: VRABLEC, J.: . Homiletika. Trnava : SSV v CN Bratislava, 1987, p. 31 – 32. 5 BENEDICT XVI.: Sacramentum caritatis. Post-synodal apostolic exhortation. Trnava : SSV, 2007, 46. 68 E-Theologos, Vol. 2, No. 1 DOI 10.2478/v10154-011-0007-0 stances of the modern world. In order that it might more effectively move men's minds, the word of God ought not to be explained in a general and abstract way, but rather by applying the lasting truth of the Gospel to the particular circumstances of life“ (PO 4). The homily does not deal with several thoughts, or topics, usually it concentrates on one idea, or one topic. It is expected from the homily to go in depth rather than in width. Homily is always an integral part of the Liturgy itself. It can only be prea- ched by the bishop and the priest, possibly the deacon, and its time is after the reading from the Holy Gospel. A homily these days should be a response for a modern day man who is influenced by such phenomena as desacralisation, dechristianisation, secularism, the crisis of faith. It is still valid that homily is, as its name sug- gests, an informal conversation. That means that it must be, both in form and content, open to the listeners and must be presented in a simple and engaging way, it must be visual so that even the most onefold listener can understand it. However, that does not mean, that it can be superficial in its form and shallow and unprepared in its content. In article 46 of the po- stsynodal apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, Holy Father Bene dict XVI writes the following in relation to homily: „Given the importance of the word of God, the Quality of homilies needs to be improved.“ 6 Thus the Pope, in a subtle language of a papal document, suggests that the cur- rent homiletic practice has its flaws.7 “The homily is «part of the liturgical action», and is meant to foster a deeper understanding of the word of God, so that it can bear fruit in the lives of the faithful. Hence ordained minis- ters must «prepare the homily carefully, based on an adeQuate knowledge of Sacred Scripture». Generic and abstract homilies should be avoided.“ 8 Prayers before spreading the word of God As far as prayer is concerned, it is immensely important for the priest so that he might stay faithful to Christ and his Church at the preaching activity. “The service to the word reQuires from the priest a deep depersonalization according to the example of Paul’s words: « It is no longer I who live, but 6 BENEDICT XVI.: Sacramentum caritatis. Post-synodal apostolic exhortation. Trnava : SSV, 2007, 46. 7 On Thursday 14 June 2007, on the fourth day of the visit Ad limina apostolorum the bish- ops from Slovakia started their work programme by visiting the Congregation for the Divine Cult and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Its prefect at the time was Cardinal Francis Arinze, who appart from other things pointed out the need and significance of a Quality homily that should, according to him, last about 10 minutes and not more. See in: KOVÁČIK, J. – HAĽKO, J. – GRADOŠ, J.: Slovenskí biskupi v Ríme. K apoštolským prahom. In: Slovo. Časopis gréckokatolíckej cirkvi. Prešov : Gréckokatolícke biskupstvo a Petra, n. o., 2007, vol. 39, n. 16, p. 8 – 9. 8 BENEDICT XVI.: Sacramentum caritatis. Post-synodal apostolic exhortation. Trnava : SSV, 2007, 46. 69 E-Theologos, Vol. 2, No. 1 DOI 10.2478/v10154-011-0007-0 Christ who lives in me» (Gal 2, 20). The Service to the Word, according to J. Ratzinger, reQuires from the priest participation in the kenosis of Christ – that is immersing and rising up in Christ.“ 9 That, however, does not mean a personal non-alignment but rather finding oneself and the community with the person of the Gospel. In compliance with the example of St. John the Baptist, it is also the task of the priest to “be the voice for the Word“. 10 That is why it is necessary that the priest put his preaching activity in a prayer so that it would be, in a way, its constituent, and so that the prayer would be where he looks for an ideal placement of his persona in the process of spreading.