Preach it, brother!

 

  And he (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world

and preach the gospel to the whole creation." - Mark 16:15

 

Fr Spencer Howe preaching during Mass ~ St John the Baptist, New Brighton , MN ~ USA

 

"But tell me:  what would become of this world, I mean of the Christian faith, if there were no preaching?  Within a very little, our faith would have perished, for we should believe nothing of that which we now believe.  And because of this, Holy Church has ordered that every Sunday there shall be preaching, much or little, but some preaching. ...

For tell me, should you believe in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar if this had not been preached in holy sermons?  You have learned to believe in the Mass only from preaching.  ... All these things that you know came to you through the words heard by your ears, and it is in this wise that you come by knowledge to faith, and that which you know and which you have has come all through the Word of God.  And this is a sovereign rule:  that which we have of the faith of Jesus Christ has come merely through preaching.  And this faith will never perish while it shall be preached."

~ St Bernardine of Siena (+1444, Italian Franciscan and great preacher who spread the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus)

 

Remembering today...

St Denis (and companions)

Nee ~ Italy

Bishop of Paris

Martyr ~ d. 258 ?

Patron of Paris

FEAST DAY - Oct 9

 

 

Legend has it:  after St Denis was beheaded, his corpse rose

and he carried his head a few miles, preaching the entire way.

 

Click here: Basilique St. Denis - Paris - YouTube (2:30 mins)

 

 Our part...

"The Word of God is not brought to the ends of the world in a suitcase.  We carry it in ourselves.  We don't set it off in a corner of ourselves, arranged in our memory as if on a cupboard shelf.  We must let it go to the very core of ourselves, to the very center around which our whole being revolves.  We cannot be missionaries if we have not sincerely, generously, and warmly welcomed the Word of God, the Gospel within ourselves.  The vital dynamic of this word is to take flesh, to become flesh in us.  And when this word comes to dwell within us, we become capable of being missionaries. ...

Once we have heard God's Word, we no longer have the right not to accept it; once we have accepted it, we no longer have the right not to let it become flesh in us; once it has become flesh in us, we no longer have the right to keep it for ourselves alone.  Henceforward, we belong to all those who are waiting for the Word."

~ Servant of God, Madeleine Delbrel (20th C French mystic)

St Denis and companions, pray for us!