We will be running a series of articles that highlight the Spirit of Vatican II and how it energizes our faith and worship. Our second article is by Gloria Ulterino
 

A Personal Reflection on Preaching

By Gloria Ulterino

     The time?  July, 1983.  The event?  A week-long preaching seminar for all interested students.  The place?  The Diocese of Rochester, New York, as part of its summer learning for students.

     Though this was now many years ago, I distinctly remember it like it was yesterday.  I had just begun studying theology at St. Bernard’s Institute, in midlife, one course at a time.  Our diocese offered several such seminars every summer, and this one particularly intrigued me.  It was being taught by an expert preacher: a woman, no less, Sr. Joan Delaplane, OP.

     I can still feel her passion, reverberating through me.  I can still replay some of her words, as she “becomes” the man sitting by the pool of Bethsaida (in John 5:1-9).  “Get up,” Jesus commands him, “you are healed!”  But the man isn’t so sure this is what he wants.  After all, he’s been sick for 38 long years.  Then, Sr. Joan continues her imagined ruminations as the ‘man born blind.’  “Jesus is commanding a whole new way of life for me!  Is this what I really want?  After all, now I’ll be responsible for myself.  Able to work for a living.  Is that what I really want?”  Well, you might think, ‘yes, of course!’  “But I’m not so sure.  This healing will change my entire life!  Now what will I do?”

     While I don’t remember all the remaining details of how this homily unfolded, I do remember saying to myself, “Wow!  I have got to learn how to do this!  I must become a preacher!”

     So it was that by the grace of God and the encouragement of my pastor, I became a preacher, though it came as a total surprise to me.  This was something I had never imagined for myself.  But, I can honestly say that I have cared deeply about preaching, about giving it my very best, each time.  While it has taken me time to grow continually into the kind of preacher who can inspire others with the Word of God, I did what I could, along the way.  I met with a “homily team,” ahead of time: several people from the community, women and men, to reflect on the readings and what they meant in their lives.  I prayed quietly with the Scripture, often struggling with it, asking myself: what experiences could draw people into the Words of any particular Sunday.  Finally, when it started to feel “right,” I was as ready as I’d ever be.  At least for this time, for each particular time.

     I am told that some people still miss hearing from a woman at Mass.  Perhaps.  But this much I do know: those of us who did preach on a regular basis still experience a gnawing in our gut, hoping against hope that we will be included, once again.  We hope and pray: one day (soon!) our beloved Church will grow stronger, more compassionate, and more challenging because of the voices of women, as well as men.  Please, God: one day soon!