The Homily Message in the Ordinary Time during the Cycle B Liturgical Year

Abstract

One of the reasons of a lesser efficiency of preaching in homilies is the fact that every Sunday the homily is preached as if it were independent and not connected with the previous and the following ones. However, it should be possible to end a homily, at least from time to time, with a remark that the homily will be continued, which would really serve emphasizing the sense of continuity and identity of the congregation. The preacher is supposed to discover the way, in which the given Gospel has been passed on by the Lectionary, and what the spirit, the style of the given Evangelist is. The listeners should be introduced into this Gospel, the Gospel should be referred to, the connection between subsequent pericopes should be shown, for example by reminding the message conveyed in the preceding Sundays. In the Lectionary the Gospel according to St Mark has been divided into six parts that are discussed in detail in the present paper. They constitute the following sections: Jesus’ baptism and the first events (the Lord’s Baptism, Sundays II and III); signs of God’s kingdom and the first disputes (Sundays IV to IX); revelation of God’s closeness and the division provoked by the revelation (Sundays X to XIV); the mission and the bread of life (Sundays XV-XXIII); Peter’s confession and the requirements to follow Jesus through the cross of love and service (Sundays XXIV-XXX); Jesus’ revelation in Jerusalem, the final confrontation and the eschatological speech (Sundays XXXI-XXXIII). Such are the main stages of the development of Mark’s message that should be followed by the preacher, so that his preaching could take the faithful through the itinerary of faith contained in the Ordinary Time during the Cycle B Liturgical Year.