Ancient Sources of Catechetical Homily

Abstract

Both the form and the content of the Church’s original catechesis, as well as the preachers themselves and their personalities are ancient sources of homilies. The whole Bible is the foundation of both these sources – the homily and the preachers. This is an important point. The homily should be connected with both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The preacher should remind of the evangelical “father of the family”, who draws on his treasury and takes both “old” and “new” things. Hence he should go back to the Christian antiquity to remind the structure of the original homily, to learn about the homily of the beginnings of the Church, and in his preaching take into consideration the themes and contents used by the great preachers of the ancient Church. Without the knowledge of that preaching, without the will to follow those Church personalities, and finally without taking the trouble to constantly climb the ladder of gnosis, moral perfection and spiritual sanctification – there is no preaching God’s word, there is only propagation of one’s own thoughts, of one’s own wisdom. Human wisdom cannot leave ninety-nine listeners gathered at the pulpit for the sake of one sinner, who abandoned going to church a long time ago. Divine wisdom, Christ’s catechetical approach, do not fit this “custom”. Ancient catechesis often follows the footprints of Christ the Teacher, and this is why it is worth studying it and coming back to that practice of preaching the Gospel.