Father Bill and I stood in my basement paging through theology books once used in the seminary. As we examined them, he turned the pages of an old book. While looking at its worn pages, he smiled, repeated a scholastic principle, and applied it to preaching, following Christ and remaining active in today’s Church.

The words that he read were, “Quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur” (“Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the one receiving it.”) from Thomas Aquinas’ “Summa Theologiae” (1a, q. 75, a 5, 3 a, q 5). How does this principle apply today?

From the viewpoint of people in the pews, this principle has great value for preaching. It helps a homilist connect the word of God in his preaching to the lives of those hearing it.

From the perspective of the listener or the congregation, this principle helps the presider, when he gives his homily, to realize that what he says will be heard differently by those in attendance, depending on their age, current emotional and spiritual state, or vocation in life. In other words, the “what” that a listener hears differs depending on the listeners’ life experiences, attitude and level of faith.

To clarify the above principle, we begin by considering those attending Sunday liturgy and examining what the principle tells them. Each person in attendance has unique modes of perception and understanding. They interpret the deeds and actions entering their consciousness in light of their basic beliefs. How they receive them sets the foundation for how they see and consider them as right or wrong, true or false. This dynamic sets the tone for what the person accepts or rejects.

Where People Are

Every person attending a liturgy on Sunday brings with them a load of past baggage. From early on, what happens to them influences future attitudes and behavior. Some carry a heavier load than others, but each has sensitive parts or vulnerabilities that influence how they hear and address the Word of God.

While homilists cannot know the vulnerability of all congregational members, it helps to remember that a degree of brokenness exists in every person. That’s why the pain and rejection reflected in Jesus’ life are powerful ways to connect his brokenness with the vulnerability of the listeners. This applies throughout the Gospel. For example, Mark’s account of Jesus calming the waters, when he was in the boat with the vulnerable disciples (cf. Mk 4:35-41), can be applied to acts of pain and turmoil in the lives of those in attendance. A homilist connects with the congregation when he links the vulnerability of the disciples in the boat with a parent’s fear during a child’s sickness, a job loss or other events that cause uncertainty.

Another application of a Gospel passage to contemporary times is applicable when focusing on the generosity of the poor widow in Mark 12:41-44. Her generosity in giving her last coin reminds us to be generous with our time, talents and treasures. Her story invites the presider to find contemporary examples of generous people and connect them to scriptural accounts.

Homilists cannot know all the broken parts of people’s lives, but they know that they exist. When a homilist brings the Word of God to the congregation’s consciousness through real-life examples, he invites the people to connect biblical stories with their stories and relate them to what the Gospels tell us by applying Jesus’ words to their lives.

Jesus told stories because they have universal appeal. It’s why people sit up straight and listen when the presider tells stories and relates them to their faith. When this happens, the data, thoughts or stories entering consciousness are filtered through a person’s basic beliefs and the filter of one’s past life experiences.

What People Hear

When a homilist relates what the Scripture says about real life, a person’s thinking and acting receive the data in light of one’s beliefs. In this process, the one receiving the data identifies with the one offering the new input. As this occurs, communication happens, as new data connects with a person’s core values and beliefs.

In our technological world, especially with the volume of data received from the internet and the phones in our hands, it becomes increasingly difficult for a listener to apply the Scriptures to life. We live in a world of superficiality, so it’s not easy to connect with data that has a deeper or more ultimate meaning.

Modern advertising prepares us to think in short segments. In our secularistic culture, applying the word of God to real life becomes difficult. For this reason, a homilist needs to connect the word of God, including justice, love and charity, to society’s issues. He needs to help people in the congregation connect between real life and the word of God.

A person’s way of seeing reality influences the way, depth and degree that the individual communicates with others. When secularistic beliefs or actions clash with spiritual ones, it becomes increasingly hard for the sacred and the secular to develop significant modes of communication.

From early life, children are immersed in the secular credo of our time. They eat, sleep and drink from the fonts of pleasure, power and affluence depicted on television. They receive anti- religious data into their consciousness through the filters of this world. Hence they judge the significance of life’s values accordingly.

Consequently, what people receive from the pulpit speaks a different language than that received from the media. Often, religious language has little meaning for them or gives them no significant reason to get involved in church functions. This is especially true for children when their parents are rarely seen in church.

The path to join religion and daily life is deeper than the superficial and rests in identifying with ultimate aspects of life, like the need for love, security and meaning. Our congregations need to hear a message that does a better job in focusing on what they really crave, which supersedes what secularism affords.

Action-Oriented Faith

The need for a deeper meaning in life leads us into the realm of the spiritual. This includes prayer, the Eucharist, the other sacraments, devotions and the moral life. Its goal is for the one communicating to identify the level on which the other person is and to act in a way that leads the other to listen and respond. This means addressing issues that reach the level where two or more people identify with what is happening and respond in action.

Religious communication centers around language that bridges the gap between the secular and the sacred. This makes it possible for those attending church to address their concerns, bring the Gospel message beyond the church walls and reach out to the poor and needy.

In so doing, Christianity becomes an action-oriented faith, intent on leading all people, especially the poor and dispossessed, to happiness on earth and ultimately to heaven. The goal of effective preaching, then, is the kingdom of God, which directs the Church toward our ultimate goal — heaven. In so doing, the homilist reaches beyond human words and expressions to that place where words fall into silence, and what is received into consciousness blends with a firm faith that transcends the earth. 

FATHER ROBERT J. HATER, Ph.D., a Cincinnati archdiocesan priest, is an internationally known author and lecturer. He is professor emeritus at the University of Dayton and resides at St. Clare Parish in Cincinnati.