Here’s a good discussion point worth considering: how many preachers plan a “continuous” homily reaching over two or more weeks to take advantage of the “continuation” principle in the Lectionary?
[84] One final preliminary remark. The method that follows describes a process that extends over a week’s time. Some form of “remote preparation” is also in order. Such preparation could take the form of reading a recent work on the theology of the particular Synoptic Gospel that will be the “Gospel of the Year” or spending some time planning a unified sequence of homilies for a particular liturgical season.
[85] One of the reasons our preaching is less effective than it could be is that we have not taken seriously enough the lectio continua principle of our lectionary. We preach each Sunday’s homily as if it had no connection with what preceded or what will follow. It should be possible, and indeed it would emphasize a sense of continuity and identity in the congregation, if from time to time our homilies would end on a “to be continued” note.
(All texts from Fulfilled in Your Hearing are copyright © 1982 USCCB. All rights reserved. Used with permission.)
