1
PERMANENT FORMATION STUDY GUIDE (MAY 2013)
The Theology and Dynamics of Evangelizing
This time our study material comes from the period before Vatican II, from a Dominican theologian who was one of the founders of Pastoral Theology and Catechetics in France. Fr. Pierre-André Liégé (1921-1979) began teaching a course in kerygmatic theology at the Institut Catholique in Paris in the 1950s and he remained devoted to that theme until his premature death at the age of 58. After the council, he became the Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies in Paris. His insights, drawn from Aquinas and from patristics, still remain formative for the field of catechetics. Above all, he highlighted the need for continued growth of faith and conversion through the life cycle. For him, the modern church’s biggest challenge is to lead the faithful to an adult faith—characterized by personal ownership, moral autonomy, eagerness to find opportunities to evangelize, and a freedom based on grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But, as this article indicates, the power of God’s holy wordwas paramount for Liégé—both as utterance and as incarnation. Authentic Christian revelation will never separate the two.
Liégé participated at Vatican II as the theological advisor to the bishops of Metz and Strasbourg. With his expertise in evangelization he assisted the French bishops on many occasions, and as the council gradually ran its course over four years his articles for the French press about the council were insightful and encouraging. Pope Paul VI invited Liégé to compose a draft for his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), and it is now evident how fully the pope drew upon Liégé’s ideas and phrasing. For those of you who know Evangelii Nuntiandi, this article will not only show you familiar ideas, but more fully explain the insights of the pope’s document.
I am sympathetic to the challenges faced by translators and grateful for this translation from the French. But it could have gone a bit further to help readers along. In particular, two words here need some explanation. The word “noetic” in the present context means essentially “intellectual” or “rational.” It is commonly used in French, but not so much in English. The word “Christianism” should be translated as “Christianity,” meaning the practice of the Christian faith.
Two principal ideas run through these pages. The first is the idea of kerygma as an initial proclamation of the faith to unbelievers, calling them to hear the fundamental message about life in Christ, Son of God and Risen Savior. The kerygma doesn’t try to do everything at once, but like Peter in Acts 2 or Paul in 1 Cor 1:17f, gives witness to the fundamental mystery of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. The kerygmatic challenge is to find ways to make this proclamation and witness fresh so that they can engage the attention of those around us. Liégé’ssecond idea is that mere assent to the affirmations of the Creed cannot be enough for adult believers; they must be brought to live the faith—to make their belief resonate as a living witness that integrates the mystery of Christ with their understanding of the world. That is what catechesis aims to do.
I offer you two sets of reflection questions—one set for the individual reader, another set for sharing and discussion. If your study group manages to come up with practical applications of Liégé’s ideas for our ministry of preaching, please share your results with me, and I can the share them further with the brothers. Bon travail—as Père Liégé would say (Study hard!).
Reflection Points for the Individual Reader
1. Liégé enunciates a fundamental principle of the ministry of the word, viz., the ministry must reproduce the forms in which God revealed himself. He goes on to show that this means both ministering through a prophetic word that becomes embodied in Christ, and through a method that distinguishes between kerygma and catechesis. Reflect on the synthetic quality of the divine word that points to Christ and then requires the integration of our human energies in witnessing to the living Word. How does the ecclesial community “embody” the word of God?
2. God speaks through events (p. 315): “God speaks by acting; he acts in speaking.” Gaudium et Spes, the “Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,”
uses the phrase “signs of the times” to alert us to the ways in whichGod“speaks through acting” in the shifting circumstances of our world. How do you go about communicating to your audience the need to pay attention to what God is saying through “the aspirations, the yearnings, and the dramatic features of the world in which we live”? (GS, n. 4.) What are some of the key “signs” today?
3. Jesus Christ, through his life and paschal mystery, revealed as far as human minds can grasp it, the mystery of God. (p. 316) To what extent does divine faith require our interpreting our own life as having meaning precisely in terms of being grafted onto Christ’s body and configured to his obedience to the Father? Liégé calls this “accomplishing” the paschal mystery in our own humanity.
4. Without using the formula “exterior word” and “interior word,” Liégé nonetheless makes it clear (p. 318) that the Holy Spirit gives an “interior testimony” to the power of the word proclaimed. Liégé calls proclamation “noetic” or intellectual, and the conversion response “dynamic” or transcendent. How does this dual structure of the ministry of the word engage your life of prayer? For example, do you see how contemplative prayer is integral to growth in prophetic awareness and to prophetic passion?
5. “Faith must ripen.” (p. 321) Liégé understands this as a gradual penetration of the various aspects of the mystery of Christ into what we learn and celebrate. He also describes this in terms of the “free donation” of our lives to Christ, once we realize the reality of the gift we have received and the intimacy of the relation we have with the Lord. How is this good news for believers? What are the obstacles to leading people to this kind of radical conversion? What obstacles do you find to doing this in your own life?
Reflection Questions for Group Discussion
1. The Hebrew term, Dabar, means “word” in the sense of God’s being present in history through the gift of creation, through prophecy, and through events that flow from God’s agency. Liégé says that the transcendent word of God is only accessible to us through the mediation of historical manifestations—a salvation history that continues in the church. Is this notion of God’s word helpful to us as preachers? Can the hidden power of the word transcend the limitations of our personal resources when we preach and celebrate the word? What demands does this dynamic understanding of God’s word make upon us as we enter into ministry?
2. Liégé suggests that we don’t really believe in the efficacy of God’s word in ministry with the same realism that we believe in the power of the sacraments. (p. 318) Is there a possibility that some of our Sunday faithful are over-sacramentalized and under-evangelized? Willlinking the celebration of the Word more clearly to the celebration of the Eucharistic diminish this problem? Concretely how can we go about doing that?
3. Liégé describes a dialectic (an ongoing back and forth) that exists between kerygma and catechesis. He links kerygma with conversion, and catechesis with communion, even though he admits that each can contain aspects of the other. To what degree is kerygmatic preaching needed in parishes at times of parish missions? In what other contexts do we need kergymatic proclamation to those who do not (or who no longer) believe in Christ? This dialectic suggests a gradualism (pedagogy of faith) that gently leads people from initial conversion to deeper commitment. Is this something that you find useful and appropriate to your pastoral context?
4. Liégé, following St. Thomas Aquinas, describes four kinds of ministry of the word (p. 323): evangelization leading to initial faith, catechetical preparation for sacramental life, instruction and formation for Christian living, and experiential growth in the mysteries of the faith. Does this gradual progression match your pastoral experience? How are you succeeding with steps 3 and 4? What resources do you have for accomplishing steps 3 and 4?
5. On p. 326, Liégé warns against “speculative fantasies” and subjective spirituality, peripheric [marginal] devotions, and eccentric opinions about faith and church. This reminds us of the council’s expression “hierarchy of truths” (Unitatis Redintegratio, “Decree on Ecumenism,” n. 11), calling attentionto the greater importance of the fundamental Christian truths. Liégé gives us a clue as what these are at the bottom of page 327, when he lists these key terms of revelation: Kingdom, Life, Glory, Grace, Parousia, Testimony, World, Mission, Mystery, etc. Can you itemize the fundamentals as you see them? Can you see the need to privilege this “hierarchy of truths” in the face of devotional enthusiasms that have little understanding of the communal nature of the church or the missionary focus of its people?
Bibliographical References
Pierre-André Liégé, “The Ministry of the Word: From Kerygma to Catechesis” in
Michael Warren, ed., Source Book for Modern Catechetics (Winona, MN: Saint
Mary’s Press, 1983), 313-328. ISBN 0-88489-152-6.
Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi: On Evangelization in the Modern World
(Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1975). ISBN 1-55586-1
29-6. Also available at
Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the
United States (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1999).
ISBN 1-57455-299-6.
Paul Philibert, O.P.
Promoter of Permanent Formation
Southern Dominican Province
General principle for group discussion: The group leader should attempt to see that every person has a chance to speak once before anyone speaks a second time. Listening is as important as speaking up. If you have a question about something another has said, try first to paraphrase what you heard the person say before challenging the point that may trouble (or interest) you.