The Holy Father, in his address to the gathered faithful in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, spoke about the evangelizing work of the Holy Spirit and the vital role of preaching in the Church. He reminded the faithful that in his first letter, St. Peter teaches that the apostles are those who “preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit.” In this, we find two essential elements of Christian preaching: the content—the Gospel, and the means—the Holy Spirit.
The Pope emphasized the foundational importance of the kerygma (the proclamation of the Gospel) as the key to understanding Christian morality. He pointed out that while the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles include moral duties—such as the Ten Commandments and the “new” commandment of love—these cannot be properly understood or fulfilled if they are separated from the core message of what Christ has done for humanity.
The Pope warned against the error of putting the law (moral rules) before grace (God’s unconditional love and salvation). He argued that the starting point must always be the kerygma, the proclamation of Christ’s saving work. Only when we understand and embrace what Christ has done for us—His grace and salvation—can we fully live out the moral teachings of the Gospel.
As he put it: “The preaching of Jesus and, subsequently, that of the Apostles, also contains all the moral duties that stem from the Gospel, starting from the Ten Commandments up to the ‘new’ commandment of love. But if we do not want to relapse into the error denounced by the Apostle Paul of putting the law before grace and deeds before faith, it is necessary always to start anew from the proclamation of what Christ has done for us. Therefore, the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium insists a lot on the first of these two things, namely the kerygma or ‘proclamation’, on which every moral application depends.”
The Holy Father emphasized that preaching must always be guided by the Holy Spirit, and he further explained how this should be done:
“It is easy to say, one might object, but how can it be put into practice if it does not depend on us, but on the coming of the Holy Spirit? In reality, there is one thing that does depend on us, or rather two, and I will briefly mention them. The first is prayer. The Holy Spirit comes to those who pray, because the heavenly Father – it is written – “gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him”, especially if we ask Him in order to proclaim the Gospel of His Son! Woe to those who preach without praying! They become those whom the Apostle defines as “a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal”.
So, the first thing that depends on us is praying, so that the Holy Spirit may come. The second is not wanting to preach ourselves, but Jesus the Lord. This relates to preaching. At times there are long sermons, twenty minutes, thirty minutes… But, please, preachers must preach an idea, a feeling and a call to action. Beyond eight minutes the preaching starts to fade, it is not understood. And I say this to preachers: At times we see men who, when the sermon starts, go outside to smoke a cigarette and then come back in. Please, the sermon must be an idea, a feeling and a call to action. And it must never exceed ten minutes. This is very important.
The second thing, I was saying, is not to want to preach ourselves, but the Lord. There is no need to dwell on this, because anyone engaged in evangelization knows what it means in practice not to preach oneself. I will limit myself to a particular application of this requirement. Not wanting to preach oneself also implies not always giving priority to pastoral initiatives promoted by us and linked to our own name, but willingly collaborating, if requested, in community initiatives, or entrusted to us by obedience.”
Pope Francis’ General Audience on Wednesday, 4 December 2024, in Saint Peter’s Square.
