In the recent translation of Augustine’s Homilies on the First Letter of John, Boniface Ramsey in his introduction describes Augustine’s sermons in this way:
“…they are marvelous examples of the easy interaction that Augustine enjoyed with his congregation; they demonstrate his ability to adapt to the moment, to show how scripture spoke to contemporary issues, to present often-difficult material that he had mastered to his listeners in a way that they could understand, and to temper the exegetical with the spiritual.” (15-16)
This is a good model for preaching. May we imitate it.
Ray:
Nice. As I think I have mentioned before, I was struck reading Serge Lancel’s “Augustine” on how Augustine was a preacher, and was engaged–to an exhausting level–in all of the various duties of pastoral ministry, and still had such a massive literary output. Tolle Lege!
Carry on,
Brad