Preaching as Paying Attention

Book excerpt: Author Ed Foley―priest, preacher, and teacher―invites preachers to an awareness of the world and the people around them as a lens for preaching God's Incarnate Word and inviting people into the Paschal Mystery. He maintains that paying attention is a key to theological reflection. When pondering a work of art or a catastrophe, the preacher asks, “Where is God in all of this?” and “How does my preaching invite people to respond to that presence?” Fr. Foley presents excerpts of his own homilies and references to poets, scientists, and other resources―some a bit surprising―as models and suggestions that might draw a preacher’s attention as a sign of God present and active in our midst. In short, this book offers a mindset, not a method, for preachers.