Anita Draper
Catholic Herald staff

Last year, Fr. David Neuschwander and Dcn. Brian McCaffery gave a two-question quiz to Catholics attending Mass at St. Joseph, Hayward.

The first question was, What is the core proclamation of the Catholic Church? The second question: What is the kerygma?

The clergymen had preached on the topic; the answer is that Christianity is based on the core proclamation, or kerygma (pronounced ker-ig-ma), that Jesus was crucified and died, rose from the dead and offers us salvation through the forgiveness of sins.

Of the 80 people attending Mass, three people got it right, Dcn. McCaffery told a crowd of mostly priests and deacons at a virtual Vision Formation Gathering on March 3. Two of them were parishioners, and one was a visitor.

From this, the clergymen of the cluster concluded they had more work to do.

Missionary renewal

The Diocese of Superior’s Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship hosted the Vision Formation Gathering, one of several meetings on topics related to missionary renewal, on March 3. The event focused on kerygmatic preaching.

After Fr. Andrew Ricci led the opening prayer, Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship Director Chris Hurtubise quoted passages from “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” Bishop James P. Powers’ Pastoral Letter on Evangelization.

The letter details the bishop’s plan for moving the diocese from Maintenance to Mission. He wrote, as Hurtubise quoted, “The primary task for us as we take up this call is to re-encounter the power of the Gospel.”

“Admittedly, for those of us that have lived and breathed Catholic Christianity our whole lives, the ‘good news’ does not really feel like ‘news …’” the bishop wrote, adding, “St. Paul says that the kerygma – the proclamation of the Gospel – is explosive in its power to change our lives.”

Hurtubise then referenced Fr. John Riccardo’s four stages of the Gospel: Created, Captured, Rescued, Response, which Bishop Powers highlighted in his pastoral letter.

Speaking of how the Diocese of Superior has come to life since the implementation of the letter and how parishes have answered the call, Hurtubise said, “It’s just incredible to look back three years.”

He cited new programs taking root in parishes, including the ChristLife program, the Welcome program, and the diocese’s homegrown Parish Mission Apostolate.

“A vital way it is happening as well is through your preaching, priests and deacons,” he told attendees.

He reviewed two goals for parishes: First, they need to provide an opportunity to parishioners to encounter their deepest identity as sons and daughters of God and receive the Lord’s healing mercy; second, they should provide opportunities for parishioners to respond and boldly live out intentional discipleship.

Hurtubise then invited clergy to speak.

Two parishes, St. Joseph in Hayward and St. Patrick in Hudson, were featured; in both, clergy emphasize focused preaching of the Gospel message.

In both clusters, clergymen team up to preach their homilies in a series and look for creative new approaches to sharing the good news.

Speaking for the Hayward cluster, Dcn. McCaffery outlined some of the homilies they have prepared, including a series on the kerygma and Fr. Neuschwander’s decision to do a series on Fr. Riccardo’s four stages of the Gospel.

Advising everyone to check out The Rescue Project, which the deacon called “extraordinarily insightful and inspirational” (watch.actsxxix.org/therescueproject), Dcn. McCaffery shared some of his homilies that marry pop culture with salvation history.

“Captured! The Theology of a Spaghetti Western” focused on the second stage of salvation history and offered “A stark look at how brutal and foolish people can be.”

They explored “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” during Easter. The story is about a trio of lost souls on different moral trajectories; Clint Eastwood’s character kills the most people, the deacon observed. He may not be good, but he is “a work in progress.”

“As works-in-progress, we don’t always remember what we learned,” the deacon added, which is why they preach the kerygma every year.

In Hudson, Fr. John Gerritts and Fr. Dan Tracy have tried to “ignite our preaching,” Fr. Gerritts said. In one November homily series, they preached on death and dying, and then put aside time on Monday evenings for people to come and discuss the topic. Many of the parishioners who showed up have children who do not attend Mass; they wanted to ensure they would be honored with a Christian burial after their death.

Fr. Gerritts and Fr. Tracy have also had success pairing sermons with Matthew Kelly’s Dynamic Catholic books.

“What we’ve found is people really follow through on the reading of the book,” Fr. Gerritts added. Some parishioners share the books with family and friends or take copies on vacation; the priests feel the books resonate more with readers – the content is more inspiring and better understood – when they preach on it.

Fr. Gerritts said St. Patrick’s clergy discuss their homily ideas at weekly meetings, where they can bounce ideas off of Director of Worship Sari Althoff. Ideas that resonate with priests may not resonate with laypeople, he added. Clergy often use slides to enhance their preaching or collaborate on joint homilies.

As a priest of more than 30 years, “it re-invigorates my preaching” working with a young priest, Fr. Gerritts said.