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Words of Worship

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This book describes how to choose words that will draw a listener to Christ. Fr. Schmitmeyer succeeds in providing a sense of God's presence within the experience of the worship at which he presides so that a participant will slowly come to think and act according to the mind of Christ. Step by step, The Words of Worship details how this preacher creates the most moving homilies in the English language. Seven sample homilies are included in this book. It's written for those who preside at the rites of Christian Initiation of Adults, Baptism, Penance, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick, and Funerals. However, anyone interested in learning what makes a good homily will benefit from this book. The author addresses why we seek God and the meaning beneath a ritual text, he writes: "People are always drawn to that which is universal...such as love, fear, hope, death, the yearning for transcendence..." He states that the words said at the rites can come to the aid of believers and fill the gaps of our lives with an experience of God's presence. He says that identification occurs when scenes from our own lives merge with the scenes from a text. In the text, we see a reflection of ourselves. I enjoyed the chapter about the thoughts of literary critic Wolfgang Iser best. In it, he said the desired outcome of words is to encourage a listener's (or reader's) response; where the listener supplies the missing details in his imagination to make up a virtual meaning of a text--this is the convergence of a lister's mind and the text. In short, he says the preacher provides the colors of paint and the listener creates the painting. This book thoroughly covers the best ideas from Arisotole's on rhetoric to Kenneth Burke's writings on communication. Fr. Schmitmeyer mentioned the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and his mastery of this technique must be the key to his successful sermons. He writes that the Second Vatican Council decreed that the primary duty of a priest is to preach. If there is only one book about successful preaching on the shelf in the study of every rectory in the United States, it should be The Words of Worship. This book should be required reading for all seminary students and used as continuing education for anyone who preaches the word of God. Fr. Schmitmeyer is a gifted writer and truly a consummate preacher. After Fr. Schmitmeyer preaches a sermon, God must smile broadly, give a thumbs up and say: "Now that's what I want to hear!" Fr. Schmitmeyer makes God accessible, friendly and the ultimate counselor to a listener. This book is filled with complex thoughts; it requires concentration. It's invaluable reading and I too give it a thumbs up. The Words of Worship needs to be re-released. In an ideal scenario, a companion book containing only Fr. Schmitmeyer's homilies (at least 52) will be published. I can't get enough of his most touching sermons.