Gospel Power: Towards the Revitalization of Preaching by John Burke, O. P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 689 project the coming into being of another possible world not continuous with the previously existing world. This other possible world could only be brought into being by the self-existent logically necessary being already seen to be a necessary cause of this world. Notice that the independent being of Proposition II emerges as logically necessary because it cannot not exist; it is present in every possible world only because it is in its logical necessity causally necessary for this world and any other possible world. One cannot infer Proposition III from Proposition II via the notion of a possible world. The employment of the notion of another possible world is logically dependent upon the validity of this inference and the recognition of the causal necessity of the logically necessary being. Le Moyne College Syracuse, New York CHARLES J. KELLY Gospel Power; Towards the Revitalization of Preaching. By JoHN BURKE, 0. P. New York: Alba House, 1978. Pp. xiv & 117. $4.95. Gospel Power is an honest book. Anyone who has heard Father John Burke, 0. P., or read his previously published works will immediately recognize his thinking on both preaching· and the power of God in His Gospel. Let this reviewer say at the outset that Gospel Power will be of interest not only to preachers but to all those who seek to learn more about how God's power comes to and works in us. The book is clearly divided into two separate (and almost distinct) parts. The first five chapters deal with preaching in general, the three kinds of sermons, and the liturgical homily. Appendix A, almost 80 pages in length, shows us that, by following and trusting Jesus, we obtain a new power, His power. Appendix B, just one page in length but worth the price of the book, is a very helpful questionnaire for the personal evaluation of a sermon. Preaching in the Roman Catholic tradition, Father Burke observes, has clearly fallen upon hard times. For example, parish priests, surveys show, rank preaching as the seventh or eighth most important task out of a possible ten. The laity when surveyed generally rank the quality of preaching very low. Very few glory in the fact that they have been sent to preach and almost no preacher lives by preaching alone. It is usually something done on the side in addition to or as part of another regular job. Another problem is that many preachers are bound to ecclesiastical traditions and attitudes that are foreign to contemporary experiences of authority, government, economics, and family life. In other words, the preacher does not speak the language of today. This suggests that it is 690 BOOK REVIEWS " urgent to explore new avenues of approach to a world which is no longer impressed by remnant feudal customs of respect, dress or structure." This task is not made easier by seminary training or the preparation of permanent deacons since it prepares them more to be pastors of souls and defenders of the institution than to be fishers of men, as Jesus prepared his apostles. Father Burke maintains, with considerable evidence to support him, that the poor quality of preaching in the Roman Catholic Church is one of the reasons for lack of faith in today's world. This is highly to be deplored in the United States where there are ~50,000 " professional " Catholics, that is, bishops, priests, permanent deacons, religious brothers and sisters, and only some 80,000 conversions every year, mostly resulting from marriage to Catholics. This is even more difficult to accept when it is viewed in the light of the fact that there are between 80 and 100 million unchurched persons in this country. Wisely and accurately, Father Burke places the responsibility for renewal and the proclamation of the Christian message in the body of the faithful, that is, as the work of the whole Church and "all the elements of its life." At the same time, he recognizes that the burden (if it can be called that) of the preaching ministry has been given directly to bishops and priests as their primary responsibility. Their primary duty to proclaim the Gospel of God to all persons...