On episode #163, I spoke with the Fr. Timothy Danaher, OP, about effective evangelization.

During our conversation, we covered:

- De Montfort and his criticism of poor preaching
- The role of the priest
- The role of the lay faithful regarding preaching
- And much more...

Biography:

Fr. Timothy Danaher, O.P. grew up in Steubenville, OH, where he attended Franciscan University, studying American Literature and Theology. He is a Dominican friar and was ordained in 2018 in Washington D.C. after graduate studies and ministry focused on hospital and Hispanic settings. Before arriving at AQ, he served for three years at St. Patrick’s Church in Philadelphia, PA. His favorite color is blue.

Quotes:

“But the words that divine Wisdom communicates are not just ordinary, natural, human words; they are divine, "truly the words of God."

They are powerful, touching, piercing words, "sharper than a two-edged sword," words that go from the heart of the one through whom he speaks straight to the heart of the lis. tener. Solomon is referring to this gift of Wisdom he himself had received when he said that God gave him the grace to speak according to the feelings of his heart. 

These are the words which our Lord promised to his apostles, "I will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist."

How few preachers there are today who possess this most wonderful gift of eloquence and who can say with St. Paul, "We preach the wisdom of God." Most of them speak according to the natural light of their minds, or from what they have taken from books.

They do not speak under the impulse of divine Wisdom or from a heart filled to overflowing with wisdom. That is why in these times we see so few conversions made through preaching. If a preacher had truly received from Eternal Wisdom this gift of eloquence, his listeners would hardly be able to resist his words, as happened in the early days of the Church: "They could not resist the wisdom and the Spirit speaking in him." Such a preacher would speak with so much unction and such authority that his words could never be ineffectual and void.” St. Louis Marie de Montfort

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