EVANGELII GAUDIUM - page 111

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in appreciation of what is good. Something sim-
ilar happens in a homily. The same Spirit who
inspired the Gospels and who acts in the Church
also inspires the preacher to hear the faith of the
God’s people and to find the right way to preach
at each Eucharist. Christian preaching thus finds
in the heart of people and their culture a source
of living water, which helps the preacher to know
what must be said and how to say it. Just as all
of us like to be spoken to in our mother tongue,
so too in the faith we like to be spoken to in our
“mother culture,” our native language (cf.
2 Macc
7:21, 27), and our heart is better disposed to lis-
ten. This language is a kind of music which in-
spires encouragement, strength and enthusiasm.
140. This setting, both maternal and ecclesi-
al, in which the dialogue between the Lord and
his people takes place, should be encouraged by
the closeness of the preacher, the warmth of his
tone of voice, the unpretentiousness of his man-
ner of speaking, the joy of his gestures. Even if
the homily at times may be somewhat tedious, if
this maternal and ecclesial spirit is present, it will
always bear fruit, just as the tedious counsels of
a mother bear fruit, in due time, in the hearts of
her children.
141. One cannot but admire the resources that
the Lord used to dialoguewith his people, to reveal
his mystery to all and to attract ordinary people
by his lofty teachings and demands. I believe that
the secret lies in the way Jesus looked at people,
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