Page:The Eternal Priesthood (4th ed).djvu/186

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CHAPTER XIV.

THE PRIEST AS PREACHER.

The Council of Trent teaches that preaching is the chief duty of Bishops.[1] S. Paul said of himself: "God sent me not to baptise, but to preach the Gospel."[2] For what is preaching? It is speaking to men in God's Name. It is to declare the Word of God.[3] It is to be ambassadors for Christ.[4] It is "the ministry of reconciliation,"[5] the offer of salvation to men. "For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? or how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach unless they be sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good things."[6] How beautiful are the feet of the messenger coming "upon the

  1. Sess. xxiv. De Ref. c. iv.
  2. 1 Cor. i. 17.
  3. S. John i. 1-3.
  4. 2 Cor. v. 20.
  5. Ibid.
  6. Rom. x. 13-15.