Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents:

Preaching in the mother tongue-- calming and ordering the chaos inside our listeners/ Ronald Rolheiser

To what effect? Qualities of effective Catholic preaching/ Michael E. Connors

Does it resound? Congregational exegesis in conversation with negotiation science/ Ann M. Garrido

Emmaus revisited: the convergence of the word proclaimed and the eucharist celebrated/ Sylvester Ryan

Preaching hope in a postmodern world/ Joseph J. Juknialis

The ladder of homiletics: seven steps to effective preaching/ Guerric DeBona

Making a scene in the pulpit/ Alyce M. McKenzie

Story/Point/Passage: Ten rules of thumb for homilists/ John Sea

Plotting a path for people to follow/ Richard L. Eslinger

"Murder your darlings": how to edit for effective preaching/ Deborah Wilheim

Focus and function: kindling the fire/ Edward J. Grisworld

Entertain or else: the preacher as performer in attending to Augustine's "delight"/ David J. Shea

Igniting the flame of intentional listeners/ Sharon Schuhmann and Jeff Nicolas

The Holy Spirit and listener receptivity: preaching that soaks in like good butter on warm toast/ Karla Bellinger

If you're not real, I'm not coming/ Peter McCormick

If our hearts are on fire, what are our bodies doing/ Suzanne Nawrocki

Fired up-- Burned out/ Richard Stern

Spirituality: Preaching catalyst/ Fred A. Baumer and Patricia Hughes Baumer