Join Changing Our World‘s Jim Friend as we celebrate the 100th Episode of Advancing Our Church with his special guest, Fr. Benjamin Roberts, author of the new book on homiletics, The Voice of the Bridegroom. Fr. Roberts discusses his story of conversion, the artistic renovations made to his parish at Our Lady of Lourdes, Monroe, NC, his new book, and his devotion to St. Dymphna. Fr. Roberts shares his own personal journey on how the priest’s spousal relationship with a parish can create connectivity that impacts a priest’s homily and his ministry.

Fr. Benjamin Roberts is a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Monroe, NC, holds a doctorate in preaching from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Theology for Saint Joseph’s College of Maine and the author of the new book, The Voice of the Bridegroom.

You can find Fr. Roberts on Twitter @Fr_benjamin, watch the interview we discussed on the Catholic TV Network where he shares the artistic renovations to his parish or watch his interview on Good Catholic where he discusses his devotion to St. Dymphna the patron saint of anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s, and every other mental illness. Join Fr. Roberts for a tour of the artwork that was installed at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, in English or in Spanish or listen to Fr. Robert’s Homilies by visiting his page on Podbean.

The Book: The Voice of the Bridegroom

Preaching is a relational act. This book explores the relationship between the preacher and the assembly as a spousal relationship. Written by a parish pastor with a doctorate in preaching and rooted in the Roman Catholic notion of the priest as the bridegroom of the church, this work examines characteristics of the spousal relationship between husband and wife and then provides an analysis of the ministerial priesthood through this nuptial lens. This nuptial reflection on the ministerial priesthood is then applied to preaching. This book presents a nuptial hermeneutic or vision for preaching and the implications of this vision for the assembly, the preacher, the homily, and the homiletical method. The appendices include a one-page strategy for preaching summarizing the homiletical method, a rubric for homily evaluation by members of the assembly, and two sample homilies. Buy it on Amazon.