Hello, I am George Martin, and I again welcome you to the selected sermons of Monsignor Joseph B. McAllister, this being disc number five of 12. While the first four CDs covered both the origins of these recorded sermons and Monsignor McAllister's personal and professional background, we now focus briefly on the motivation for this recording venture. As you may recall in disc number one, it was not our intent to memorialize for posterity here an extraordinary Catholic preacher of the late twentieth century, but rather it was for the purpose of spiritual renewal and evangelization within our own church by someone who enthusiastically lived his vocation. When he walked across the sanctuary to the pulpit to preach, he did so with haste and what appeared to be pent up energy ready to explode.
He knew why he was there, and he knew that he had a mission to accomplish. While the insight to aspects of our faith that he addressed were informative, it was clear that the message that day was meant to be inspirational, a mini pep talk or spiritual renewal for the day to a relatively small number of people. He could not have imagined then that his message would still resound now over a generation later. As to spiritual renewal, with the exception of the growing interest in Eucharistic adoration groups in this country since Monsignor's death, there is nothing that comes to mind that is particularly notable in this regard. But just maybe, Eucharistic adoration will be the spark to grow on.
Monsignor spoke often of the relationship between a faithful and happy priest and their prayerful reflections daily before the Eucharistic tabernacle. What works for faithful priests could also work for the laity. As children, our religious education was primarily instructional, such as it was, with also the required exposure to sacramental practices. It was often then hoped that this blend would form the proper foundation for our adult years, but what we discovered was that once we were free of the obligatory practices, too many of us took our faith for granted and acted accordingly. Being in Monsignor's company daily for almost fifteen years, one becomes accustomed to themes of sermons or particular sayings, so I started assigning the term megalisterism as time went on.
As an example, my son John has taken one of these megalisterisms to title the series of these CDs, my well chosen remarks, a wry comment he would often make prefacing his sermon that day. I particularly remember one of the megalisterisms following the paraphrasing of Saint Paul's letter, quote, if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is empty and our faith is also empty, close quote. Then he would say, if that is not the case, we might just as well go out and get a drink or go hiking or do something sensible. Having heard this McAllisterism often, particularly to go out to get a drink, In fact, once or twice, he even specified scotch. I was tempted to pull his leg one day by getting up and walking out, but my fear was that someone would not appreciate my humor, and that risk was just too great to take.
But more importantly, this particular citation from Saint Paul and the megastarism which follows is central to our faith. The question then is, if that is what unites all Catholics, why do we not see a more vibrant reflection of, and devotion to, what our church teaches flowing from this belief? In disc number six to follow, I will relate to you a personal story that to me illustrates what I have observed and raised the question that each of us as a Catholic is compelled to answer. But until then, we now continue with the selected sermons of Monsignor Joseph B. McAllister.