From Heart to Homily: ICSST’s $1.25 Million Lilly “Preaching as Hospitality” Grant Enters Year One

In 2023, Seton Hall University received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICSST) establish a Preaching as Hospitality formation program. The five-year, multi-faceted effort will support the growth of preachers embracing ICSST’s vision of hospitality in the Church as they welcome and engage congregations with the Word of God.

Funded through Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative, Preaching as Hospitality is now in its first year of planning, with events planned for the coming year. Priests in the Seton Hall ICSST will have an enriched curriculum, and opportunities that foster and support inspiring preaching. The goal, said Dianne M. Traflet, J.D. ’88, S.T.D., associate dean for Graduate Studies and Administration, and assistant professor of Pastoral Theology, who wrote the grant proposal, is to help preachers unite people with God and establish a strong connection to their Christian faith.

The genesis of the program was, Traflet wrote, “…more than 25 years ago when a Maryknoll missionary priest shared a personal story of ministering in a remote area of Russia,” even though he spoke limited Russian. He endeavored to find a way, in preparation for his first homily, to convey the love of God without much common language. “He prayed that the Holy Spirit would help him, and that he would speak the words of Christ in a way that allowed others to hear not his voice, but Christ’s: “I resolved that even if my pronunciations were not good, I could still convey God’s love with my tone, facial expression and demeanor.”

Ninety-two at the time of the grant proposal, Father Bob recalled how he came to love the faithful he ministered to, as well as their faith journeys. His story, noted Traflet, embodies what she, Father Ciriaco, and the guiding clergy of ICSST understand to be “heartfelt hospitality” at the core of “Preaching as Hospitality.”

“Preaching as Hospitality provides an exceptional opportunity for us to foster an environment that even more fully embodies the values we hold dear,” Katia Passerini, Ph.D., provost and senior executive vice president of Seton Hall University said last year. “This grant gives us the wherewithal to create a future where our communities are more hospitable, our hearts more open and our faith more vibrant.”

Father Dominic Ciriaco, who began his service in the Church through the Archdiocese of Newark, and has served in high school parishes, attended seminary at Seton Hall. He calls his hiring as grant coordinator for Preaching as Hospitality “providence,” as he had been out of the diocese for nine years and was doing seminary work at the Catholic University of America’s Theological College. At Theological College, Ciriaco served on the formation faculty and as a rector for three years. Later, at St. Mary's Seminary and University, Ciriaco was the Director of Preaching and Spiritual life.

His dissertation focused on the interstices of visual art and preaching. He feels the art world can support delivery of the Word of God through engagement. He and Traflet plan to integrate art in scripture into the program, alongside evenings of reflection, prayer and presentations about hospitality in the New Testament and how it applies to the ministry of preaching. Missions, revised courses and new curriculum are planned.

“We have a script for scholars who are helping us to give the background of hospitality found in the Scriptures, especially Saint Paul,” said Traflet of the developing curriculum. She cites St. Paul’s letters and the Apostles as sources of hospitality in the New Testament, and shared plans to offer a yearly retreat for the whole university under the aegis of the Preaching as Hospitality program. “There will be reflections offered at Advent time, as we show what we mean by hospitality,” Traflet added. She hopes people will journey with the ICSST in this program, later taking the message and bringing it off campus into the broader community.

“Hospitality—the act of welcoming, including, listening to and empathizing with others—is of vital importance in today’s world, and the greatest example of it we find in the life of Jesus Christ,” Reverend Monsignor Gerard H. McCarren, S.T.D., rector/dean of ICSST told Ruth Zamoyta in 2023. “The overwhelming generosity of Lilly Endowment will enable our future priests and deacons to learn how to incorporate the act of hospitality as they serve people from all walks of life. As a truly inclusive program, Preaching as Hospitality will also inspire our entire community of students, faculty, and staff, as well as priests and deacons throughout New Jersey, as they join us for the various activities.”

There is also a legacy aspect to the program, central to teaching and learning philosophies of the Church, where deacons or priests who have been in service for over 30 years, like Father Bob, are asked to participate in programming. “This is really going to be powerful: to look at those who have been ordained for 30 years and ask them the question, 'When you preached, was there a moment where you knew you were being hospitable and people recognized it - that they were being invited even more to journey with Christ?',” shares Traflet.

Hospitality in preaching goes beyond just being a good public speaker, she adds. A hospitable preacher needs to connect in a specific way through the Word of God. “Various people could take classes in public speaking to become effective communicators, but it’s not just about skill [here] – it’s about 'are you communicating from the heart? If I am trying to help people get know Christ, and I haven’t, I’m not going to be welcoming. It’s very important as a fundamental foundation'.”

Categories: Faith and Service