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Recently Pope Benedict remarked: "the quality of homilies needs to be improved". The Pope made this comment in the context of his extended reflection on the recent Synod in Rome (2010) on the word of God in the mission and life of the Church. The homily is an integral part of Christian liturgy. It is an honoured way of bringing the word of God to life such that people are helped to see the relevance of the word in their everyday lives. The homily is also an art form which needs to be practised and developed with skill. It seems to me, as a preacher myself, that what people are looking for in the homily is an articulate, faith-filled, knowledgeable commentary on the word of God which speaks to their everyday life and experience. People want to see the fire, desire and conviction in the person who preaches. This is a constant challenge. Mark O''Brien here presents his reflections on Year C of the lectionary, based on the Gospel of Luke. This is the companion volume to the earlier ones for Years A and B. Mark offers homilists a great service here. In two to three pages or several hundred words he gives an erudite and practical reflection on the word of God for the particular Sunday or feast as a good foundation on which any homilist can then build. Pope Benedict continues: "The art of good preaching based on the lectionary is an art that needs to be cultivated". In these short but insightful reflections on the readings of the lectionary Mark makes an excellent contribution to developing the art form of good preaching to the benefit of both those who preach and those who hear them.

Mark O'Brien OP is a member of the Australian province of the Dominican order, also known as the Order of Preachers (OP). He joined the Order in 1967 and studied theology in Dominican houses of study in Canberra and Dublin. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1973 and completed post-graduate studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, in 1976. He taught Old Testament studies at Yarra Theological Union, Melbourne, from 1977 and completed a doctorate in Theology at the Melbourne College of Divinity in 1987. He is the author of The Deuteronomistic History Hypothesis: A Reassessment and has co-authored several books on the Old Testament with Antony F Campbell SJ. He was Provincial of the Australian Province of the Dominican Order from 1993 to 2000. He is currently Prior of St Dominic's Priory in Melbourne and lectures in Old Testament studies in the Melbourne College of Divinity. He has also taught at Blackfriars, Oxford and at the National Catholic Institute of Theology in Karachi, Pakistan.