- Academic Dean and Vice President
- Professor of Homiletics
heille@ai.edu
Degrees
- D.Min, Preaching (Western Theological Seminary, Reformed Church in America, Holland MI, 1991)
- M.Div.; M.A., Liturgy (Aquinas Institute of Theology, 1975)
- B.A., Mathematics (St. John’s University, Collegeville MN, 1969)
”The Christian life is a person-to-person transforming encounter—betwixt believers and Christ, among believers, and with all the peoples of the world. The Christian gospel is not only an ancient and growing body of doctrine. It is also a transforming set of practices and a call to virtue, always in context, always personal and formational, and all for the common good in the Reign of God.”
The road that brought me to ministry at Aquinas Institute of Theology involved almost twenty years of pastoral ministry at the Catholic Campus Parish of South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota; Associate Pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish, Madison, Wisconsin; Vocation Coordinator for the Dominican Central Province, Chicago, Illinois; priest for the St. Giles Family Mass Community, Oak Park, Illinois; and chaplain for Dominican Chapel/Marywood and founder and program director for Dominican Center at Marywood in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After completing my Doctor of Ministry in Preaching in 1991, I came to Aquinas Institute in 1994 to live in the formation community of Saint Dominic Priory and to serve as Director of Field Education and Assistant Professor of Homiletics. Now, a surprising seventeen years later, I continue to serve as Professor of Homiletics, while serving also since 2007 as Academic Dean and Vice President. I now reside at Saint Louis Bertrand House near Forest Park.
My academic interests have to do with the theology of preaching, Christian healing, and the evangelization of culture—with a particular and longstanding interest in repairing the fractured relationship of men and women in our culture (Galatians 3:28).
I continue to take any opportunity I can to hike in the American West. Favorite places include Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, Zion National Park in Utah, and the Big Sur Coast in California. This past summer I had the delightful opportunity to explore Northern Ireland and the Isle of Skye in the Highlands of Scotland.
Professional Affiliations
Presentations this Semester
“Preaching in the Life and Ministry of the Priest“
In this weeklong September workshop in Adelaide, Australia, forty priests are gathering to explore a spirituality and theology for preaching and to consider the future of Australian preaching in light of the Synod on the Word of God, as well as to discuss actual homilies and do practical skill building for preaching.
“To Practice What We Preach: Hearing, Proclaiming, and Being the Living Word of God”
At the invitation of the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy and the Sacraments (English Sector) of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, I will give the following three keynote lectures on preaching to the biennial National Conference of Diocesan Directors of Liturgy— “Visions of Catholic Preaching: 1960 – 2010”, “The Ministry of the Word in a Gospel Actualized Community”, and “Good Liturgical Practice for Hearing the Word of God”.
“Doctrine and Context in Catechesis and Evangelization: The Future of Catholic Preaching”
In December, I will present this paper on the future of Catholic preaching to the Theology Workgroup of the annual meeting of the Academy of Homiletics in Austin, Texas.
Selected Publications
- Website: “The Word on the Web: An Internet Hotlist for Preachers.”
- Theology of Preaching: Essays on Vision and Mission in the Pulpit. Gregory Heille, O.P., editor. London: Melisende, 2001.
- Preaching in the Sunday Assembly: A Pastoral Commentary on Fulfilled in Your Hearing. Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics, James Wallace, C.Ss.R., editor, Gregory Heille, O.P., project leader. Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 2010.
Article
“Practice What You Preach.” The Southern Cross, Archdiocese of Adelaide, Australia. October 2010.