Raniero Cantalamessa on Mark 9:30-37

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa is the Pope's personal priest. He's probably one of the better examples of Roman Catholic preachers. I've even heard good things about him from Lutheran ministers. He titles his sermon Whoever is Great in Service is Great.

1. Does the pastor explain the text correctly? No. Cantalamessa sticks to the text at the beginning of his sermon a little bit better than Markquart did but he still seems to miss the point. He is not letting the text speak. Cantalamessa doesn't even talk about the cross or the children but is completely focused on being great in service. (-1)

2. Is the law preached lawfully? Absolutely not. The law is presented as very doable. Win the race by serving others. (-1)

3. Is Jesus mentioned? Yes. Nothing false is said about Jesus but not much is really said about Him. (+1)

4. Is the sermon about what Jesus has done for us? Absolutely not. In many Roman Catholic sermons Jesus is mentioned quite a bit but set up as a moral example. In this case Jesus is hardly mentioned at all. This sermon just calls us to obey Jesus' words. (-1)

5. Does the creation of a Wordle show a Christian focus in the sermon? No. This sermon is brought to you by the number "one." Then comes "Great." "First," "Others," and "Jesus" tie for third. (-1)

The final score is -3 which converts to 20%. The current results are:

Cwirla 100% A

Markquart 40% F

Cantalamessa 20% F