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December 5, 2009
Redemptorist Father James Wallace is the 2009 recipient of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy’s award for “Outstanding Contributions to the Liturgical Life of the American Church.”“Jim gets high marks for his ability to bring his wealth of theological knowledge to his presentations in a very accessible form without dumbing down the material,” said Jesuit Father Lawrence J. Madden, the Center’s founder and director. “He has been one of the pioneers as he has dedicated his whole career to the ministry of the Word of God.”
The award will be presented Dec. 8 following a Mass at 7 p.m. in Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Father Wallace will be the homilist.
Father Wallace professed first vows as a Redemptorist in 1964, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He has been a professor of homiletics at the Washington Theological Union since 1986. From 1973-85, he taught at the Redemptorist seminary at Mount St. Alphonsus in Esopus, NY. He is the past president of the Academy of Homiletics, the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics, and the Religious Speech Association. He has served as co-editor of the New Theology Review and as a member of the Editorial Council of the Liturgical Press. He is an author, teacher, and popular presenter. He also is a regular preacher of daily audio homilies featured on redemptorists.net.
“The Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province salute Father Jim for his recognition by the Georgetown Center for Liturgy,” said Very Rev. Patrick Woods, provincial of the Baltimore Province. “In addition to his being an outstanding professor of homiletics, Father Wallace has traveled extensively throughout our worldwide Congregation to help his confreres be more effective proclaimers of the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
“The Redemptorists, since our founding by St. Alphonsus in 1732, have sought to be excellent preachers in parish homilies, missions, and retreats,” Father Woods continued. “We consider preaching the plentiful redemption of Jesus Christ a primary charism of our Congregation.”
Previous recipients of the Center’s award for Outstanding Contributions to the Liturgical Life of the American Church include: Fr. Walter Burghardt, S.J.(preaching); Bishop Donald Trautman (liturgical leadership); Roseanne Casey (extraordinary Catholic leader); Marty Haugen (liturgical music); Rev. Richard Vosko (art and architecture); Sister Catherine Dooley,O.P.(catechetics); Rev. Paul Cioffi, S.J.(liturgical teaching); Rev.Gil Ostdiek, O.F.M. (liturgical scholarship); and Dr. Elaine Rendler-McQueeney (liturgical music).