Can a Sunday homily be too long?

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blaskoman

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Last Sunday’s homily lasted 31 minutes. Although the homily was a wonderful talk, I was slowly getting agitated with the length as well as the inevitable repetition of the priest’s themes. The Mass lasted 1hr 23m. I felt that the excessive length of the homily disrupted the flow of the Mass. If I felt a bit agitated, I’m sure many others were as well. I noticed many starting to read the bulliten.

Is there a set rule about the length of a Sunday homily? On average, homily tend to last 5-10 minutes. I feel that a 30 min one is excessive.
 
blaskoman said:
Last Sunday’s homily lasted 31 minutes. Although the homily was a wonderful talk, I was slowly getting agitated with the length as well as the inevitable repetition of the priest’s themes. The Mass lasted 1hr 23m. I felt that the excessive length of the homily disrupted the flow of the Mass. If I felt a bit agitated, I’m sure many others were as well. I noticed many starting to read the bulliten.

Is there a set rule about the length of a Sunday homily? On average, homily tend to last 5-10 minutes. I feel that a 30 min one is excessive.
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If it is a bad homily 5 minutes is too long…with that said, if it is a good one, why is 31 minutes too long? I normally preach from 8 to 25 minutes, it depends on the message. I have never had anyone tell I preached too long. My pastor preaches longer than me, sometimes as long as 40 minutes; again, no complaints as he is very good homilist and a scripture scholar. I enjoy listening to him preach rather than preaching, which is how it should be.

There is no time limit, there is an ability limit. Some clergy members should preach very short homilies, some should go longer. There is no set time table.
 
To state what would seem to be obvious, a homily would be “too long” if it causes the Mass to run over into the time scheduled for the next Mass, and forces people to stand outside or disrupt the current Mass when they come in and expect to find a seat.

Beyond that, if a congregation is used to longer homilies, it would be difficult to state absolutely what “too long” would be. If a parish is used to 6-8 minute homilies, as many seem to be, I would think that a sudden shift to 25-minute homilies would result in a lot of restlessness and “ear fatigue,” especially if the homily were 6 minutes’ worth of material in a 25-minute wrapper.

The best homilist I know, who is more than capable of holding a congregation’s attention for 25 minutes with outstanding preaching, knows better than to go that long - he is very sensitive to “ear fatigue.”
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
To state what would seem to be obvious, a homily would be “too long” if it causes the Mass to run over into the time scheduled for the next Mass, and forces people to stand outside or disrupt the current Mass when they come in and expect to find a seat.

Beyond that, if a congregation is used to longer homilies, it would be difficult to state absolutely what “too long” would be. If a parish is used to 6-8 minute homilies, as many seem to be, I would think that a sudden shift to 25-minute homilies would result in a lot of restlessness and “ear fatigue,” especially if the homily were 6 minutes’ worth of material in a 25-minute wrapper.

The best homilist I know, who is more than capable of holding a congregation’s attention for 25 minutes with outstanding preaching, knows better than to go that long - he is very sensitive to** “ear fatigue.” **
This is key for a homilist. I can tell by the looks on faces and/or body language when it is time for me to wrap it up. I can also tell when the message is connecting. I feed off of the crowd. I prepare quite a bit and read a lot of scripture and commentaries. I try my best to send a message, completely and not over extended. If the message this weekend turns out to be 4 minutes that’s how long my homilies this weekend will be. If it turns out to be 25 minutes, that is the message.
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My answer is yes, a homily can be too long. For me, I can only remember so much information. I think the best homilies are those that are shorter, but just as impacftul. After about ten minutes the message just starts to overun itself and I can’t remember everything. To me the most effective preachers are those that can share their message in few words.
 
It can be too long. The beuty of a homily is not how long it is, but how much it give you, and sometimes less is more.
 
Lasting_faith said:
It can be too long. The beuty of a homily is not how long it is, but how much it give you, and sometimes less is more.
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👍

I agree. Sometimes people put too much value of the number of words. A though somehow speaking at length equals a powerful or memorable message. I think it is important to understand that brevity does not equal weakness. It’s truly the other way around.
 
Our priest gives such wonderful homilies that I figure they aren’t long enough. 😃 They can be too short. I attended briefly, as an Evangelical, a Baptist church where the sermon was an hour long. The preacher did a good job too. Most of the Evangelical pastors gave sermons that were 35 minutes long and that dedication to preaching is something I miss.

One hour and 23 minutes does make for a long Mass. And so the homily was precisely 31 minutes long? I consider you brave for timing it. 😊
 
The priest at our church usually times his homilies so that Mass runs 1 hour, give or take a minute or two. Sometimes things going on during Mass take longer, so his homily is shorter etc.
I rarely feel that it’s too long, but on occasion have felt he stopped too soon.
 
I go to Tanzania each year to do some educational missionary work.

It is common to have homilies that are an hour long. Any less, and the people feel ‘jipped’ if it is any less.

And if the bishop is giving the homily, two hours is the norm.

We just have very little attention span in western culture.
 
The homilies of St Augustine and St John Chrysostom are recorded and available at newadvent.org/fathers/index.html. They all last about an hour, when I am reading them silently. Aloud I would assume they take longer.

It’s what your used to. If the priests homilies always last 60 minutes and he is the best homilist in the history of the Church (St John) then I would feel gyped if it was 30 minutes.
 
MSSheBear said:
Our priest gives such wonderful homilies that I figure they aren’t long enough. 😃 They can be too short. I attended briefly, as an Evangelical, a Baptist church where the sermon was an hour long. The preacher did a good job too. Most of the Evangelical pastors gave sermons that were 35 minutes long and that dedication to preaching is something I miss.

One hour and 23 minutes does make for a long Mass. And so the homily was precisely 31 minutes long? I consider you brave for timing it. 😊
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I agree with this first sentence:D
 
The church I came from, it was not unusual to have 45 minutes be “short” sermons. I myself prefer the 12-15 minutes I came accustomed to in the Anglican church as a child.
 
We need to be careful when comparing a Catholic homily to a protestant sermon. In many/most protestant services the sermon is the focal point. There is usually “praise” or a music section and then the pastor preaches (“worship”) and that’s it.

For Catholic’s the summit and focal point of Mass is the Eucharist. The homily is an important past of the Liturgy of the Word, but it shouldn’t be the “high point” of the Mass. In the past, famous homilists like St John Chrysostom also preached in settings other than Mass - I don’t know, but the hour+ long sermons may have come from those events.

All that said, our priests at my parish are all good homilists (right now, that isn’t always the case) and often give “longer” homilies. I don’t know if any of them have gone over half hour (or even 20 minutes) since I’m not timing them. 😃
 
Mrs_Sally said:
We need to be careful when comparing a Catholic homily to a protestant sermon. In many/most protestant services the sermon is the focal point. There is usually “praise” or a music section and then the pastor preaches (“worship”) and that’s it.

For Catholic’s the summit and focal point of Mass is the Eucharist.
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VERY good point!
 
By the way, there is Justin Martyr’s description of the Mass
And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen;
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Which seems to imply that the readings + homily could be quite long in the early church.
 
I don’t know… St. Paul gave a homily that was so long a man fell asleep and fell out of a third story window. (See Acts 20:7-12) Paul revived the man and continued his homily. If it was good enough for St. Paul then it should be good enough for us!! 😉
 
gh4 said:
The priest at our church usually times his homilies so that Mass runs 1 hour, give or take a minute or two. Sometimes things going on during Mass take longer, so his homily is shorter etc.
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Our priest does the same thing. Normally, he tries to not let the homily run over 12 minutes. According to him, “The brain can absorb only as much as the butt can tolerate.” When he sees people start squirming in their seats, he knows it’s time to wrap it up.
 
I would say 5 to 10 minutes is sufficient for a daily Mass, 15 to 20 minutes perhaps for Sundays for homily. I’ve had homilies last around 20 minutes at a Sunday EF Mass, at Ordinary Form 10 minutes or so approximately. I was guilty of falling asleep as a teen during the homilies of one priest which I’ve repented since but it was because his voice could lull you to sleep at times.
 
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