Can a Sunday homily be too long?

[adrift]

Homilies should be under eight minutes long, says head of synod office
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Homilies should be no longer than eight minutes – a listener’s average attention span, said the head of the synod office.

After 60+ years of listening to sermons and homilies, I remember only one clearly. It lasted less than 3 minutes but it left such an impression that fifty years after hearing it I remember it. My opinion if the point can’t be made in 8 minutes it won’t be made in thirty.

One persons opinion that I once read was that to go over 15 minutes was an abuse of power.

 

[felsguy]

On average, homily tend to last 5-10 minutes.

Is this at an earthly parish or have you already died and gone to heaven?

 

[BettyBoop416]

Is this at an earthly parish or have you already died and gone to heaven?

 

[BettyBoop416]

Is this at an earthly parish or have you already died and gone to heaven?

 

[jeb53]

I read this post and it reminded me of a segement on The Catholic Guy (Sirius XM radio with Lino Rulli and Father Rob Kegwrin), where there were discussing the length of the homily. Lino thought 5 minutes was enough. Five minutes…we do have short attention spans don’t we?
I am not Catholic (yet) but attended a non-denom church for a few years. Services started at 6 pm on Saturdays. There was about 20 minutes of the worship band and at least 70 minutes of of the sermon. I guess I find it a little humorous about the complaints about the length of homilys
I will tell you one thing, I learned a lot about the Bible in that nondenom church and that is the one thing I can say is seriously lacking in the Catholic Church! I hope that changes.
Everyone have a great day!

 

[Lormar]

Ten minutes tops. When I used to go to the SSPX, we had sermons anywhere from twenty to forty minutes long. That cured me of long sermons.

 

[Cat]

I agree that the Mass should end in such a way that there is sufficient time to safely clear the parking lot and make room for the next Mass-goers.

But when it comes to “short attention span,” I do not buy this. If this is the case, then we would have no doctors, as many of the lectures in pre-med courses and in med school are quite long and very complex. Or people would not go to plays, which often last 2 hours or more. Or they wouldn’t read books or watch television or practice an instrument or cook a huge meal or work on assembly lines–all of these activities require an attention span of longer than 20 minutes.

Adult human beings are capable of paying attention if they learn the skills necessary to do so.

And I disagree that we can’t compare Mass homilies to Protestant sermons. From what I’ve read of Catholic Church history, several of the greatest of our saints routinely preached for long lengths of time. I thinking of St. Anthony of Padua, who attracted massive crowds, and often spoke for hours while these people stood and soaked it in.

IF the priest has the spiritual gift of exhortation or teaching, and preaches good, pithy homilies, why shouldn’t he preach for longer than 5-10 minutes? I fear, though, that many Catholics would not take kindly to this, as they are used to one-hour Masses. However, if the preaching was that good, perhaps more and more Catholics would begin flocking to that priest’s Masses, even if they did last longer than an hour. After all, hundreds of thousands of people, including MANY Catholics, flock to hear pastors speak for an hour at Protestant megachurches like Willowcreek. Why shouldn’t the Catholic Church priests who are good speakers be encouraged to work to attract people back to the Catholic Church?

 

[Sarabande]

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.

I don’t think there is a set rule, but it depends on what a congregation is used to as well as how good the homilist is. I’ve sat through 30-45 minute homilies and found them worthwhile and others which should have ended at the 5 minute mark. As some mentioned, it also depends on the culture. We had a visiting Indian priest who gave about a 45 minute homily. After a while, my mind began to wander because he was repeating his points. I found out from another Indian priest that they train their priests to give long homilies. Their masses last much longer because of it.

A problem that can arise from extra long homilies is that they can cause an overlap of masses and I’ve definitely seen the logistical problem with parking, etc. when that happens. So, I do think priests are usually cognizant of that when they give a homily. We have a priest who always gives a homily in less than 5 minutes. He doesn’t believe in anything longer than that and he gets his point across very well in a three minute homily. I wish I could be as gifted.

 

[blaskoman]

Is this at an earthly parish or have you already died and gone to heaven?

Well, I guess I was a bit off. I don’t recall a Sunday homily lasting only 5 minutes. If I had to put a good average time on all Sunday homilies I’ve heard (in LA), I would say 7-12min.

 

[peace2u2]

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.

I guess its a good thing your not an evangelical bible christian.

 

[bcra]

I would hope so if not as kids (we were no different as yound children or teenagers ) get very bored when the mass is too long and i have seen several teenagers aftwer 1 hour who will just get up and leave. you cannot changea teenager as if you want them in church you have to make it no more then one hour as some have work or otheractivities in their life. sometimes the priests words mean nothing to a kid or teenager they all know what sins they committed so why wast their time i for one never look at printed words of prayers since i know all of them since childhood,

 

[Oneofthewomen]

I took a homiletics praticum with some of my fellow classmates who were in formation for the permanent diaconate.

This is what I learned-
1.) if you havn’t made your point in the first 5-8 minutes, you never will.
2.) if you preach more than 5-8 minutes after you make your point, your point will be lost.

For the most part, in my diocese, Sunday homilies last about 10-15 minutes. Some of the best have been the shortest, although we do have a couple of priests & deacons who are very gifted preachers, and I could listen to then all day!

In the end, I do not believe it’s the length, or the number of big words & concepts that make a homily a good one. For me, what makes a homily “good”, is that what is said moves me, in some way, to become a better Christian.

 

[LilyM]

Children get bored therefore homilies should be short? I presume their school classes and exams also last only 10-15 minues tops. Same with their favourite movies or TV shows or the concerts of their favourite bands

And I guess the same applies for the adults too.

No. Like school classes, homilies should be as long as they need to be to ensure that you learn what you need to know. And priests should not applogise or feel even slightly bad for taking time to teach people, any more than teachers apologise for the length of their classes.

Homilies are almost the only, certainly the biggest, opportunity most priests have to catechise their flock, as well as forming the bulk of the catechesis most parishioners receive. Clearly, given the abysmal state of catechesis of the average Catholic in the west, we need priests who will teach us a whole lot more than they currently do, rather than pandering to the lowest attention span in the flock.

 

[Mike30]

At this point I would have to ask, why should it make the slightest difference?

 

[Lapey]

At this point I would have to ask, why should it make the slightest difference?

Kind of what i was thinking. All i’ve heard for the most part is homilies should be shorter so it doesn’t infringe on mine or my kids’ schedules. Really and quite shocked by some of the responses. Especially the one joking about the homily length.

I’ll be working all day tomorrow and have been at times this week and probably Saturday for the three Masses I am preaching at this weekend. I have a feeling it will be 25 or 30 minutes this week.

Thanks for all the posts confirming what I thought, we need more time in Church in Mass!!!

 

[BettyBoop416]

[W]
e need more time in Church in Mass!!!

No, we need more homilists who can get to the point in a timely manner and not purposely drag things out just because they have a captive audience.

Do you really think you are helping your flock by keeping them squirming in their seats for half an hour? After 15 minutes or so you have lost 90 % of them. Rather than listening to you they are going to be thinking, “When is he going to wrap this up?”

 

[Lapey]

No, we need more homilists who can get to the point in a timely manner and not purposely drag things out just because they have a captive audience.

Do you really think you are helping your flock by keeping them squirming in their seats for half an hour? After 15 minutes or so you have lost 90 % of them. Rather than listening to you they are going to be thinking, “When is he going to wrap this up?”

They don’t squirm in their seats when I preach. They thank me for the message. I can asure you if the homilist is worth his salt the crowd is not lost after 15. My pastor preches sometimes as long as 40 and the people want more. Sometimes our homilies are as short as 7 or 8 minutes, like last weekend my pastor’s homily was less than that, and it was a great message, just as good as when he preaches 40. I am very fortunate to work with teh priest I work with, he is one of the best and he has taught me a lot.

It’s not the time that makes the homily, it is the message. If it is the time for you please do some soul searching!

 

[LilyM]

No, we need more homilists who can get to the point in a timely manner and not purposely drag things out just because they have a captive audience.

Do you really think you are helping your flock by keeping them squirming in their seats for half an hour? After 15 minutes or so you have lost 90 % of them. Rather than listening to you they are going to be thinking, “When is he going to wrap this up?”

Well, are teachers helping kids by keeping them in class for half an hour or more? Some would squirm even if the class or homily were 2 minutes.

Point being, a maths or literature teacher cannot teach a reasonable chunk of the maths or literature that a person needs to know in just five minutes.

We have two thousand years of faith that our priests need to teach. 5 minutes a week does not even begin to cover the basics and essential dogmas and doctrines. People simply aren’t learning elsewhere - and they are woefully ignorant as a result. Let them squirm. Learning will always make some squirm. That’s no reason for teachers to neglect their duty of presenting solid and sizeable chunks of substantial teaching.

When was the last time you heard a homily on the duty to attend Mass every single Sunday unless grave circumstances prevent? Or the duty to take mortal sins to the confessional and abstain from communion until you do so - along with reminders that things like supportive pro-abort politicians, divorce and remarriage without annulment, marriage outside the Church without dispensation and so on are grave and therefore potentially mortal sin that need confession?

Or the duty (except arguably in the US) to do an act of penance or charity of some kind every single Friday? On the evils of contraception?

When was the last time you heard a sermon on the devil - the fact that Satan and evil are very real and very active in our world? Or hell - that it is real and that Our Lord taught that few follow the path that avoids it and leads to eternal life?

Along with decent and detailed explanations as to WHY these things are taught by the Church?

Lots of people simply don’t know - because they never get told - because five or ten minutes is not (except for very skilled homilists) enough time to recap the readings and get beyond the ‘Jesus loves you, so love each other’ level of banality and platitude.

 

[DoGodsBidding]

We can spend hours on television, computers, games, sporting events, recitals, movies, so I believe that spending more than 10-15 minutes listening to a homily is reasonable. And listening is key.

DGB

 

[ProVobis]

Point being, a maths or literature teacher cannot teach a reasonable chunk of the maths or literature that a person needs to know in just five minutes.

We have two thousand years of faith that our priests need to teach. 5 minutes a week does not even begin to cover the basics and essential dogmas and doctrines.

What we really need are homework assignments for the following week.