Can only the priest talk during the homily?

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I was on a retreat one time, and it had a huge impact on my life. In one part, during Mass, the priest gives a homily about the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter trying to trust Him by getting out of the boat. We ask ourselves, if we were in Peter’s position, where are we? Are we still in the boat, are we walking on the water? Have we sunk and are calling out for Jesus to save us? We each go up, hold a crucifix, and say where we are in our walk with Christ.

Anyway, I was talking to a friend after Mass the other day, and he is more inclined towards another retreat for young people. He says that speaking during the homily is reserved for the priest only, and that this would be a liturgical abuse. Is it?

One thing I fear is that the patrons of these two retreats, of which both I have been on, will separate into factions. One adult leader clearly said that they are not meant to be competitors.
 
JackVk said:
I was on a retreat one time, and it had a huge impact on my life. In one part, during Mass, the priest gives a homily about the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter trying to trust Him by getting out of the boat. We ask ourselves, if we were in Peter’s position, where are we? Are we still in the boat, are we walking on the water? Have we sunk and are calling out for Jesus to save us? We each go up, hold a crucifix, and say where we are in our walk with Christ.

Anyway, I was talking to a friend after Mass the other day, and he is more inclined towards another retreat for young people. He says that speaking during the homily is reserved for the priest only, and that this would be a liturgical abuse. Is it?

One thing I fear is that the patrons of these two retreats, of which both I have been on, will separate into factions. One adult leader clearly said that they are not meant to be competitors.
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I’m finding your question a little unclear, but that’s probably just me. If you are asking: “can lay people give the homily,” the answer is an absolute no. Only an ordained minister may give the homily.
 
Define “talk”. If you’re just saying that phrase, then you are not giving the Homily or a Homily, there is nothing wrong with that. What is not allowed is for a lay person to give any kind of Homily or a “talk”.
 
TheMc said:
I’m finding your question a little unclear, but that’s probably just me. If you are asking: “can lay people give the homily,” the answer is an absolute no. Only an ordained minister may give the homily.
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No, they are not giving a homily. It is a testimony, if anything.
 
Sometimes the priest will ask a question during the homily. People do answer. Only a priest or deacon are permitted to deliver a homily, though.
 
Waiting said:
Sometimes the priest will ask a question during the homily. People do answer. Only a priest or deacon are permitted to deliver a homily, though.
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This is very common in Eastern rites. And our Bishop is very fond of doing question-and-answer during his Homily (not the entire homily, maybe a couple of questions).
 
Okay, good. Thank you for your responses. My friend who made the claim is part of the group that claims this retreat is un-Catholic. This is only because Retreat A (the one with the activity in question) allows non-Catholics to attend and even lead small groups, where as Retreat B, the one my friend is more inclined to, is an exclusively Catholic retreat. Retreat A, despite its allowances for non-Catholics, does not compromise Catholic teachings.

I’m not calling these retreats by names, so not to cause controversy or create the possibility of factions.
 
JackVk said:
Okay, good. Thank you for your responses. My friend who made the claim is part of the group that claims this retreat is un-Catholic. This is only because Retreat A (the one with the activity in question) allows non-Catholics to attend and even lead small groups, where as Retreat B, the one my friend is more inclined to, is an exclusively Catholic retreat. Retreat A, despite its allowances for non-Catholics, does not compromise Catholic teachings.

I’m not calling these retreats by names, so not to cause controversy or create the possibility of factions.
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I think your friends need to lighten up a little bit. How are we supposed to spread our faith to non-Catholics if we exclude them from retreats?
 
Waiting said:
Sometimes the priest will ask a question during the homily. People do answer. Only a priest or deacon are permitted to deliver a homily, though.
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ConstantineTG said:
This is very common in Eastern rites. And our Bishop is very fond of doing question-and-answer during his Homily (not the entire homily, maybe a couple of questions).
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Our last two Priests have been from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Both involve the congregation with responses during their homilies, but it is the Priest who conducts the reflection on the readings.
 
I agree, and by the way, my three year old grandson talks during the homily all the time! 🙂
 
JackVk said:
No, they are not giving a homily. It is a testimony, if anything.
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I still don’t believe this is allowed. I’m seeing nowhere in the GIRM an allowance for anything after the gospel besides a homily given by a priest or deacon.
  1. *The Homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person.
After the homily a brief period of silence is appropriately observed.*

But the thing is, however you look at it, there is still no allowance to do any sort of speech during or after the homily. The correct time would be after communion, if it must be done during Mass.
 
JackVk said:
I . He says that speaking during the homily is reserved for the priest only, and that this would be a liturgical abuse. Is it?

.
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not strictly speaking and what you describe does not sound like an abuse, he was asking you to reflect on the words of the Gospel.

the rule is only the priest, or in some cases the deacon, can give the homily. There are times when another person could speak at that time, but it would not by definition be the homily. for instance the priest gives a short homily on the gospel, and a nun gives a short speech on vocations on Vocation Sunday. She is not giving a homily because she is not the priest. true the speech would be better after communion but it is not an abuse in and of itself as long as the priest still gives the homily. The abuse comes in when the priest never preaches but assigns that role to laity.

I think your friend is over-thinking this and by itself does not sound like any reason to put on another retreat.
 
puzzleannie said:
not strictly speaking and what you describe does not sound like an abuse, he was asking you to reflect on the words of the Gospel.

the rule is only the priest, or in some cases the deacon, can give the homily. There are times when another person could speak at that time, but it would not by definition be the homily. for instance the priest gives a short homily on the gospel, and a nun gives a short speech on vocations on Vocation Sunday. She is not giving a homily because she is not the priest. true the speech would be better after communion but it is not an abuse in and of itself as long as the priest still gives the homily. The abuse comes in when the priest never preaches but assigns that role to laity.

I think your friend is over-thinking this and by itself does not sound like any reason to put on another retreat.
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But there is still no allowance for someone to give another speech after the homily.
 
TheMc said:
But there is still no allowance for someone to give another speech after the homily.
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no but that is not OP’s problem
he seems to be talking about he priest dialoging with the congregation during the homily. not my favorite technique but certainly no abuse and nothing illicit.
 
puzzleannie said:
no but that is not OP’s problem
he seems to be talking about he priest dialoging with the congregation during the homily. not my favorite technique but certainly no abuse and nothing illicit.
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I missed that. I thought it was a full blown testimony, a speech.
 
JackVk said:
… He says that speaking during the homily is reserved for the priest only, and that this would be a liturgical abuse. Is it? …
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From the 1973 Directory for Masses with Children:
“48. The homily explaining the word of God should be given great prominence with all Masses with children. Sometimes the homily intended for children should become a dialogue with them, unless it is preferred that they should listen in silence.”
From n. 6: “The Directory is concerned with children who have not yet entered the period of preadolescence.”
From n. 19: “Wherever the bishop permits, in addition to the adaptations already provided in the Order of Mass, one or other of the particular adaptations described later in the Directory may be employed in a Mass celebrated with adults in which children also participate.”
 
the point for OP is that no matter what the priest did or did not do right with regard to Mass, as long as nothing is illicit or invalidates the sacrament, there is no reason for someone who attended to feel they need to go to another Mass, that they did not meet their obligation, that they incurred guilt in some way by participating, or in OP’s case that the whole retreat, during which the Mass was celebrated, is somehow “contamintated” so he has to now do another retreat.
 
TheMc said:
But there is still no allowance for someone to give another speech after the homily.
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There’s also no allowance for repeating the readings in the vernacular at the beginning of of the homily, is there?

Must be banned.
 
MarkThompson said:
There’s also no allowance for repeating the readings in the vernacular at the beginning of of the homily, is there?

Must be banned.
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I’m not sure about that. There’s a pretty big difference between a priest reading three scripture readings during the homily and a lay person giving a testimony during/after the homily. For one, the priest is still talking, and two, why can’t the priest read scripture during the homily?
 
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