Do You Feel Short-changed / Homily

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casslean said:
He had no idea people enjoyed hearing his homilies and thought they were just sitting through them.
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You know it’s funny, that priest I was referring to did seem surprised when I mentioned how much I enjoy his homilies. In turn, it surprised me that he didn’t realize that, so you bring a very good point.
 
Talitha712 said:
You know it’s funny, that priest I was referring to did seem surprised when I mentioned how much I enjoy his homilies. In turn, it surprised me that he didn’t realize that, so you bring a very good point.
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It was something I had never considered until this story was shared with me. Now I make a point of telling the priest whenever I enjoy the homily or find it especially helpful.
 
Here are the relevant passages from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM):

The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended,[63]
for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life.
It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings
both the mystery being celebrated - and the particular needs of the listeners.[64]

The homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself.
He may entrust it to a celebrating priest
or occasionally, according to circumstances, to the deacon,
but never to a lay person.

You rock - Spyridon !
 
I have been asked several times by visiting priests coming to my parish to celebrate Mass if a homily is expected on a weekday Mass. I have always replied that a short homily is appreciated especially if there are some difficult teachings in the readings or if they are hard to understand. Once the homily was three sentences and that was all that was needed and other times a couple of minutes.

In one local church, the priest was more or less “lifted” up to the altar by a couple of sisters but the homily was absolutely brilliant. He passed away a couple of months later at the age of 94. That was the last time I saw and heard him.
 
margaret42 said:
Yes, but at the Catholic Mass, the priest interprets the readings for the congregation to understand.
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This is true. However, the Mass isn’t a Bible study. And, there’s not enough time to thoroughly explain the background of the readings during the course of a homily. Therefore, the priest’s job is to point us to the readings, to bring them into relation with the events of the congregation’s current life situation, and then point us through them to the Eucharist.

As Catholics, sometimes we think that our only ‘job’ is to go to Mass once a week. When we labor under this misunderstanding, then Mass becomes not only worship, but also Bible study, and fellowship hour, and the place for each special interest group to publicize their events, etc, etc, etc. Each of these deserve their own time and place – but trying to shoehorn them all into Mass is a mistake.

If Catholics want to understand Scripture (and we should!!!), then we need to put in the time and effort to do so… and not expect Father to do it for us in a 10-minute homily.
 
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