Does your pastor give good homilies? Poll

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Excellent homilies on a consistent basis. The parish has grown considerably and some drive from a distance to attend though it is not just because of his preaching.
 
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I can’t hear every word he says because the audio system isn’t really set up right. I think it was just bought at Radio Shack and plugged in, the church was built about 1900 and the sound bounces around.

But he has a calm , measured voice, appropriate for the circumstances and the advanced age of we, the parishioners.
 
I remember in the 70s, 80s and 90s hearing a great many boring homilies. Now I almost never hear a bad one, and the vast majority are very good. They must have stepped up the public speaking training for priests.
 
That’s the problem…

Most of those churches were engineered to have the sound project naturally.

Putting amplification equipment in there is like putting napalm in a gas tank. It doesn’t end well.
 
Anyone here have homilists whose sermons are strong textually, but the delivery kind of ruins them?
 
Lots of fluff. Mostly social justice issues. Rarely abortion, sin or hell.

Our children suffered because our teaching at home was not reinforced by the authority of the Church.
 
As politically charged and divided as our nation is, I would like to see more homilies about love and forgiveness, and about tolerating others who have different opinions. Jesus preached that we should love one another, not just those that we agree with. We all are God’s children.
We need to be told that hate is not the answer. And that we must strive to love even those who seem to hate us.
 
We have five priests and two deacons. It’s a hard question to answer.

Our senior priest…they’re okay. I can’t lie. I honestly love the man and he is the most generous, kindest person I’ve ever met. But his homilies…ramble a bit.

I’ve only heard one of our deacons, but he’s fantastic.

The chaplain from the Army hospital, who’s a retired military chaplain and now a Federal employee, gave the homily this past Sunday. It was AMAZING. He does the daily Masses at the hospital and I REALLY want to go to one now just to hear him even though I know it’s a short version.
Maximilian75 said:
Putting amplification equipment in there is like putting napalm in a gas tank. It doesn’t end well.
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This is the one thing I don’t like about the Cathedral. Sometimes it’s actually hard to understand the priest when he’s speaking because the sound rattles around like stones in a metal garbage can.
Maximilian75 said:
Anyone here have homilists whose sermons are strong textually, but the delivery kind of ruins them?
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Our senior priest. Bless him. ❤️❤️
 
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Pup7 said:
a retired military chaplain and now a Federal employee, gave the homily this past Sunday. It was AMAZING. He does the daily Masses at the hospital and I REALLY want to go to one now just to hear him even though I know it’s a short version.
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I am happy to hear this. I think good homilies draw people back to listen to the homilist, and therefore draw people to Mass.

I think of the homily as being the homilists’ way of teaching the word of God to the congregation.

If the homily leaves a sceptic thinking, “Wow! That was enlightening. I see that clearer now.” then it is likely that person has just heard the word of God explained to them, and it’s also likely to have been efficacious to the devout practicing Catholic as well. And it is likely that they will both come back to be taught by the homilist some more.
 
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I’m currently trying to rearrange my schedule to at least get there once a week at my lunch hour. Honestly.
 
My pastor’s homilies tend to be good, yeah. They can get a bit unfocused at times, but still on the whole good, relevant, insightful sermons. Mass attendance is very high at my parish, and we have a lot of Masses.
 
Pup7 said:
This is the one thing I don’t like about the Cathedral. Sometimes it’s actually hard to understand the priest when he’s speaking because the sound rattles around like stones in a metal garbage can.
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The cathedral in Pittsburgh is ok on that, even though its amplified.

But they also broadcast mass on cable TV from the site and had the amps professionally done.

All of your old school churches were built before the invention of electronic equipment or even electrical service
 
Oh of course they were - and it’s obvious.

The Cathedral here was built at the turn of the last century.
 
My pastor gives excellent homilies. A bit long, by most Catholic standards, but they rarely drag out. He’s not a dynamic speaker by any means, but he is sincere and straightforward. He has a way of putting things that just leads you to see the beauty in all of creation. When he talks about sin, there’s no need for hellfire and brimstone. He just makes virtue and holiness sound so appealing that you naturally want to turn away from sin. He doesn’t shy away from the tough subjects, but his approach is unique. We once had a visitor marvel that he had “just given a homily on hell and everybody knew it, but he kept our eyes on Christ the whole time.”

I don’t think his homilies really increase attendance, but we are in a very unique situation. We’re a Byzantine parish with a commuter population of just 18 families. We do have a number of regular visitors who always comment that they wish they could come more often because they always hear such great homilies. He says Mass a few mornings a week at a local Latin-rite parish and many of the parishioners there support our parish financially because they have been touched by his ministry.
 
buffalo said:
Lots of fluff. Mostly social justice issues.
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Yes, one of the couple of bad homilies I’ve heard in the last couple years was some deacon who went off on a rant about how we should all be welcoming illegal immigrants. It bore only a tenuous connection to the scripture, was delivered in an angry tone, contained no discussion of the legal issues involved, and made me think I was back in 1972.

Thankfully, this sort of thing is an anomaly nowadays.
 
I DIDN’T like when a certain parish Priest - mentioned ’ welcome illegal immigrants ’ -
USA has over twenty million ? Was this a message the Pope privately sent out -

Anyways, our church has a ex-Protestant preacher - turned Priest -
He’s really good - what I absolutely love about him - NO NOTES -
he speaks off the cuff - follows the Spirit - and is well versed - and prepared.
And after mass - always goes to the foyer - shakes hands - blesses people - etc -
 
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I have a main parish and I visit a couple of others regularly. All the Priests give interesting and well-orated homilies. Most of the Priests and even Deacons around here are Oxford-educated (not that such an education is either a pre-requisite or a guarantee for a good homily, but on average it does seem to improve the odds)
 
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