Gospel & Homily: Who can and who can't

[SeantheMan]

Who is allowed to read the gospel and give a homily at mass?
Back ground---- At my parents parish the pastoral administrator( lay women) claims that she has been given special permission from our Archbishop to perform these duties. When I talked to our chancelor(lay women) she told me that the p.a. has been told she does not have permission to do these duties but is not going to have the Archbishop nor herself do anything about it because they have told the p.a. before that she cannot perform these duties. What is my next step? Should I write to the Archbishop about my concern?

 

[LRThunder]

Who is allowed to read the gospel and give a homily at mass?
Back ground---- At my parents parish the pastoral administrator( lay women) claims that she has been given special permission from our Archbishop to perform these duties. When I talked to our chancelor(lay women) she told me that the p.a. has been told she does not have permission to do these duties but is not going to have the Archbishop nor herself do anything about it because they have told the p.a. before that she cannot perform these duties. What is my next step? Should I write to the Archbishop about my concern?

Only those who have been ordained may read the gospel and give a homily at Mass: deacon, priest, or bishop.

 

[dylanschrader]

Redemptionis Sacramentum says:

[63.] “Within the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, the reading of the Gospel, which is “the high point of the Liturgy of the Word”,[139] is reserved by the Church’s tradition to an ordained minister.[140] Thus it is not permitted for a layperson, even a religious, to proclaim the Gospel reading in the celebration of Holy Mass, nor in other cases in which the norms do not explicitly permit it.

[64.] The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself,[142] “should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating Priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to a Deacon, but never to a layperson.[143] In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a Priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate”.

Although I doubt that your archbishop has given the approval that this woman claims, even if had attempted to do so, he does not have the authority to dispense from these norms.

 

[catherine_m]

Only the Priest can. Although I’ve been to Masses where a young man (late teens) has read the gospel and where nuns (liberal) have given the homily!! I was at a novena once where an ex drug addict gave the homily. He continuously used bad language and said he didn’t care using it even in a Church because it was a fact of life.

 

[Karl_M]

It has been clearly stated by RS and the GIRM that only the ordained can read from the Gospel and give a homily during a Mass. Also, the part after the Gospel is the homily. There are some places that call it by a different name so they can say “no, it isn’t a homily.”

This practice used to be extremely popular in these parts until our new Bishop put his foot down.

Anyway, as of the issuing of the GIRM, no, the Bishop/Archbishop cannot give approval for anyone other than the ordained to read the Gospel or preach the homily. If someone says they can, they are either lying or have been lied to.

Yes, write the Archbishop, he CANNOT give permission for any non-ordained to do this.

Also, a quick note. Another poster said only the Priest can do it. That isn’t actually entirely true. A deacon is supposed to read the Gospel, and the priest to give the homily. But, the deacon is allowed to give the homily. But nuns, monks, sisters, brothers, seminarians, and lay ministers are not ever allowed to preach the Gospel or give the homily at a Mass under any circumstances, no matter what.

 

[catherine_m]

It has been clearly stated by RS and the GIRM that only the ordained can read from the Gospel and give a homily during a Mass. Also, the part after the Gospel is the homily. There are some places that call it by a different name so they can say “no, it isn’t a homily.”

This practice used to be extremely popular in these parts until our new Bishop put his foot down.

Anyway, as of the issuing of the GIRM, no, the Bishop/Archbishop cannot give approval for anyone other than the ordained to read the Gospel or preach the homily. If someone says they can, they are either lying or have been lied to.

Yes, write the Archbishop, he CANNOT give permission for any non-ordained to do this.

Also, a quick note. Another poster said only the Priest can do it. That isn’t actually entirely true. A deacon is supposed to read the Gospel, and the priest to give the homily. But, the deacon is allowed to give the homily. But nuns, monks, sisters, brothers, seminarians, and lay ministers are not ever allowed to preach the Gospel or give the homily at a Mass under any circumstances, no matter what.

Sorry Karl M, I ment to write deacon aswell. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Who is allowed to read the gospel and give a homily at mass?
Back ground---- At my parents parish the pastoral administrator( lay women) claims that she has been given special permission from our Archbishop to perform these duties. When I talked to our chancelor(lay women) she told me that the p.a. has been told she does not have permission to do these duties but is not going to have the Archbishop nor herself do anything about it because they have told the p.a. before that she cannot perform these duties. What is my next step? Should I write to the Archbishop about my concern?

Yes, write the Archbishop. A Bishop, Priest, or Deacon with the Bishops and pastors permission can read the Gospel and preach the homily. Why is the pastor of this parish allowing this? He is there when Mass is celebrated, he should just stand up and go to read the Gospel.

 

[Ignatius2000]

Yes, write the Archbishop. A Bishop, Priest, or Deacon with the Bishops and pastors permission can read the Gospel and preach the homily. Why is the pastor of this parish allowing this? He is there when Mass is celebrated, he should just stand up and go to read the Gospel.

You HAVE to be a Deacon to read the Gospel. Priests are Deacons first, and Bishops are Priest first.

2003 GIRM Section I 59. By tradition, the function of proclaiming the readings is ministerial, not presidential. The readings, therefore, should be proclaimed by a lector, and the Gospel by a deacon or, in his absence, a priest other than the celebrant. If, however, a deacon or another priest is not present, the priest celebrant himself should read the Gospel. Further, if another suitable lector is also not present, then the priest celebrant should also proclaim the other readings.

 

[Wolseley]

Write to the archbishop. If you get no satisfaction, videotape one of her “homilies” and send it to Rome.

 

[baltobetsy]

Why is the pastor of this parish allowing this?

If there’s a Pastoral Administrator, it probably means there is no pastor of the parish. This woman is probably in charge, and she hires a priest to come in for “sacramental ministry.” Then she tells him it won’t be necessary for him to read the Gospel or preach, and he meekly sits there.

Betsy

 

[Karl_M]

If there’s a Pastoral Administrator, it probably means there is no pastor of the parish. This woman is probably in charge, and she hires a priest to come in for “sacramental ministry.” Then she tells him it won’t be necessary for him to read the Gospel or preach, and he meekly sits there.

If the woman is the Pastoral Administrator, (actually any church with a PA) then the Bishop appoints a priest as a “Sacramental Minister” to hear confessions and to do the Mass. The PA does not “hire” the priest and has no say in it.

The priest “meekly sits there” either because he supports the non-ordained doing things like that (in other words, he supports women’s/married men’s ordination) or the Bishop lied to the priest and told him to let the PA run the show.