Homilies

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Is it considered by the Church alright for a priest to skip the Homily for no particular reason.
This happens pretty often in the Masses I attend. Yhe only time I heard a reason that at least made some common sense was that the air conditioning was not working, when it was a very hot day. That has been the case twice I believe. Much more often it happens with a “quip” by the priest, and on we go !
 
I think they are supposed to say a little something on the Gospel.
 
thomist1 said:
Is it considered by the Church alright for a priest to skip the Homily for no particular reason.
This happens pretty often in the Masses I attend. Yhe only time I heard a reason that at least made some common sense was that the air conditioning was not working, when it was a very hot day. That has been the case twice I believe. Much more often it happens with a “quip” by the priest, and on we go !
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Homily is not required on a weekday, only on Sundays and Solemnities, like today’s feast.
 
Gretings, and God Bless to ALL.

I 've already posted this once but can’t find it anywhere. I am new to forums and computing in general, so I very well may have made some mistake in posting. I’ll try it again here, as this is the section I should have used before(and didn’t). Is it alright with the Church, for the priest to very often completely skip the Homily in Mass? There have been a couple of times when he did this because the air conditioning was “down”, and I can understand this. However, he has often done so otherwise without explanation other than to make a short “quip”. The latest version of the Catechism says that the homily enjoys "pride of place . When he does deliver a Homily, it is almost always completed within a minute. I will say that at times, a minute is all he needs to get a good message across. However, there are other times when for the life of me, I can’t figure out the “connection” he makes to the Scripture that he just read. I don’t mean to be a “grump”, however this is but one of several “issues” I have with this Mass. I felt it might be the most important to clear up. AT PRESENT I DO NOT HAVE ANY WAY TO ATTEND ANOTHER MASS, TThomist1.hanks for any replies.
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The priest (or deacon) is supposed to give a homily at Sunday Masses. Ordinarily this will be related to the readings of the day but it can occasionally be about other matters of the Catholic Faith.

As far as I know there is no minimum length of time so long as the homilist actually delivers a message. For a while my parish had an associate who gave such short pithy homilies that people in the parish would pull out their stop watches and time him in hopes of noting a new record! If your mind happened to wander a bit you could miss the whole thing. I can’t remember him every speaking much less that s couple minutes, however. His homilies were obviously very direct and he would leave us wondering if he could have said anything more that would have added to the message.
 
In our homiletics courses, we were told to “be brief, be brilliant, … be gone.” Most homilies are at least 5-6 minutes, but others are much longer. The homily is supposed to be tied to the Scripture and present “one idea.” The idea may be explored from many vantages, but it should be easily remembered by the congregation.
 
mikeghiorso said:
In our homiletics courses, we were told to “be brief, be brilliant, … be gone.” Most homilies are at least 5-6 minutes, but others are much longer. The homily is supposed to be tied to the Scripture and present “one idea.” The idea may be explored from many vantages, but it should be easily remembered by the congregation.
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The mind can only comprehend what the seat can endure. That’s what my preaching professor taught (Protestant seminary–B.C. --before Catholic)

I think 10-15 minutes should be a minimum. No more than 20. I remember seeing a fly and spent so much time trying to swat it with the Missalette that I missed the whole homily. Coincidentally it vanished after the homily. Score: Satan: 1 Lorrie: 0. I joke with our newly ordained priest and he knows I was a pastor before becoming Catholic. He will always ask, “What grade do you give me today?” and I will tease “B minus” or whatever. That day he asked and I was horrified as I had been obsessed by that stupid fly. I said, “Father you give your whole heart to us in everything you do. I always give you an A plus.” He thanked me and I got off the hook.

I feel robbed if I don’t get a good homily and I am afraid I’d say something unless it was daily mass. I have to run to work in the morning so a thought for the day is fine…but it still should be 3-5 minutes–come on, make an effort!
 
Greetings Lapey, and thanks for the info.
I go to Mass on Saturday evening, which fulfills my weekly obligation, therefore it seems that the priest should not be doing this without a good(and probably well defined) reason.
The Mass is supposed to cover the catechism over a three year period, or at least it was in the past. We are also exhorted to spread the Good News as Christ commanded in Scripture. Regular dismissal of the Gospel(Good News) by the celebrating priest certainly
does nothing to set the example to be followed.One could even argue a topic that Jesus
mentioned on several occasions [edited]
 
I consider myself very fortunate. I have a priest that gives us the greatest homilies and keeps the whole thing interesting. I came from a evangelistic church 6 years ago and I must say that our pastor outdoes any pastor I ever had. He usually goes about 15 minutes. When you leave mass you have something to think about. I have learned a lot from him.
 
Greetings Big fave 31, and thanks for your reply. I feel just as you do, and am in complete
agreement with your opinions, and those of the others that have also replied. I don’t expect a priest to go on and on. I believe a good homily can be given in 10-15 minutes. I would easily allow 5 minutes either way if the priest was perhaps an “unusual” sort. I do
want the priests explanation of the Gospel. Many times I thought that I knew just what the intended message was, only to find out that I had “missed the mark” completely, or that I had missed a thought that although might not have been the major part of the message, was a whole new take on something that made me stop and think. As Catholic, we are all supposed to spread the Good News. What is the Gospel, but another word for the Good News. If the priest regards it such that he regularly "skips’ it, what example are we to learn from.I don’t expect eloquence, but I do expect reverence. Also we Catholics are to refrain from making our own translation out of context. This isn’t always easy to do. The Church is the ultimate guide concerning Holy Scripture. I wish I could go to Mass elsewhere, but I can’t do that at present. At least I have a good Bible and a matching concordance. God Bless All. thomist1
 
thomist1 said:
Greetings Lapey, and thanks for the info.
I go to Mass on Saturday evening, which fulfills my weekly obligation, therefore it seems that the priest should not be doing this without a good(and probably well defined) reason.
The Mass is supposed to cover the catechism over a three year period, or at least it was in the past. We are also exhorted to spread the Good News as Christ commanded in Scripture. Regular dismissal of the Gospel(Good News) by the celebrating priest certainly
does nothing to set the example to be followed.One could even argue a topic that Jesus
mentioned on several occasions,…hypocrisy.
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It is the Lectionary that presents Scripture in a 3-year cycle, not the catechism. The 3-year cycle pertains to Sunday Masses, including vigil Masses on Saturdays. The Lectionary cycle for weekday Masses is a 2-year cycle.
 
thomist1 said:
Greetings Lapey, and thanks for the info.
I go to Mass on Saturday evening, which fulfills my weekly obligation, therefore it seems that the priest should not be doing this without a good(and probably well defined) reason.
The Mass is supposed to cover the catechism over a three year period, or at least it was in the past. We are also exhorted to spread the Good News as Christ commanded in Scripture. Regular dismissal of the Gospel(Good News) by the celebrating priest certainly
does nothing to set the example to be followed.One could even argue a topic that Jesus
mentioned on several occasions [edited].
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[edited] I don’t think you mentioned skipping the gospel, only the homily. If like you say you are talking about a Saturday evening Mass, then yes it is required that a homily be delivered, no guidelines on how long or short but it is required. And like was stated, the cycles for Sunday Masses are three, daily Mass is 2, so if one is to attend Mass every day for three years you would have been through almost the entire bible.

PS. Please take the opportunity to go speak to your priest about this, with love and charity, and explain how you feel about this liturgical abuse; and pray for him constantly. We will never have holy men of God as priests if we do not pray for them to be holy men of God!
 
The homily can be the best part or the worst part of the service, it all depends on the priest. I have learned so much from some homilies, and others are just boring and trite and go on and on. I like that quote about “be brilliant, brief and be gone”! But actually, if the homily in of interest, it doesn’t need to be brief.
 
thomist1 said:
Greetings Lapey, and thanks for the info.
I go to Mass on Saturday evening, which fulfills my weekly obligation, therefore it seems that the priest should not be doing this without a good(and probably well defined) reason.
The Mass is supposed to cover the catechism over a three year period, or at least it was in the past. We are also exhorted to spread the Good News as Christ commanded in Scripture. Regular dismissal of the Gospel(Good News) by the celebrating priest certainly
does nothing to set the example to be followed.One could even argue a topic that Jesus
mentioned on several occasions [edited]
Click to expand...
I think you mean the Gospel and readings cover most of the Bible (not the catechism) over a three year period, although it covers around 70% of the New testament and about 15% of the Old testament.
 
Thanks for the correction. I expect to learn here by many ways, one of those has just been demonstrated. thomist1.
 
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