How long are the homilies?

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blackfish152

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At mass this week I timed the homily, we got 7 minutes. It was good but it was 7 minutes.

it is scary to think that some people are only getting 7 minutes of pastoral/scriptural guidance a week.

Just wanted to know

**1. how long is every one getting preached too? **
2. are you happy with that length?
3. what makes a good/bad homily ?
4. Has anyone approached a priest about this problem and any suggestions?
 
Usually, they last about 10 minutes at my present parish.

When I lived in Philadelphia, we had a Weekend Assistant who would sometimes go as much as 20 minutes (there was a Holy Thursday that I think lasted longer than that). Fortunately for him, he was an excellent speaker and kept the people interested in what he was saying.

PF
 
7 minutes is a little bit short, but not too short.

Most homilies I’ve heard range in the 10 to 12 minute range. And actually, most over the years have been in a language (mostly Polish) that I don’t understand.

I saw the pope on TV at Christmas, he only spoke for about 15 minutes, and he spoke slowly because of his severe neurological problems as well as giving the translators time to keep up. The average priest, in an average church , could have given the same homily in less than 10.

Long preaching at mass really isn’t a Catholic thing. I was told, although I can’t recall where, that a hundred years ago, the rules of the church actually prohibited priests from giving homilies of more than 20 minutes in duration.
 
The only complaints that I have ever heard directed at priests were that the homily was too long. At our deacon training 7-10 Min. was stressed. It’s what you do with the time that counts. We were told to study and pray one hour for every minute we preach. The deacons in our diocese come well prepared and preach monthly. The pastors have many appointments, sometimes 4 or 5 Masses on Sat. (Marriages,Quincerneras, and Sat evening Mass for the Sunday liturgy.) There is no way that they can spend that kind of time. It has been suggested that deacons and lay people take care of all duties that do not require a priest in the parish, so that the priest can have many hours to pray and prepare his homilies. Fr. Corapi mentioned this in one of his talks. So far, it’s just talk.
 
A good homily is always long enough.

A bad one is always too long.

That being said, I only notice how long (in minutes) a homily is when I’m not listening to it. I’d wager that’s my fault most of the time and not the priest’s (though I really rarely wander off during a homily, I’m usually in dire need of guidance and more than willing to get some).
 
It really depends on where I am at. There is one priest who regularly gives 35-40 minute homilies on the weekends, and they are very good. There are others who can drone on for 35-40 minutes…the record was 52 minutes and I saw several people asleep. At the same time I know of one priest who can give homilies that last under 5 minutes, usually but not always daily Mass homilies, that left everyone reassessing their entire existence.
 
in my parish it is usually 15 minutes.

We have a 1 hour mass and 1/2 of that is for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. So if the mass started at 6:00 so the homily usually starts at 6:15 and ends at 6:30
 
Our Pastor is usually between 10-15 minutes for his homilies.

My brother, a priest, will be between 5-10 minutes. He says that you need to be “brilliantly brief” but not “briefly brilliant”.
In today’s lack of attention span, you need to get right to the point, add examples, and then summerize your point and then get to the Intentions…

A historical note, In Constantinople during the 4th. century, St. John Chrystosom’s homilies were An Hour AND a Half long!
I highly doubt if Anyone today could sit through one of these Masses? …Oh, but we can sit through a Scott Hahn, Fr. Corapi, or a Tim Staples talk at a conference? :confused: (I.E. We are most likely to be glad to sit through a ‘special appearance’ but when it comes to the Mass, we want to ‘race’ out of the Church after One Hour. :confused:
 
An icon St John Chrysostom is on the wall ditrectly behind our pulpit.Our pastor is 20 min + and we were all taken aback a few weeks ago when a priest helping out during the summer months said the Sunday 11AM. He didn’t use the pulpit to preach and he spoke for about 3 minutes. He explained this by pointing out that it was hot and he didn’t want us to be uncomfortable. The funny thing is, the church has strong AC and was cool. In retrospect, I’m glad he spoke so briefly; I don’t think what he was speaking about was anything I wanted to hear for long.
 
In our parish it depends on the priest. From 15 minutes to FOUR SENTENCES. Yes two minutes at the most and I can recite the hole homily given ten months ago. It has never left me> wow. Long windeded is not better
 
We have two resident priests, they are usually about 10 minutes in preaching.

We have one retired priest that helps out with one mass, he’s usually around 8 minutes.

When I preach (once per month) I’m always in the 7-8 minute mark. I time and practice my homilies, and have a small timer with me at the ambo to make sure the delivery is correct.

Quite honestly, our suburban parish is so large with so many masses, 10 minutes is about the max you can go without causing trouble with the next mass. (It takes some time for the parking lot to clear before the next liturgy.) And we can’t stretch the masse schedule out any further than it already is.

We had a visiting missionary from Rwanda this weekend, and he shared with me that he preaches for 30 minutes at his parish. The mass lasts over three hours and has 4,000 parishioners would attend each mass (they have two on Sunday, never anything on Saturday). In his words - the people spend Sunday with God, this is the plan for the day, it’s what they want to do.

Peace to you all,
 
I voted 5-10 minutes, although I never actually timed it - it’s just that it seems to be about that.

It’s so funny, because when I was little, the Homilies seemed to take forever. I had drifted away from the RCC for years, then went to a Protestant church for three years before realizing that the RCC was the True Church. At the Protestant church, the sermons did literally go on forever. They were anywhere from 30-40 minutes. When I returned to the RCC and heard my first Homily in years, when it was over I thought, “Wait, is that it? It’s done already?!” And when I brought the kids for the first time (who had also gone to the long-winded Protestant church), I asked what they thought of it. They said, “It’s so much shorter!”

I never liked the long-windedness. I thought it was long simply because they thought longer meant “holier”. The preacher would say the same thing over and over, like we were too dense to get it the first time.

What I like about most Homilies is that there is Scripture read before, the Homily speaks about it (usually, unless there is another pertinant issue), but there is time left for, of course, the Eucharist. In the Protestant church, the whole service was centered around the sermon. (And I don’t mean this to sound like Protestant bashing - I was meaning to compare and constrast the Homily vs. sermon I experienced. Although I feel bad for Protestants for what they are missing.)
 

  1. *]I am not concerned about the length.
    *]I am not concerned about the length.
    *]I always like the Homily. Of course, a person has to be at Mass to hear it.
    *]This is not an issue worth discussing. A matter of knowing when to fight your battles.

    If you do not like the priest’s Homily try listening to podcasts done by Priests.
 
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prophetdaniel:

  1. *]I am not concerned about the length.
    *]I am not concerned about the length.
    *]I always like the Homily. Of course, a person has to be at Mass to hear it.
    *]This is not an issue worth discussing. A matter of knowing when to fight your battles.

    If you do not like the priest’s Homily try listening to podcasts done by Priests.
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  1. I would like to humbly and without malice differ with your view. The homily and the readings are all that some people ever hear about their faith each week. Out of every 3 people that attend Mass, one is hurting greatly because of a problem in their life: own illness, mental or physical illness of loved one, financial problems Etc. A good homily offers a lttle hope, a light at the end of the tunnel for the faithful.
 
  1. 5-10 minutes
  2. In my experiences, I usually desire that they last longer. Some homilies are so good that I don’t want them to end. Others leave me wanting more…much more…just something I can take with me and apply to my life…I can wait…oh well, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker…”
  3. Bad Homlies (the same message week after week): “It doesn’t matter who the pope is…who the bishop is…who gives the homily…whether we kneel or stand…what our church looks like…whether we’re Catholic or not…whether we use contraception or not…because God loves us all.”
Good Homilies: Tell me more about what today’s scripture readings are all about. They explain the context of the reading, how it relates to Catholic teaching, and how it applies to how I live my life today.
  1. No.
 
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prophetdaniel:
This is not an issue worth discussing. A matter of knowing when to fight your battles.
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Wow, that’s sort of harsh. I personally am enjoying the discussion. Incidentally, if it’s not worth discussing (in your opinion), why are you discussing it?!!
 
Hi all,

Before “coming home,” I attended a Presbyterian church in NYC where the preacher, a learned scholar who can communicate on a blue-collar level, spoke on average about 35 minutes.

His sermons were always based on the text. He always brought the theme to the level of the people in the congregation. He always anticipated objections and answered them in the sermon. He always brought the theme into the personal life of the hearer. And he always came back to the Cross at the end of the sermon.

I hung on his every word. I thought I had absorbed everything in his sermons. Then I started buying his sermons on tape. As I listened to them again, I realized that I had forgotten at least half of what he said.

Then, as a volunteer for the pastoral department, I transcribed his sermons, word for word. It was then that I realized that I had forgotten MOST of his sermon.

After taking seminary level courses in teaching and preaching, I learned that most people tune out after about 10 minutes. When they do remember, it is usually only one point. I preached a few times and one of the parishioners, an intelligent man, told me to stick to one point because that is all he could remember.

Good advice.

Now I think that 10 minute homilies are fine. I look and listen for the one point I am to receive. Unless the preacher has done his work and told me what the point is.

The priests from African nations that are serving our diocese are very good preachers because they stick to the text, keep it simple, and tell me what it is that I should take from the sermon.

Grace and peace,
Gene
 
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AuntMartha:
Wow, that’s sort of harsh. I personally am enjoying the discussion. Incidentally, if it’s not worth discussing (in your opinion), why are you discussing it?!!
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To clarify question 4 asks “has anyone approached a priest about this problem and any suggestions”.

A grievance over the length of the Homily is petty. Someone did ask me to ask the priest on someone’s behalf. My response was talk to him yourself. I bet you Father is going to ask are you in a rush to go some where, did you not know you were coming to Mass today, and after all these years, today you think the Homily is too long.

You know that saying “know when to fight your battles”? If you are a member of a parish club do you really want the priest to tag you with “oh yeah, he is that person who does alot for the parish but always complains about little things”.
 
The Liturgy of the Word should not overshadow the Liturgy of the Eucharist. A good homilist should be able to convey his message in 7-10 minutes – but that takes preparation. It is an abuse of the liturgy itself (not to mention the people in the pews!) for a homilist to carry on for 20, 30, or 40 minutes–even if the homily is good! One should not “upstage” the Lord that way.
 
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MaryAgnes:
The Liturgy of the Word should not overshadow the Liturgy of the Eucharist. A good homilist should be able to convey his message in 7-10 minutes – but that takes preparation. It is an abuse of the liturgy itself (not to mention the people in the pews!) for a homilist to carry on for 20, 30, or 40 minutes–even if the homily is good! One should not “upstage” the Lord that way.
Click to expand...
How long would you think is fair if it were Jesus Himself really up there preaching?
~ Kathy ~
 
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