I think a nun gave the homily today

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Giannawannabe

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I went to a different parish for Mass today. After Father read the Gospel, he said “You won’t have to listen to me anymore”, then he introduced “Sister Mary” to talk about the religious retirement fund. Is this okay? She spoke for quite some time about the problems for retired religious—relating everything to today’s readings and Gospel. I just felt uncomfortable with it, and wanted some clarification from some of you more knowledgeable forum members.
 
No, this is not ok. For Sunday Mass, a homily is required. Only ordained priest or deacons can give homilies.

Even if she believes she didn’t give a “homily,” the priest failed to give a homily.
 
Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum
  1. The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself, “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. 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”.
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  1. It should be borne in mind that any previous norm that may have admitted non-ordained faithful to give the homily during the eucharistic celebration is to be considered abrogated by the norm of canon 767 §1. This practice is reprobated, so that it cannot be permitted to attain the force of custom.
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  1. The prohibition of the admission of laypersons to preach within the Mass applies also to seminarians, students of theological disciplines, and those who have assumed the function of those known as “pastoral assistants”; nor is there to be any exception for any other kind of layperson, or group, or community, or association.
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Thanks Dave. It just didn’t seem right to me. This “homily” came before Father changed a few words during the prayers of Consecration (i.e. “friends” instead of “disciples”), and the use of glass chalices for the Precious Blood. It was somewhat encouraging that my 12 y.o. whispered to me before Communion “hey Mom, we better not take the Precious Blood today—look at the chalices”. 🙂
 
Just out of morbid curiosity, was this nun wearing a habit, or was she a “progressive” Sister? My guess is the latter, given the other abuses described here.
 
Gianna:

Are you still going to the Monastery up in Oxford?

PF
 
Sounds like she was giving a sales pitch, not a homily!

(BTW, donate to the Religious Retirement Fund!)
 
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JCPhoenix:
Just out of morbid curiosity, was this nun wearing a habit, or was she a “progressive” Sister? My guess is the latter, given the other abuses described here.
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No habit, but she was very nice;) .
 
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WanderAimlessly:
Gianna:

Are you still going to the Monastery up in Oxford?

PF
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Oh yes. Most of the time. We went to the other parish due to the bad weather. We’re probably the last people in this state without a 4-wheel drive. Without one, it’s nearly impossible to get up all of the hills to get to the Monastery!!!
 
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Giannawannabe:
I went to a different parish for Mass today. After Father read the Gospel, he said “You won’t have to listen to me anymore”, then he introduced “Sister Mary” to talk about the religious retirement fund. Is this okay? She .
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I think you did not have a homily at all, which is an abuse. The priest should have delivered a homily on the readings, however brief, before sister spoke and if at all possible she should have spoken from another location (which may not always be possible depending on the sound system).

By definition a homily is a teaching on the readings given by a priest, so you did not hear one. You heard a talk on an collection for a purpose approved by the bishop, and it is certainly in order for the speaker to reference the readings in making her points, but it should have been done after communion during the time set aside for announcements. the confusion you experienced (and possible experienced by the sister herself) is exactly the reason why such talks while permitted should not be given the appearance of replacing the homily.
 
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Giannawannabe:
This “homily” came before Father changed a few words during the prayers of Consecration (i.e. “friends” instead of “disciples”), and the use of glass chalices for the Precious Blood.
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I also heard the “Retirement Fund” presentation from a plain-clothes sister two Sundays ago (at a different parish in the same Archdiocese), although it was appropriately at the end of Mass.

Interestingly, Father also used “friends” instead of “disciples” but only when consecrating the bread. I think he realized his mistake and said “disciples” when consecrating the wine. I nearly jumped up off the kneeler when I heard him! Is “friends” perhaps the term used for Mass with Children?

By the way, I am pleased to say that this parish does not use glass chalices…a rarity in the region!
 
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Giannawannabe:
I went to a different parish for Mass today. After Father read the Gospel, he said “You won’t have to listen to me anymore”, then he introduced “Sister Mary” to talk about the religious retirement fund. Is this okay? She spoke for quite some time about the problems for retired religious—relating everything to today’s readings and Gospel. I just felt uncomfortable with it, and wanted some clarification from some of you more knowledgeable forum members.
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Talking about a retirement fund or a mission activity doesn’t or vocations etc., count as a homily. Those kinds of speeches used to be quite common. The Priest is still required to give a homily though. Maybe he was just trying to get out of it, or maybe he was confused… Who knows?.

By the way, I used to attend a parish where the Sisters usually ran the whole show and almost always gave the Homily. All we had were basically what could be termed circuit riding priests who showed up once or twice a month at most.
 
Gianna~

We had the same garbage with an IHM nun.

She was all into the “This is what used to be called Gaudete Sunday,” and "The priests used to wear pink vestments for this day.

It was such a disappointment. 😦
 
Detroit Sue:
Gianna~

Were you at St. Stan’s? We had the same garbage with an IHM nun.

She was all into the “This is what used to be called Gaudete Sunday,” and "The priests used to wear pink vestments for this day.

It was such a disappointment. 😦
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Used to?
 
Detroit Sue:
Gianna~

Were you at St. Stan’s? We had the same garbage with an IHM nun.

She was all into the “This is what used to be called Gaudete Sunday,” and "The priests used to wear pink vestments for this day.

It was such a disappointment. 😦
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Hey Sue…It wasn’t St. Stan’s, but our “homilist” was an IHM nun. Sounds like some of the same stuff that she said—she had dark brown hair–sort of a pageboy—and glasses. Probably in her mid forties.
 
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