T
Tarsier
Guest
Been chatting with one of our parish priests (and my seminarian nephew) about homilies and what would be the least popular homily topics we could think of - jokingly challenging my nephew to pick one for his first homily after ordination. By least popular, I don’t mean boring, per se, such as “give money” homilies, but those that touch upon topics that are so sensitive that a good percentage of the congregation would be in a huff. This isn’t to say some of these shouldn’t be topics for homilies (e.g. contraception), but just a discussion on which ones would be most off-putting to a general mix, especially with a large number of cafeteria Catholics in attendance.
Some right off the bat:
Contraception
Not decorating for Christmas or listening to Christmas music until Christmas day (this isn’t doctrinal, but I mention it because we had a priest preach on this once, and it was the only time I saw him cornered by several people after mass)
Predestination
Some Aquinas writings, such as the idea of the blessed rejoicing over the sufferings of the damned
The “Five Essentials” for Catholic voters from Catholic Answers
Others?
Some right off the bat:
Contraception
Not decorating for Christmas or listening to Christmas music until Christmas day (this isn’t doctrinal, but I mention it because we had a priest preach on this once, and it was the only time I saw him cornered by several people after mass)
Predestination
Some Aquinas writings, such as the idea of the blessed rejoicing over the sufferings of the damned
The “Five Essentials” for Catholic voters from Catholic Answers
Others?