Preaching by non-preachers

[Elizabeth502]

Very disappointing experience on Sunday, even at my generally favorite Mass – one which is in English but much more reverent than most other English Masses. I’m not sure what the origin of this idea was at last night’s Mass, or whether the idea came from the “preacher” parishioner himself (who requested to preach?) but if I ever had any doubts how much both experience & prayer together are prerequisites to effective preaching, I lost any such doubt yesterday.

It was an uncomfortable 15 minutes or so that felt like 50 minutes. I exercised enormous self-control in not getting up & walking out. What a horrible “homily.” There was no reference to the scripture readings. It was generalized intellectualism about advent, without even any of the usual traditional reference points. Rather, it was an “academic” speech that read like some pretentious essay submitted to an academic class or an academic publication. Just a bunch of highbrow phrases strung together, with no serious attempt to connect with the lives of the gathered faithful (which nevertheless in this case was overwhelmingly educated). I figured that surely I was overreacting & hyper-critical to feel that way, so I waited around after Mass to observe whether the “preacher” was being congratulated for a supposedly powerful homily. (Not. He stood there alone, positioned himself near the priest; perhaps he anticipated that he would be greeted, but as I had other reasons to be hanging out for a long time, I saw no one approach him.) Not a soul came up to congratulate him or express appreciation. I say that not with self-satisfaction, but with puzzlement on 2 counts: What makes lay people so sure that they are great preachers? (He may or may not have thought that about himself, but there have been other occasional lay preachers at this parish, from time to time, and not a single one has been as good as the worst sermon I’ve heard from any priest there.) The inexperienced homilests tend to be obscure – without making references to their own lives or the lives in the pews. This is true whether the content is overly intellectual & detached (as this one was), or whether the homily is more “spirirtual.” You just want to ask at the end, “And your point is? (Because it must be a very private point! Whatever it was, it wasn’t communicated!)”

Preaching is an art (among other things). Apparently lots of lay people “feel called to preach,” but so far, probably 2 lay homilies I have ever heard have risen to the level of even moderate inspiration. And those two homilies were in theology school, at liturgy, not in a parish church.

Has anyone else been “victimized” by this phenomenon in their parishes? (Or alternatively, perhaps you feel blessed to hear as many preachers as possible, regardless of ability or training?) I’ll tell you that I felt cheated on Sunday, because the Mass presider is an excellent, honest, simple preacher (& fine priest), and would have done a far better job no matter the subject.

Let me add that I don’t have perfectionistic demands of any preachers. I feel grateful to benefit from even a kernel of insight, but I do expect that the speaker understand that preaching is about kerygma. You must know what your message is, to begin with, & how to communicate it, secondly. Thirdly, the message must be one that the general audience can relate to because something in human experience resonates with it. (It can’t be limited to a ‘private’ message unique to yourself, nor should it be a dry intellectual paper that leaves the listener cold.)

I wonder what the preaching policy is at other parishes.

 

[benedictgal]

First of all, there is no such creature as a “lay preacher.” Lay faithful are prohibited from preaching during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Redemptionis Sacramentum makes this perfectly clear:

[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”.144

[65.] 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 §1.145 This practice is reprobated, so that it cannot be permitted to attain the force of custom.

[66.] 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.146

In other words, only those who are ordained (deacon, priest and bishop) are allowed to preach the homily. What you witnessed was a serious abuse. Furthermore, there is no policy for “lay preaching” during the Mass in any parish because this practice is forbidden.

 

[Elizabeth502]

Thank you for those citations, benedictgal. I was not aware of those. To an extent, this parish has somewhat “cleaned up its act.” Until about 2 years ago, when it acquired a new pastor from a different region of the country, many lay people (prior to that) clamored to preach at Sunday Masses, and many of those were lay women. A few of them did preach at Sunday masses.

More often, though, (pre-2006) they must have skirted the ruling that I was unaware of, by holding a “communion service” (not a mass) on one weekday. At that service (often presided over by a female), there were, additionally, women who sought to preach, particularly those from the LGBT group.

 

[anon77300002]

Elizabeth,

From what I’ve read in Catholic Answers this lay person isn’t even allowed to preach.

See thread:
"Pastor Giving Permission for Someone Else to Say Homily? "
(forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=289680)

Tantum ergo says:
No, he doesn’t. He has the authority to let somebody speak on something important (say, missions) but not as a homily, not in place of a homily. Some priests (especially in certain dioceses where it came down from the bishop) got the idea that this could be done so your priest may be quite certain because his superior in seminary SAID it was 'Okay" that it is okay.

God bless, Reg.

 

[benedictgal]

Thank you for those citations, benedictgal. I was not aware of those. To an extent, this parish has somewhat “cleaned up its act.” Until about 2 years ago, when it acquired a new pastor from a different region of the country, many lay people (prior to that) clamored to preach at Sunday Masses, and many of those were lay women. A few of them did preach at Sunday masses.

More often, though, (pre-2006) they must have skirted the ruling that I was unaware of, by holding a “communion service” (not a mass) on one weekday. At that service (often presided over by a female), there were, additionally, women who sought to preach, particularly those from the LGBT group.

That is scary. Ifi the situation persists, you might want to write to your pastor and give him the citations from Redemptionis Sacramentum. Furthermore, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, third edition, notes the following:

1. The Homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person.65 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

This goes back to 2002, but, an earlier document, written in 1997 by the Congregation for Clergy also defined this prohibition:

The homily, therefore, during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, must be reserved to the sacred minister, Priest or Deacon(69) to the exclusion of the non-ordained faithful, even if these should have responsibilities as “pastoral assistants” or catechists in whatever type of community or group. This exclusion is not based on the preaching ability of sacred ministers nor their theological preparation, but on that function which is reserved to them in virtue of having received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. For the same reason the diocesan Bishop cannot validly dispense from the canonical norm(70) since this is not merely a disciplinary law but one which touches upon the closely connected functions of teaching and sanctifying.

For the same reason, the practice, on some occasions, of entrusting the preaching of the homily to seminarians or theology students who are not clerics(71) is not permitted. Indeed, the homily should not be regarded as a training for some future ministry.

All previous norms which may have admitted the non-ordained faithful to preaching the homily during the Holy Eucharist are to be considered abrogated by canon 767, § 1.(72)

I hope these citations help you.

 

[Elizabeth502]

What about the communion service example? (It existed for several years at that parish, on one weekday per week)

–may a lay woman preside?
–may such presider or a different lay person preach at that?

 

[Seatuck]

What about the communion service example? (It existed for several years at that parish, on one weekday per week)

–may a lay woman preside?
–may such presider or a different lay person preach at that?

Laity may preside at a communion service. They do not “preach”. They either read a homily prepared in advance by the pastor or priest at the parish. Or they read an approved reflection. They are not permitted to write or give their own message.

 

[benedictgal]

Laity may preside at a communion service. They do not “preach”. They either read a homily prepared in advance by the pastor or priest at the parish. Or they read an approved reflection. They are not permitted to write or give their own message.

Or, they can just have a period of sacred silence. The two times that I have had to do one, I’ve read selected writings from Pope Benedict XVI that are pertinent to the readings of the day.

 

[dans0622]

Or, they can just have a period of sacred silence. The two times that I have had to do one, I’ve read selected writings from Pope Benedict XVI that are pertinent to the readings of the day.

Hello Elizabeth502,

I have also witnessed this on a few occasions. Frankly, it wouldn’t matter what the lay person said since I, for better or worse, automatically tune out the “homily” because I know that person shouldn’t be up there saying anything at that time.

People have already given you all the sources you need in order to know that lay people can’t give homilies. I would only stress the point that this prohibition is in canon law (canon 767). Now, some people might say “Well, it’s only church law. It can be dispensed/ignored for a good reason.” Actually, no. It can’t be dispensed by anyone, not the pastor, not even a bishop, according to “the Vatican.”

Anyway, these situations really offer us a great opportunity to actually make a sacrifice at/with the Sacrifice of the Mass.

Dan

 

[Elizabeth502]

Laity may preside at a communion service. They do not “preach”. They either read a homily prepared in advance by the pastor or priest at the parish. Or they read an approved reflection. They are not permitted to write or give their own message.

These were definitely cases of a lay female preacher in particular (she used to come to me and tell me this), “feeling committed to preach” at these communion services. It’s difficult for me to believe that she read an already prepared homily from a pastor or other priest. I say that because she would not have used the word preach. She would have said, “I feel committed to read the priest’s homily.” I say it also because this was a form of “empowerment” to these females who preached & ran the communion services. They would definitely not have viewed reading someone else’s prepared remarks as a form of empowerment. (I know you guys are laughing at the absurdity of the language right there – as if liturgical services are about political empowerment. Ahem, I think the Christian journey is about dying to self – didn’t Jesus & Paul have a few remarks about that?)

The priests “took off” on Monday – after busy Sundays – & I think it was their way of 'killing two birds with one stone" – giving themselves a day off at the same time that they gave the more ‘out-there’ women greater participation.

I actually never heard such “preaching” by this one woman in particular. Out of curiosity I attended one communion service. The person presiding is a lovely lady; I know her; she was in theology school when I was. She was very reverential & respectful during the service – not a grand-stander. But even then I felt uncomfortable. I guess I’m way too traditional & prefer a priest presiding at such official services. I was once a lay eucharistic minister in a hospital, so I do understand the need & value of lay persons in distributing communion, but for me, presiding is a different manner & belongs to priests.

And in any case, there definitely were lay preachers at selected Sunday Masses – maybe once a year over a period of 6 years. According to the answer from a CAF apologist (that I was referred to), even women religious are not authorized to preach, so the fact that all of the previous preachers (except for the awful homily of 2 days ago) were women means that definitely this was non-canonical. OTOH, maybe the pastor was getting special permission each time from the bishop?

Believe it or not, the part that bothers me the most is not even all the above, but the frequent comments (heard mostly from women, but perhaps the man on Sunday felt similarly) that the person feels “called to preach” and thus assumes he/she must be good at preaching & thus further assumes an entitlement to preach. Why is this all about You? Actually, it’s the flock that’s entitled to a well-run liturgy by a competent presider who has done his homework and speaks from sincerity & simplicity. I don’t know about Your private calling. I do know about my need to experience the grace of Christ at the Mass & assume that the one best qualified to produce the setting for that is the priest, who by definition has been called not just privately, but whose calling has been acknowledged publicly.

Sorry for the long-winded rant, folks.