Priest talking like a black minister on tv

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notredame_999

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my last vocation question I promise, and yes I plan to ask this to a potential spiritual director in the future. What do you think of a priest who would try to emulate his sermon style to those of black protestant ministers as seen on TV? I watch them on TBN (evangelical channel) and while I don’t agree with all their views, I love how fired up they get and how charismatic they become while they are preaching. Another example of this would be Deacon Sivers on EWTN. The main reason I want to be a priest is for preaching, and I have always admired the charismatic protestant style, while not going overboard and turning all the focus on him.
 
Not during Mass, of course. Sermons during Mass must be said with upmost reverence, but outside of Mass, I don’t see anything wrong with it! Sure, just look at the wonderful Fr. Corapi!
 
Oh, and we don’t mind you asking questions! Thats what we’re here for, hey?🙂
 
notredame_999 said:
my last vocation question I promise, and yes I plan to ask this to a potential spiritual director in the future. What do you think of a priest who would try to emulate his sermon style to those of black protestant ministers as seen on TV? I watch them on TBN (evangelical channel) and while I don’t agree with all their views, I love how fired up they get and how charismatic they become while they are preaching. Another example of this would be Deacon Sivers on EWTN. The main reason I want to be a priest is for preaching, and I have always admired the charismatic protestant style, while not going overboard and turning all the focus on him.
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I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that…that’s probably what I will do 👍
 
I found those protestant ministers on tv interesting until I went back to church. What is most important to me at church now is that the sound system works properly and the message is given. I can’t even bear loud gospel music. It has to be Gregorian chants or soft, reverent hymns. To me, loudness and charismatics take attention away from God and put it on the person who is making the noise.

Maybe you could teach RCIA.
 
I went on a vocations retreat with the Fathers of Mercy. One of their priests who was in their Missions Band at the time gave a talk on vocations and the catechism.

His preaching style was exactly like, what I would call, a baptist minister complete with the Bible thumping except instead of a Bible it was the Catechism.

It is a good style but I think for Catholics it fits better for retreat talks or other talks out side of Mass as those are generally longer talks. The homily at Mass is not intended to be a long sermon so I do not really see the style working all that well there.
 
There is nothing wrong with a priest being a passionate preacher. Priests shouldn’t be screaming, jumping around, or anything like what you’d expect at a black gospel church, but they shouldn’t preach like they’re rocking a baby to sleep either. Priests should know God- that He is someone who deeply and personally matters to them-that they appreciate the good He’s done for them, so out of love for others, he wants to share God’s message with everyone he meets. This should be reflected in the preaching.
 
**There are many Catholic Priests who are just as “on fire”, but only they have the Fullness of the Truth of our Lord & Savior,Jesus the Christ!

Fr. Robert Barron; wordonfire.org/

Father John Corapi; fathercorapi.com/default.aspx

& many, many more!!!**

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark
 
The preaching style should be matched to the personality of the priest. So a quiet, compassionate priest will likely give a quiet, compassionate homily. An outgoing, vocal priest will probably give a “louder” homily. Whatever the style, it will reflect that priest’s relationship with God. I’ve heard beautiful homilies from all styles of priests.
 
One more thing - someone already touched on it a little. Always remember that the Mass is about Jesus - and that the Real Presence is always on the altar. The goal of the homily is to help people take the readings and apply them in their lives. The way the priest preaches should always reflect his understanding that Jesus is right there next to him.
 
notredame_999 said:
my last vocation question I promise, and yes I plan to ask this to a potential spiritual director in the future. What do you think of a priest who would try to emulate his sermon style to those of black protestant ministers as seen on TV? I watch them on TBN (evangelical channel) and while I don’t agree with all their views, I love how fired up they get and how charismatic they become while they are preaching. Another example of this would be Deacon Sivers on EWTN. The main reason I want to be a priest is for preaching, and I have always admired the charismatic protestant style, while not going overboard and turning all the focus on him.
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You’re in the hospital, dying.

Your family called for a priest, to give you your last rites.

Would you want the ‘priest talking like a black minister on tv’ to be the priest who comes–even if he might be (you don’t know, you only see his heated sermons) a pious and compassionate man, when he is not at the pulpit?

For the people who are suggesting Fr.s Barron and Corapi–I don’t know if either of these men talk like ‘black ministers on tv’. Fr. Barron’s manner of speaking is very measured and neutral, whereas Fr. Corapi is very firm, strong… even guttural. Though neither are as free-form and over-the-top as the archetypal ‘black minister on tv’.
 
I think maybe what you are showing an interest in is the Charismatic style of homily. However, it is just a matter of when to use it and when not to. I would also stay away from describing this as “black.” It is a racial stereotype.
 
A couple of people have hit some of the important points very well. If I may just throw in my :twocents:

Whether a priest is quiet, composed and rather still during his homilies, or moves around a bit and tends to speak with some fire, is really not important. As was said above, the person’s homilies will often reflect their style of ministry in general (though not always, I have seen some very interesting exceptions.)

What is so crucial to remember, as was also mentioned in an above post, is that the homily is NOT the center of the Mass. Not only is the Eucharist the center point of the Mass, but EVERY other part of the Mass should flow into the Eucharist. The opening music and prayers should prepare us to receive Our Lord. The readings should bring the Word of God to us before we receive His Body and Blood. In the same manner, the homily should really prepare us for the Eucharist. Our hearts and minds should be turned toward God and His mysteries. Should it be calm and touching or enthusiastic and passionate? Doesn’t matter, but it needs to be reverent.

You can play many styles of liturgical music, but to most people a trombone can never contribute to reverent liturgy. There are certainly limits. And the dramatic, fiery preaching that I believe you are referring to, while it may be wonderful during a youth group event or a talk in front of a parish, is distracting and has no place as part of the liturgy.

Also, I would strongly agree with the poster who said to avoid calling this a stereotypical black preaching. There are many white protestants with this preaching style, and many black preachers who are very quiet and reserved. I understand what you meant to convey, but you could say “fiery southern baptist-style preacher” and get the same meaning across.

In Christ and Mary,
Frank
 
Personally I see nothing wrong with it at all. While the Eucharist is the whole center point of the mass, does not mean you should diminish anything else. Preaching with zeal is a good form of praise to our lord jesus christ. Get your people thinking before the Receiving our lord and saviour, so that they may reflect. I love when preachers in the catholic church preach with zeal, it helps me understand what their message is. Go ahead and preach brother, preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. But please don’t start changing the mass and cause liturgical abuses like most charismatic pastors tend to do. Say the mass with zeal but do it reverently.
 
I firmly believe that the reverence due to the Blessed Lord should make a preacher quiet, slow, and solemn. Whenever one reads the deeds of St. Francis or St. Dominic, one doesn’t get the impression of fiery Baptist-Minister-like sermons. These were peaceful men full of truth and love, not willing to go at a lightning-bolt speed. They were guided not by adrenaline, but by prudence and temperance. A truly great preacher of any ‘denomination’ ought to instruct; in the words of my favourite Order, they ought to “praise, bless, and preach”. Praise is not danced, benediction is not shouted, and instruction not acted out.

We are men of Jesus Christ, whose sermon on the Mount typified good, calm instruction. Do we ever imagine the Lord saying His Prayer while grooving to a bass line or swaying to a hymn? Radical, ‘spirit’-filled preaching is alright if you’re on a street corner, but not in the house of God.
 
Just please, pray the Eucharistic liturgy like you mean it. The church I grew up in, the priests raced through the prayers mechanically like it was a test to see how fast they could finish it. It’s like they didn’t believe in what was really happening. That is a danger to faith because I didn’t end up believing in it either.

Lord be praised, that is not true of the priests in our parish since I’ve moved here. There’s one in the area who is mechanical and it comes across like a taped message, but the others really show that they believe in it. Reverence, heartfelt. 👍
 
homiletic style apart, we as a Church are woefully lacking in preaching and opportunities to hear good preaching, especially outside of Mass. In many evangelical churches, the services are two hours long and give the preacher time to develop a theme over weeks.

Do you know that if you attend Mass for three years on sunday, you will only be exposed to about a third of Paul’s writings? When do we hear about the rest?

We need a preaching revival in our Church, not necessarily at the Liturgy, as in my view we have a good homiletic tradition at Mass, but rather outside the Mass. Why do we have to wait for the “parish mission” once a year at lent?
 
STANMOL said:
homiletic style apart, we as a Church are woefully lacking in preaching and opportunities to hear good preaching, especially outside of Mass. In many evangelical churches, the services are two hours long and give the preacher time to develop a theme over weeks.

Do you know that if you attend Mass for three years on sunday, you will only be exposed to about a third of Paul’s writings? When do we hear about the rest?

We need a preaching revival in our Church, not necessarily at the Liturgy, as in my view we have a good homiletic tradition at Mass, but rather outside the Mass. Why do we have to wait for the “parish mission” once a year at lent?
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in 3 years in the liturgy we cover scripture in entirety. honestly I think you are over exaggerating
 
notredame_999 said:
my last vocation question I promise, and yes I plan to ask this to a potential spiritual director in the future. What do you think of a priest who would try to emulate his sermon style to those of black protestant ministers as seen on TV? I watch them on TBN (evangelical channel) and while I don’t agree with all their views, I love how fired up they get and how charismatic they become while they are preaching. Another example of this would be Deacon Sivers on EWTN. The main reason I want to be a priest is for preaching, and I have always admired the charismatic protestant style, while not going overboard and turning all the focus on him.
Click to expand...
Our new priest doesn’t use the holy roller style when he delivers the homily, but this week he took everyone by surprise.

He was preaching about the division between Catholics concerning abortion and the fact that there really shouldn’t be any division. He reasoning came from the catechism.

He paused, bent over to the microphone, and said quite loudly "I want you all to wake up and hear me!"

Suddenly, all the babies stopped crying, no one coughed or sneezed, all the kids stopped squirming!

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, starting at paragraph 2270. . . . "

It was awesome!
 
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