Silly question-Why can only priests do a homily?

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FuzzyBunny116

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This was addressed to me by a friend earlier, and I wasn’t able to answer her as well as I wished, as its a question that has never been posed to me before. It seems simple enough, but I wasn’t able to give a satisfactory answer for me.
 
Teaching authority. The homily is supposed to reflect on what the readings of the Mass are. And only the priest can give that kind of reflection in the Mass setting. (Note that outside of mass, there can be many ‘experts’ who are not priests who can be, and are, wonderful speakers. But a homily is not just to ‘showcase a speaker’.)
 
I believe that Deacons can also perform the homily, but not 100% sure if that is correct
 
Yes, mea culpa, I forgot about deacons. . .but they have teaching authority too. I was meaning to bring in ordination–priests are ordained, and deacons are ordained. Nuns are not ordained, people are not ordained in matrimony, and single lay are not ordained either.

Sorry for the confusion! 😃
 
As I understand it, a lay person can give a reflection at a communion service, but not at a Mass. I have seen attempts at various churches to try and replace the Homily with a reflection at a Mass presided over by a priest. In other words, a lay person gives the “reflection” and the priest performs all of the other priestly functions. That is silly of course, since a valid Mass requires a Homily.
 
tdgesq said:
As I understand it, a lay person can give a reflection at a communion service, but not at a Mass. I have seen attempts at various churches to try and replace the Homily with a reflection at a Mass presided over by a priest. In other words, a lay person gives the “reflection” and the priest performs all of the other priestly functions. That is silly of course, since a valid Mass requires a Homily.
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If a layperson is giving a reflection, it cannot take the place of a homily. The homily which follows the Gospel is given by a priest or deacon. The reflection by a layperson needs to take place after Communion, before the Blessing and Dismissal by the Priest. Also, the priest/deacon cannot omit the homily at a Sunday Mass.
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Teaching authority. The homily is supposed to reflect on what the readings of the Mass are. And only the priest can give that kind of reflection in the Mass setting. (Note that outside of mass, there can be many ‘experts’ who are not priests who can be, and are, wonderful speakers. But a homily is not just to ‘showcase a speaker’.)
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But WHY is it only a priest? Is it simply something we must take the Church’s word on, such as the priest being the only one able to consecrate the Eucharist?
 
FuzzyBunny116 said:
But WHY is it only a priest? Is it simply something we must take the Church’s word on, such as the priest being the only one able to consecrate the Eucharist?
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In the living of our Faith, taking “the Church’s word” on what the Church proposes for our belief is actually the best road to go. Humility bears much fruit in the soul that knows that Christ continues to teach through His Church.

The bishops of the Church bear the responsibility for passing on the Faith. They have the magisterial (teaching) authority that Christ bestowed initially on His Apostles to teach and protect all that He revealed in and through His Incarnation. Priests and deacons serve as the local representatives of the bishop of a diocese; each bishop selects for ordination those men whom he will eventually appoint to serve in a local parish in this capacity. It is at their bishop’s behest that they are to instruct the faithful, primarily through the homily that expounds on the readings for the day. They are “extensions” of the bishop’s role as teacher and anyone who is not such an “extension” is excluded from giving the homily.
 
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