What can a Priest's Homily be about?

[ohsnapitslennon]

Salvete Forum members!

Does a Priest have a set topic on Sundays that he must “preach” about or is he allowed to talk about anything Church related?

Just wondering. Should they should generally relate? Let’s say that the Gospel was the story of the talons but he talks about Mary.

Gratias et Valete!

 

[G_S]

The homily, given by a bishop, priest, or deacon, is to be based on the scriptures or a liturgical text. The significance of the day’s feast should also be featured. For example, the Gospel for All Saints’ Day is the Beatitudes from Matthew, Chapter Five. It would be really strange to just preach on the Beatitudes in a general way and not tie it into the significance of the feast. If it was a Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Parable of the Talents had just been read, the homilist should not be preaching about Mary but might refer to her as one who used her talents well.

 

[ohsnapitslennon]

The homily, given by a bishop, priest, or deacon, is to be based on the scriptures or a liturgical text. The significance of the day’s feast should also be featured. For example, the Gospel for All Saints’ Day is the Beatitudes from Matthew, Chapter Five. It would be really strange to just preach on the Beatitudes in a general way and not tie it into the significance of the feast. If it was a Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Parable of the Talents had just been read, the homilist should not be preaching about Mary but might refer to her as one who used her talents well.

Alright thank you for 1) giving me an answer and 2) correcting me when I said talons (I’ve been playing too much League of Legends)

I really need to stop playing LoL hahahaha I can’t believe I got talons and talents mixed up

 

[JamalChristophr]

A distinction needs to be made whether you are asking “in theory” or “in practice” because from my experience they seem to be quite different at times.

 

[pianistclare]

A priest’s homily can be about anything he believes his flock needs to hear.
** But, it most often is related to the readings. **
Often our priests relate a story from their personal lives that connects to the Gospel, or something in the life of the parish.
Many priests preach like professors, others like family friends.
I love hearing all kinds of homilies. My priest friend once said to me that he preaches 1500 homilies a weekend. He said that every person hears what God needs them to hear. He often has stop him after Mass saying:
Wow, your homily really touched me to day when you spoke about…(fill in the blank).
Often he would say, that the point they mentioned was not even the main point of what he was trying to get across, but the Holy Spirit knew what would touch their heart.

 

[phil19034]

Just to be technical… A Homily is based or tied to the readings from the Mass. A Sermon is on anything the priest thinks his parish needs to hear.

A good homilies (like Archbishop Chaput) will include both homily and sermon.

God Bless

 

[babochka]

Just to be technical… A Homily is based or tied to the readings from the Mass.

The homily can also be drawn from other texts of the Mass or the feast of the day.

1. The Homily is part of the Liturgy and is highly recommended,[cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium 52, canon law 767§1] for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life.** It should be an explanation of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or the Proper of the Mass of the day **and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.[cf Inter Oecumenici 54]

 

[Beachcomber]

I always thought it should be about the readings. One priest our parish had was amazing about that. He was a very good homilist. Guess I got spoiled. The current one pulls topics out of thin air and they don’t seem to fit in with anything except his opinions.

 

[felsguy]

Alright thank you for 1) giving me an answer and 2) correcting me when I said talons (I’ve been playing too much League of Legends)

I really need to stop playing LoL hahahaha I can’t believe I got talons and talents mixed up

I can’t put my hands on it at the moment but I know there’s a claws about it in a document I once read.