When to Call the Bishop

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cadgeon

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Hi,

This seemed to be the most appropriate place for my question. I hope it’s ok to ask this here.

The current priest has been at our parish since January 2013. The problem is that his homilies are terrible. He talks in a circle with no point and almost never talks about the Gospel. Last Sunday we read about Christ raising Lazarus from death and revealing himself as the Resurrection and the Life. He didn’t talk about Jesus at all.

I am getting very frustrated. Every week I have a list of intentions and petitions that I ask our Lord. I always hope to hear something in the homily that will “speak to me” in a way that I can encounter Christ. I have never learned anything from his homilies or gained any insight into scripture. I don’t relate at all and my best friend refuses to go back to our parish.

I am very tempted to tell our priest I don’t like any of his homilies but I don’t know how to say it without hurting his feelings. How do you recommend approaching him or should I write the Bishop? It is lent after all and I do think Jesus deserves at least some mention in the sermon.
 
Why not just find a new parish? I drive by 3 closer Catholic churches several times weekly to get to my parish and there’s even a Abbey/Seminary much closer to me that I could go to as well. Our priest is a terrific homilist and very intellectual; the best priest I know of in the diocese. It’s worth the half hour drive, and some I know even come as far as an hour away several times weekly. Our parish also has a great community unlike others I’ve come across at most Catholic churches. If our priest were to be transferred to another nearby parish I bet nearly half of the parish would follow along with him.
 
As long as he isn’t preaching something Contrary to Church Teaching, My honest opinion here is just to be patient, I am sure Something in his homily hits home.
 
cadgeon said **: "The current priest has been at our parish since January 2013. The problem is that his homilies are terrible. He talks in a circle with no point and almost never talks about the Gospel… I am getting very frustrated… I always hope to hear something in the homily that will “speak to me” in a way that I can encounter Christ. I have never learned anything from his homilies or gained any insight into scripture.

I am very tempted to tell our priest I don’t like any of his homilies but I don’t know how to say it without hurting his feelings. How do you recommend approaching him or should I write the Bishop? It is Lent after all and I do think Jesus deserves at least some mention in the sermon."**

First, do NOT try to complain to the Bishop.
A Bishop will NOT take sides in an issue like this, unless the Priest is Blaspheming.
Each Priest is given full authority over what he wishes to say in Homilies.
In fact, a Priest does NOT have to preach a Homily at all.
(One Church I attend for Daily Mass, one Priest NEVER says a Homily.)

Second, if this Priest has been one for 10 years, he is probably set in his Way about it.
And, after 10 years, he is probably “comfortable” about never saying anything interesting.

Third, if you want to talk to your Priest, the BEST way is in writing.
Write a Letter to the Priest, and then go through 10 drafts of it, fine-tuning it to say precisely what you want.
Don’t waste a lot of words, leading up to what you want to say.
But, give an example or 2 of what they sound like to you; if not, he will just assume that you have NOTHING real to complain about.
There is nothing like seeing one of your dreary Homilies there in Black-and-White.
Good Luck.

I have run into this exact same situation with 3 different Priests, over the years.
I tried different things each time, and NONE of them worked.
Each Priest was “happy” with his awful homilies (Father James even said he was PROUD of them).
Even the one who spent week after week, pointing out all of the defects of Society, and blaming us personally for allowing it to occur.
I asked him, if he believed that I was personally responsible for the Abortion Rate.
He looked me right in the eyes, smiled, and said : “YES, certainly you are.”

So, go on and give it a try.
If it doesn’t work, then consider attending another Church (as another recommended).
Either that, or get yourself a portable mp3 player, and blot out the Homily completely.
 
one thing before you go to the bishop talk to the priest first. I suspect that if you bring something to the bishop his first question will be, did you talk to the priest? If you say no he will be less likely to do something than if you talked to him.
 
ServusHumilis said:
Why not just find a new parish? I drive by 3 closer Catholic churches several times weekly to get to my parish and there’s even a Abbey/Seminary much closer to me that I could go to as well. Our priest is a terrific homilist and very intellectual; the best priest I know of in the diocese. It’s worth the half hour drive, and some I know even come as far as an hour away several times weekly. Our parish also has a great community unlike others I’ve come across at most Catholic churches. If our priest were to be transferred to another nearby parish I bet nearly half of the parish would follow along with him.
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While it is fine with moving to another parish I think this can be destructive at times as well. Take this for example, there is a heretical priest in a new parish, all of the faithful catholics immediately leave the parish and go to another local parish, those who are maybe lapsed or not very well educated on the things of faith stay and don’t notice his heresy. If everyone leaves who knows its a heresy and the only people who stay have no idea what is going on other than people have left this parish after this new priest got here. For the sake of the people in that parish I think it would be very imprudent just to get up and leave. I’m not saying you are morally obligated to go to the priest but I think it isn’t very Christ like just to leave a parish without explaining to the priest why you are leaving.

If you do leave the parish please let the know priest the issues you have with him. He may flat out ignore you but at-least it is brought to his attention.

while your story doesn’t involve heretical things, I don’t think we should assume that a priest is knowingly preaching against the Church. I wish it wasn’t the case but for many older priests they didn’t get the best seminary formation, and actually some of their formation has been problematic. I think there is a possibility that a priest is ignorant of some Catholic Teaching, or his formation was so flawed that he has wrong ideas about certain Catholic Teaching, meaning he thinks he is teaching Catholic truth when he isn’t.

again to put it simply talk to the priest it may not do much good but don’t assume someone else is going to do it.
 
cadgeon said:
Hi,

This seemed to be the most appropriate place for my question. I hope it’s ok to ask this here.

The current priest has been at our parish since January 2013. The problem is that his homilies are terrible. He talks in a circle with no point and almost never talks about the Gospel. Last Sunday we read about Christ raising Lazarus from death and revealing himself as the Resurrection and the Life. He didn’t talk about Jesus at all.

I am getting very frustrated. Every week I have a list of intentions and petitions that I ask our Lord. I always hope to hear something in the homily that will “speak to me” in a way that I can encounter Christ. I have never learned anything from his homilies or gained any insight into scripture. I don’t relate at all and my best friend refuses to go back to our parish.

I am very tempted to tell our priest I don’t like any of his homilies but I don’t know how to say it without hurting his feelings. How do you recommend approaching him or should I write the Bishop? It is lent after all and I do think Jesus deserves at least some mention in the sermon.
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going to the Bishop over the priest’s homilies (or personality) isn’t going to get you anywhere. With a shortage of priests, complaint like this go no where. Going to your priest to tell him you don’t like his homilies isn’t going anywhere either but probably would cause more hurt feelings and make you look like a whiner. Either look at attending another parish or use your frustration to pray for him harder. Telling someone that you don’t like their homilies doesn’t result in change, because how would you tell him to fix it? It is all subjective. What do you think he should do differently how do you really want him to fix it? There is no answer there.
 
robwar said:
going to the Bishop over the priest’s homilies (or personality) isn’t going to get you anywhere. With a shortage of priests, complaint like this go no where. Going to your priest to tell him you don’t like his homilies isn’t going anywhere either but probably would cause more hurt feelings and make you look like a whiner. Either look at attending another parish or use your frustration to pray for him harder. Telling someone that you don’t like their homilies doesn’t result in change, because how would you tell him to fix it? It is all subjective. What do you think he should do differently how do you really want him to fix it? There is no answer there.
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Yes. Also, one of my priest friends says that he preaches 1500 homilies every week.
Meaning, each person gets something different out of his words. He knows this because people often comment later, that this thing or that thing he said meant this to them. And he is usually surprised at how often that wasn’t even the main point he was trying to get across.
So my feeling is…concentrate. Maybe it’s not him. 🤷
 
Our priest simply retells the Gospel. Maybe he thinks people weren’t paying attention the first time:shrug:
My husband really gets frustrated because he reads a lot outside of Mass about the readings. When my husband starts talking about how the priest could really use that time to teach, I try to find comforting words to encourage him about the time he puts into his faith life being more important. Honestly though, when I know people may not have the time or inclination to do the work my husband does, it makes me sad.
Maybe priests have been so beat up that they are nervous about stepping into something, so some choose to play it safe.
Could you suggest the parish get a speaker to lead the next 40 hours or something like that? It might be a wonderful experience and encourage your priest. Catholic.com has wonderful speakers. They may recommend someone in your area if funding is a problem.
 
cadgeon said:
Hi,
This seemed to be the most appropriate place for my question. I hope it’s ok to ask this here.
The current priest has been at our parish since January 2013. The problem is that his homilies are terrible. He talks in a circle with no point and almost never talks about the Gospel. Last Sunday we read about Christ raising Lazarus from death and revealing himself as the Resurrection and the Life. He didn’t talk about Jesus at all.
I am getting very frustrated. Every week I have a list of intentions and petitions that I ask our Lord. I always hope to hear something in the homily that will “speak to me” in a way that I can encounter Christ. I have never learned anything from his homilies or gained any insight into scripture. I don’t relate at all and my best friend refuses to go back to our parish.
I am very tempted to tell our priest I don’t like any of his homilies but I don’t know how to say it without hurting his feelings. How do you recommend approaching him or should I write the Bishop? It is lent after all and I do think Jesus deserves at least some mention in the sermon.
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One should never go to the Bishop first. First of all you would be usurping the Msgr. or Paster. One should always address the issue to the one involved first.
Why not talk to the Priest person to person. Just explain to him that you are not finding the homilies spiritually enlightening or challenging enough. Who knows; you may cause a change for the better.
 
cadgeon said:
Hi,

This seemed to be the most appropriate place for my question. I hope it’s ok to ask this here.

The current priest has been at our parish since January 2013. The problem is that his homilies are terrible. He talks in a circle with no point and almost never talks about the Gospel. Last Sunday we read about Christ raising Lazarus from death and revealing himself as the Resurrection and the Life. He didn’t talk about Jesus at all.

I am getting very frustrated. Every week I have a list of intentions and petitions that I ask our Lord. I always hope to hear something in the homily that will “speak to me” in a way that I can encounter Christ. I have never learned anything from his homilies or gained any insight into scripture. I don’t relate at all and my best friend refuses to go back to our parish.

I am very tempted to tell our priest I don’t like any of his homilies but I don’t know how to say it without hurting his feelings. How do you recommend approaching him or should I write the Bishop? It is lent after all and I do think Jesus deserves at least some mention in the sermon.
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What kind of person is he? Is he a loving and kind shepherd to his flock? Is he a good businessman, running the parish efficiently and cost-effectively? Is he a good counselor, helping people to get through hard situations? Is he a kind comforter during funerals? Is he an evangelist, comfortable being with non-Christians and wooing them into faith in Christ and return to the Church?

I suggest that you read through the Scripture passages about spiritual gifts. (I Corinthians 12: 27-30, Romans 12: 6-8, Ephesians 4: 11-13, I Peter 4:10-11).

The Scripture is clear that each Christian has different spiritual gifts that God the Holy Spirit gives according to His Will. These gifts are given to build up the Church.

It’s very likely that your priest does not have the gift of exhortation or teaching (gifts that would make him a good homilist). But he has other gifts, and it would be a good thing for you to learn what those gifts are and praise God for your priest!
 
As long as he’s not saying anything against Church teaching, I would just endure. Priests come and go…in a few years someone new will be there, and perhaps you’ll get more out of that person’s homilies. Also, pray for your priest, that he can grow in this area.

Pray to the Holy Spirit before Mass starts that you will hear what He wants you to that day. Then trust that you will!

Another thing you can do is spend 10 minutes on the EWTN website, listening to their homily of the day. Those priests always preach well!
 
This is really a minor issue. If the priest is doing his job, not doing anything blatantly disrespectful in Mass, trying to take care of people’s concerns, then going to the bishop won’t accomplish anything. Some priests are not gifted homilists.
 
Sunbreak said:
This is really a minor issue. If the priest is doing his job, not doing anything blatantly disrespectful in Mass, trying to take care of people’s concerns, then going to the bishop won’t accomplish anything. Some priests are not gifted homilists.
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Right. Perhaps he has other gifts which make him worthy of the priesthood.
 
I would personally not talk to the priest and I would most certainly not contact the bishop over an issue like this. The priest does not seem to be preaching anything against the teaching of the Church, and the rest is the matter of a personal opinion. Maybe some people like his homilies. In any case, the Homily is not the most important part of the mass, the Eucharist is. You could consider praying for this priest.
 
This is not a matter to bring up to the bishop. It is unlikely that he would say anything to the priest, based on one person’s complaint.
You might mention to the priest very diplomatically your concern.
For the last 50 years or so Catholics are perfectly free to go to any parish, so if your reaction to the situation disrupts your worship during mass, you are completely free to go mass elsewhere part of the time or all of the time to end the difficulty
 
bstorm said:
I would personally not talk to the priest and I would most certainly not contact the bishop over an issue like this. The priest does not seem to be preaching anything against the teaching of the Church, and the rest is the matter of a personal opinion. Maybe some people like his homilies. In any case, the Homily is not the most important part of the mass, the Eucharist is. You could consider praying for this priest.
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Agreed. Giving interesting homilies is not part of the priest’s job description. No bishop would take such a complaint seriously and such a concerns should be brought up with the priest himself - tactfully - if there seems to be a need.
 
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