Why are homilies so short and general?

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rarndt01

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The parrish I attend is small with about 75 members and is led by two priests who “trade off” parishes during the week. Our homilies for Sunday mass are no more than 15 minutes and very general in explanation. This is very different for me. I come from a bible preaching and teaching church.
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                                 What benifit is the homily if the priest doesn't explain the text so it is applicable to our daily lives? They just kind of skim over it and say some general antedotes in between. Also during the rest of the week there are no meetings at the parrish hall or private homes for "bible study". I was told Catholics don't do this? 

                                 How do Catholics grow spiritually, if they don't know what their own bible teaches? Forgive me if I seem harsh, but shouldn't more emphasis be brought out on learning the scriptures from a Catholic perspective? Have any of you had this same experience at your parish? What do you advise? Thank you.
 
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rarndt01:
Also during the rest of the week there are no meetings at the parrish hall or private homes for “bible study”. I was told Catholics don’t do this? What do you advise? Thank you.
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First of all every parish is different. My parish does have 3 bible studies I can join, and there are several different committees that people can join to help. There are many ministries that people are asked to help with. If you are stuck for some reason and not able to travel to another parish, then see if there is anyone else that might feel as you do and start the first ever bible study in your church. The priests might not have time to organize it. Good luck, and I will say a prayer you get something going.
 
I am a member of one of the largest parishes in the St. Paul - Minneapolis area and we have 6 Masses on weekends. The homilies are pretty much as you say.

Traditionally, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has been the center of Roman Catholic worship and the homily has been not particularly instructive. :o It is pretty hard to top the recreation of the Last Supper on a weekly basis. 👍

Our parish, however, has a strong social conscience and quite a bit of time is spent in homilies regarding the needs of those less fortunate.

We are just beginning to provide things like Bible Study, a Spirituality Group, a Book Club, topical discussions after Mass (“Sunday Night Live”) and the like. 👍

In a 2,000 year old organization, It’s hard to change old practices and procedures. 😦
 
does the bulletin or other resource give a further teaching on the gospel? does the parish have small faith sharing groups to explore the implications of the gospel and its relevance to our daily lives? are the priests responsible for other parishes and under times constraints to fulfill these responsibilities? is there preaching of such a quality that 15 minutes is too long? I don’t know, there could be a lot of reasons.

In our parish we have 5 masses beginning at 7:30 and to get them in during the time allowed a Mass cannot go over about 75 minutes, which means a 15 minute sermon is about right. Our priest is so good I could listen for an hour, he also publishes an extended version of his talk in English and Spanish, and past sermons on various topics are published and distributed to the entire diocese because they are so good and he is a good theologian.
 
In my parish a 15 minute homily would be considered long. There are five Masses each Sunday plus two on Saturday evening, so extending the length would be a problem. The homily is usually a short reflection on the scriptures and application to daily life. We do, however, have several bible study groups which meet during the week.
 
I strongly disagree that the homily has not “traditionally” been very instructive. I believe homilies are not very instructive now, but they once were. I really don’t want to get into a discussion about the Church pre Vatican II, but the fact is homilies were better then.

The obvious is that the clergy today do not have much to say, either from lack of training, lack of faith, or lack of courage.
 
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oldfogey:
I strongly disagree that the homily has not “traditionally” been very instructive. I believe homilies are not very instructive now, but they once were. I really don’t want to get into a discussion about the Church pre Vatican II, but the fact is homilies were better then.

The obvious is that the clergy today do not have much to say, either from lack of training, lack of faith, or lack of courage.
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Dear OldFogey,

If you’re as old a fogey as you think you are then your memory, like mine, is fading fast. The fact is, you seldom heard a homily in pre vatican II churches. You heard a lot of sermons and, yes, there is a substantial difference between the two forms of preaching. Over twenty years ago the USCCB stated that the homily was the preferred form of preaching at Sunday liturgies. Following the recommendation of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a preacher should spend one hour for every minute he preaches. This would seem to be about the norm. So, if you’re listening to a 15 minute homily, some priest or permanent deacon was spending a whole chunk of time preparing while you were busy carrying food to the hungry or delivering blankets to the homeless or teaching the faith to others.

Us old fogies gotta stick together, huh?
 
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rarndt01:
The parrish I attend is small with about 75 members and is led by two priests who “trade off” parishes during the week. Our homilies for Sunday mass are no more than 15 minutes and very general in explanation. This is very different for me. I come from a bible preaching and teaching church.

What benifit is the homily if the priest doesn’t explain the text so it is applicable to our daily lives? They just kind of skim over it and say some general antedotes in between. Also during the rest of the week there are no meetings at the parrish hall or private homes for “bible study”. I was told Catholics don’t do this?

How do Catholics grow spiritually, if they don’t know what their own bible teaches? Forgive me if I seem harsh, but shouldn’t more emphasis be brought out on learning the scriptures from a Catholic perspective? Have any of you had this same experience at your parish? What do you advise? Thank you.
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Since your parish is so small that it trades off priests between two churches perhaps the resources are not available to provide the Bible Studies and other ministries you would like to see developed. The good news is there are many good programs available to start up on your own initiative on behalf of your parish. I would suggest speaking with your priest about your desire to see a Bible Study offered…if he does not have the time or resources, he could refer you to the Diocesan contact to work directly through them. In our parish our Divine Mercy study group, our Bible Studies and our Eucharistic Adorations are run by parishioners who wanted to fill that void within our community. They get the instruction manuals, the order forms, videos, books, workbooks - everything they need showing them how to set up individual groups from the diocese. Sometimes there are even training sessions they can attend at the Diocesan Center to help prepare them for the ministry they are seeking to fill. Perhaps you can spearhead the effort yourself if you feel there are others in your community who would like to see it offered.
 
Ahh…then bring back the sermons. They were better.

And, incidentally, most of the homilies I hear are canned.

And, my memory is fine.
 
Although it is not a pleasant thought, it could be financial pressure that keeps your priests from speaking longer. We just got a new priest. The old one kept to 15min OR LESS for the homily. We were out of church in 45minutes! But little or no instruction on the Scripture as how to apply it to our daily lives.

Our new priest is a wonderfully spiritual man who takes very seriously his duty to ‘feed the lambs’. Mass now is 1hour.

**During the counting of collection, someone who usually gives $20 every time gave $2. In the note area, it said minus $18 for 18minutes. **A few others have done the same thing.

*Please, *add my priest to your prayers. Pray that he does not give in to the financial blackmail that some petty parishners are resorting to so they don’t have to spend an extra 15 minutes on their ‘Sunday Obligation’. Pray that for each person who stops giving, two will replace them.

Your sister in Christ,
Maria
 
Well, I’m at least as old as oldfogey, so I also remember those pre-vat II “sermons.” Most were about doctrine. Now, the newer “homilies” are more about pastoral application of scripture, hardly ever about doctrine. The result is that most people today know little about doctrine. (Even the RCIA is ‘scripture based’, making it hard to work in some doctrinal content.)

But I don’t think that either type–the doctrinal or the pastoral–will meet the expectations of the original poster, who came from a background of what was referred to as “bible preaching.” That type of homily is mainly extended scriptural exegisis, and has never been a common format for Catholic preaching, although you will find quite a bit of it in some retreat programs and missions.
 
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rarndt01:
The parrish I attend is small with about 75 members and is led by two priests who “trade off” parishes during the week. Our homilies for Sunday mass are no more than 15 minutes and very general in explanation. This is very different for me. I come from a bible preaching and teaching church.

What benifit is the homily if the priest doesn’t explain the text so it is applicable to our daily lives? They just kind of skim over it and say some general antedotes in between. Also during the rest of the week there are no meetings at the parrish hall or private homes for “bible study”. I was told Catholics don’t do this?

How do Catholics grow spiritually, if they don’t know what their own bible teaches? Forgive me if I seem harsh, but shouldn’t more emphasis be brought out on learning the scriptures from a Catholic perspective? Have any of you had this same experience at your parish? What do you advise? Thank you.
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I think in most parishes the homilies are superficial at best. They preach the social Gospel exclusively. Personal holiness and Church teachings are never woven into the homily and used to reflect on the Gospel and how it relates to living a Catholic life.

Our generation knows the Social Gospel well, but the hard sayings are glossed over in too many instances. How can Catholics be expected to live a Catholic life if the preaching is always a feel good, touchy feely kinda thing?

Now, we all need to learn our faith and we can’t rely on the Sunday homily for all catechesis, but more could be done to improve homilies. I, also, think the priest does not want to alienate anyone.

Karl Keating had a good newsletter a few weeks back where he mentioned he knew things would be improving in the Church when he saw people getting up and walking out during a homily. When priests start preaching the truth, many will not want to accept it. They are too used to bubble gum, feel good homilies about social work.
 
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MariaG:
Although it is not a pleasant thought, it could be financial pressure that keeps your priests from speaking longer. We just got a new priest. The old one kept to 15min OR LESS for the homily. We were out of church in 45minutes! But little or no instruction on the Scripture as how to apply it to our daily lives.

Our new priest is a wonderfully spiritual man who takes very seriously his duty to ‘feed the lambs’. Mass now is 1hour.

**During the counting of collection, someone who usually gives $20 every time gave $2. In the note area, it said minus $18 for 18minutes. **A few others have done the same thing.

*Please, *add my priest to your prayers. Pray that he does not give in to the financial blackmail that some petty parishners are resorting to so they don’t have to spend an extra 15 minutes on their ‘Sunday Obligation’. Pray that for each person who stops giving, two will replace them.

Your sister in Christ,
Maria
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We cannot let it stay an issue of money. That may be why we are here in the first place. Take the money out of it.
 
as a former protestant, i know what you mean about the difference between a typical prot service (sermon at least 30 min long) and a typical catholic homily (usually shorter than 15). one of the main reasons for this difference is found in the presuppositional thinking of both organizations.

what i mean is this: the prot church focuses most heavily on WHAT WE BELIEVE and WHY. that is the most important thing to most prot preachers. alot of the prots i know would say that what you believe is what saves you. if you believe the right thing - you go to heaven. if you believe the wrong thing, no such luck. so very heavy emphasis is placed on getting everyone’s systematic theology just so.

in the catholic church, the emphasis is on the sacraments. what you believe is important, but only in that it leads you to participate in the salvific work of Christ in your life, in the mass, and in God’s redemptive work in the world. so a typical mass doesn’t spend 45 min or an hour (like some prot churches i’ve been in) explaining a text or constructing a careful system of biblical interpretation for you. the typical mass focuses on Jesus in the Eucharist.

you want to learn more about the catholic faith - the homily is not the place to do that, in your typical catholic church. if your parish doesn’t have Bible studies, then seek them out - on line, in books (your local library will probably have lots of books by scott hahn, peter kreeft, gk chesterton, the pope, etc), and among other catholic friends who want to learn like you do.

God bless you as you seek His face in the catholic church.
 
Since I have ADD. I am very grateful for our 10 to 15 minute homilies. That is about the same ammount of time as my attention span. Go much longer and you lose me and I begin to figet. A 30 minute or longer sermon would put me straight to sleep.

Besides we are Catholics, not Protestants we go to church to pray, worship God, and partake in the Holy Eucharist, not to listen to long sermons.
 
I think some are expecting way too much from a homily. It is easy to forget that the congregation is a diverse group with many families - and families consist of a LOT of children. If we want to support “the family” as a sacred group, we want to keep them together and treat them in an appropriate manner. This requires that we support pretty short and to the point homilies - not extended scriptural analysis or doctrinal lectures.

The parents probably have about all they can handle in getting their group to church and keeping them at peace for the time they are there. If you expect or need extensive reflections on catholic matters or “fire and brimstone”, take some personal responsibility and attend some adult enrichment programs or do some serious reading.

I have distinct memories of a very few truly memorable and inspirational sermons and none of them were over 15 minutes.

Pat
 
In non-liturgical/Evangelical Protestant churches the sermon is the centerpiece of the worship service, so it is given much of the attention. This comes from their founders who denied belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, replacing it with the belief in sola scriptura. This naturally led to exposition of the Scriptures as the central focus of Evangelical worship.

However, in liturgical churches, of which the Catholic Church is the orginator, the Eucharist or Holy Communion is the center of worship. The homily is a part of the Reading of the Word, which is important, but not the major focus of the Mass.

As others have suggested, get involved in a Bible study at your parish by either joining one or by starting one. And be sure you use orthodox material as your guide. Not all Bible study programs designed for use by Catholics are of equal quality or orthodoxy.
 
I’ve encountered some of what you describe but I don’t see it as a reflection on the whole church. Some parishes flourish and are fruitful, some are lukewarm (Rev 3:16). Sunday mass homilies at my parish home are similar to what you describe. I think pastors need to take advantage of this time and prepare good homilies/sermons for those who attend one mass a week. Additionally, I attend daily mass which is during my lunch hour (1/2 an hour) at another parish and the homilies are incredible. They are usually shorter but packed with substance. Keep in mind that any parish can loose its lampstand (Rev 2:5). Perhaps you can find a nearby parish with more passion and energy or perhaps God has chosen you to light the fire at the parish you describe. Finally, you may want to listen to the daily mass celebrated on EWTN. The homilies there are usually about 30 minutes long and very edifying. Fr. Angelus holds nothing back.

EWTN Streaming Audio & Video
ewtn.com/audiovideo/index.asp

God Bless…
 
Very interesting comments. I hope that some pastors read these threads, but I’m sure they don’t have much time to spend. I have had the priviledge of giving homilies since I was Ordained. In our classes, we were taught that the proper homily takes something from the readings for Sunday Mass and applies it to everyday Christian living. We were told to keep it brief. Not only the person with ADD has trouble after ten minutes, but most people do. We have been conditioned with news bites from TV and radio. The feeling is…“When will he get to the point.” Another teaching was that one hour of study and research should be spent for every one minute of homily. There are still sermons, outside of Mass. Father Corapi gives beautiful sermons that last close to an hour. I enjoy them. I urge all to see them. They cover all of what it means to be a faithful Catholic.

May God bless you all for your faith,
Deacon Tony SFO
 
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