Do Catholic Homilies have to be boring?

Is there a Cannon Law that states Catholic homilies must be boring?

Sunday after Sunday I find myself sitting through another boring homily. Out of respect I listen intently and leave empty. I am beginning to think the reason Catholics go to Mass is strictly out of obligation because other than communion there is no reason to go. We Catholics have been taught that the priest homily may be painful and embarrassing, but we’re not supposed to complain.

How many times have you heard a priest say God is merciful, you can seek God’s mercy whenever you need it, and God always forgives you if you are really sorry for God is full of mercy? I am sure you have heard it a few thousand times and not one time did a priest ever tell you how he had personally experienced God’s mercy. Sometime I want to stand up and ask have you ever experienced God’s mercy or do you know anyone that has or can you tell me a 21^st century story that I can relate to and apply to my life regarding God’s mercy?

The homilies aren’t always boring. Some are just bizarre. One year during Advent I heard this at daily Mass: “Did you see the movie, The Nativity? Well, Hollywood is wrong. Mary did not have any pain when Jesus was born. We know she didn’t because the Bible says she wrapped him in swaddling clothes. Now if she had a regular delivery she couldn’t do that, she’d be too weak.” I wrote a blog title “Was the birth of Jesus as we have been taught?” In it I explain I think Mary felt the pain of child birth.

Often when I hear these bizarre things I look around and try to see what the reaction of those around me are. If I don’t see anyone rolling their eyes I figure they must have been thinking about what they need to get at the store for lunch following the service. I have been frustrated with poor homilies, but I have also been fortunate to hear some really good homilies. These are generally delivered by the younger priest.

Most Catholics are supportive of their priests, regardless of the quality of their preaching, but if you get them talking many will say they wish the homilies they hear on Sundays would be better. The main comment I hear from Catholics is that the homily should relate to our real lives. Many say that the bar is set low, and the most they hope for is a short sermon. They would like to see one central message, inspired by the scriptures and illustrated by real life stories.

Maybe some priests have lived such sheltered lives in the seminary and rectory they have lost touch with real life. They do not have to worry about rent, house payments, food, medical cost, clothing expenses, educating the children, utilities, etc.

Maybe some priests believe they must portray their personal and family life as being perfect. I thank God every day for the hard knocks I had growing up and still have and the problems my family went through. I was never ashamed to use my personal experiences like family members having children and not being married, a family member who was divorced five times, rape, sickness, death, grieving and yes even my being raped by an uncle when I was thirteen years old. Sharing those experiences helped me, helped others and gave life and meaning to my homilies.

I know not everyone is gifted with public speaking skills. Some are just really uncomfortable in front of an audience. While seminaries require classes in preaching, they do not guarantee success. I was one that public speaking did not come natural and certainly was not easy. I never remember stepping behind the pulpit and not having a mild case of nerves. How did I compensate for my weakness in public speaking – I spent hours upon hours late at night preparing my Sunday homilies. I did not take advantage of opening a little book and delivering someone else’s homily. I kept a binder on incidents or personal experiences that I may could use in future homilies.  Where there is a will there is a way.

To deliver an effective homily in a limited time requires editing and proper organization of the material. Before I gave a homily, I prepared it and said it aloud to myself beforehand not once, but several times. I tried to keep my homilies at twenty minutes so they were all well timed in advance.

That kind of preparation takes time. These days many parishes, especially in the United States, only have one priest, and being the pastor, the priest must attend and plan meetings, counsel people, prepare liturgies, meet with couples to be married, celebrate sacraments - all by himself. While I sympathize with these demands you cannot allow it to be an excuse for poor preaching.  Delivering the Gospel is essential to being a good priest.

In the States we have a Permanent Deacon Program. Married men attend classes on the weekends for one or two years and are taught how to handle priestly duties, including preaching, but excluding confession. Permanent Deacons can often add the perspective of people with wives, children, and careers outside the church and I have heard some of the best preaching from Permanent Deacons. Unfortunately some priests are too proud or too threaten to use these men to preach. 

Canon law does make clear that the person who should preach is the priest celebrating the Mass, but there is a narrow opening for others taking on this role. The General Instruction for the Roman Missal states that a priest celebrant “may entrust the homily to a concelebrating priest or to a deacon, but never to a layperson.”

Pope Francis ordained 19 new priests in Rome, instructing them to serve the flock rather than manage it, and to feed the people of God with heartfelt homilies rather than boring sermons. Pope Francis told them to deliver to the people a message that comes from their hearts.

The best homilies have three things in common: they are delivered with a genuine sense of passion, they give people an idea of how they can take action, and they are relatively short (twenty minutes) and to the point.  Regardless of how eloquent or charismatic a priest is these three qualities ensure that parishioners will listen, remember and talk about the homily with others and that should be the purpose of the homily.

I do not expect an improvement in homilies anytime soon, but perhaps if your parish priest is so boring that you cannot take it anymore and before you start thinking of leaving the Catholic Church for a Protestant Church you should start visiting other parishes. Yes, I am saying “Go priest shopping”!