What if you threw a political party and most of the people who showed up were white males? Well, if you call your gathering a "tea party," you are labeled a racist. However, if you change the name to "coffee party," you are labeled as mainstream.
Oklahoma stands up to the Nanny State by refusing to cooperate in federal investigations into so-called hate crimes. Apparently, this OK law was passed to prevent enforcement of the recently passed federal law criminalizing non-groupthink thinking about sexual orientation.
Should homilies exceed eight minutes? The Sunday homilies preached here at the priory usually run between 20-25 minutes! Maybe I should post this article? :-)
The tyranny of tolerance: the case for excluding the children of same-sex couples from Catholic schools.
Muslims to conquer Rome? If they do, it will likely happen to the cheers of Europe's lefty elite.
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About this 8 minute homily thing... Someone should've told this to people like John Chrysostym and St. Ambrose! But then, where'd we be now if they did.
ReplyDeleteThe problem isn't the length of the homily--it's the QUALITY, which involves a variety of elements, among them content, presentation, and the liturgical context.
Why do Catholics seem so exercised about homily length? Protestants sit for far longer, and they rarely seem to break out in the sort of boils Catholics worry about if homily time extends beyond the 7-8 minute rule.
In my experience, BTW, it isn't so much the people in the pew who worry about homily length as the clergy who, in a sort of co-dependent, dysfunctional way, angst about "what the folks want" or some such, for fear of giving offense. How about "what folks need"?
When you consider that the Sunday homily is, for most people, the only opportunity they get for serious exposure to Catechetical formation, does anyone really think 8 minutes will do it? Eight minutes is the length of time the average TV drama or sitcom goes between commercial breaks. I think they deserve better consideration from their pastors.
Of course, the problem of homiletic quality is huge. Most of us priests weren't trained to give a real homily. If you went through theology when I did, the big thing was to avoid doctrine and emphasise your own personal experience. This presumed an amount of personal depth not many of us were capable of expressing in a way sufficiently interesting to engage people week-to-week. A little of that stuff goes a L-O-N-G way. People have their own lives, and only the most narcissistic preacher thinks himself sufficiently fascinating and profound to keep people in thrall every Sunday.
But in my experience, if you teach people the FAITH, and offer practical applications which they can connect to their own daily lives, they'll listen to you for as long as it takes--and even ask for copies of your notes.
So to Hell with this 8 minute homily limit. Rather than putting the preacher on the clock, help him with practical suggestions when he limps, and support him over the rough spots until he begins to pick it up.
And remember, too, that the "Grace of Preaching" isn't reserved to the Preacher alone. It extends, too, to the "Preachees"--the listeners. If a person isn't prepared to listen or to learn, Jesus Himself won't be enough to keep your attention.
Fr. Martin Farrell, op
Hi Father!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear things are going well for you. Will continue to keep your mother in my prayers. Thought your readers would be interested in this endorsement from Fr. Z's site.
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/03/oremus-pro-pontifice-stuff-and-store/
DT
Hi Father!!
ReplyDeleteJust an FYI... American Papist changed locations... Their new URL is posted below for you.
http://www.catholicvoteaction.org/americanpapist/index.php
DT