• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • Advertising
  • CR Radio
  • Printing
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis gives the homily as he participates in Mass for the feast of Pentecost in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican June 5, 2022. The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who has substituted as the main celebrant on a few occasions when the pope has had health problems. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Appreciating good homilies

June 20, 2022
By Greg Erlandson
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Guest Commentary

Here’s an answer that should show up on Catholic Jeopardy: “Eight minutes.” The question is: “What does Pope Francis think the ideal length of a homily should be?”

This pope, who has not been afraid to weigh in on controversial issues, recently addressed a topic that every practicing Catholic has probably thought about, usually while listening to a sermon.

Talking to a group of Sicilian clergy June 9, Pope Francis said a homily should be under eight minutes and leave people with “a thought, a feeling and an image” that will stick with them “all week.” “He asked the priests to consider whether ‘they preach in such a way that people go out for a cigarette and then come back’ because the homily talks ‘about everything and nothing,'” Catholic News Service reported.

This is not the first time the pope has dispensed advice on preaching. Last January he complained that too many homilies “are abstract, and instead of awakening the soul, they put it to sleep.”

“Preaching runs this risk,” Pope Francis said during an Angelus address. “Without the anointing of the Spirit, it impoverishes the word of God and descends to moralism and abstract concepts; it presents the Gospel with detachment, as if it were outside time, far from reality.”

From the pope’s lips to every preacher’s ear. Wherever two or three Catholics are gathered, at some point, there is certain to be grumbling about preaching. It is the most common complaint I hear, even from the most generous and tolerant of Catholics.

Of course good preaching can be found on YouTube, and I know many people who tune in to Bishop Robert E. Barron’s Sunday homilies regularly to fill the gap left in the Mass they attended that morning, but I think we can do better.

I do not know the cause of so much weak preaching. Are basic rhetorical skills not being taught effectively in seminaries? Do some priests feel the homily is the moment when either dense theology or generic bromides should be downloaded to their flock? Or are they simply too busy with the chores of parish administration to spend the time writing a good sermon?

My wife was picking up our child from the Methodist preschool once when she saw the pastor practicing his Sunday sermon, speaking from the pulpit to an empty church days before he would deliver it. His desire to get it right, to hear how it sounded, to practice his delivery, was striking.

Not every priest is a born preacher (hence so many canned homilies). But practice can make better. One young priest I knew who was aware of his deficiencies studied books like Father Alfred McBride’s guide to preaching, “How to Make Homilies Better, Briefer, Bolder.” He diligently worked on his sermons and dramatically improved his ability to hold people’s attention while imparting some substance.

It is hard to speak to a diverse audience ranging from squalling toddlers and distracted parents to senior citizens who have heard it all before. But those eight or 10 or 15 minutes are likely to be the only time in the entire week that most Catholics will get a Catholic exhortation. It is a precious opportunity not to be wasted.

Not every catechetical deficiency can be addressed in a homily, but for those eight minutes, Catholics can see the connection between Scripture and their lives. It is an invitation to grow closer to the Lord and to his church.

And I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you to those priests and deacons who take the time to preach well and leave us with food for thought in the week that follows.


Erlandson, director and editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service, can be reached at gerlandson@catholicnews.com.

Read More Commentary

Skating through life

Baltimore’s strongman

Pretzels, treats and reflections during a staycation (7 Quick Takes)

When life gives you lemons, serve ice cream cake

What would the baby choose?

The Tale of a Trumpet

Copyright © 2022 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Greg Erlandson

Greg Erlandson is the director and editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service. He writes the CNS column "Amid the Fray."

View all posts from this author

Recent Commentary

Skating through life

Baltimore’s strongman

Pretzels, treats and reflections during a staycation (7 Quick Takes)

When life gives you lemons, serve ice cream cake

What would the baby choose?

Recent Local News

Shrine plans museum renovation and new visitor center to enhance story of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Synod process hears from thousands

‘All the desires of my heart’: Vocation to religious life fostered at St. Mary in Hagerstown

RADIO INTERVIEW: The state of the nation

Archbishop William Lori announces clergy appointments, including two new pastors

Catholic Review Radio

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • San Antonio archbishop says exploitation of poor, migrants is ‘grave’
  • Shrine plans museum renovation and new visitor center to enhance story of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
  • Skating through life
  • Survivor of monastery shooting says answer to violence is ‘to grow in love’
  • Australian council in crisis after motions fail to get enough bishop votes
  • China deploys hundreds of auditors to monitor religious activities online
  • Women’s voices: Pope says he’ll add women to Dicastery for Bishops
  • Police deflect rioters from Portland Catholic church, avert vandalism
  • MOVIE REVIEW: Thor: Love and Thunder

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2022 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED