After the Biblical Readings, the priest celebrant will then give a reflection on the readings, called a homily. The word homily comes from the Greek homilos (homilos), meaning “crowd/assembly.” The homily is an integral part of the liturgy, and is strongly recommended. It is required by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) on Sundays and holy days of obligation (we’ll list those and their importance in a later post), and should not be omitted from these Masses without serious reason (being tired or lazy isn’t a serious reason, by the way). If you attend a weekday Mass, which is generally shorter, due to many factors including lack of music (typically) and not as many attendees (which makes for a shorter communion period), the celebrant may choose to not do a homily simply for the sake of time. However, the Church recommends SOME sort of reflection to be made on the scripture readings of the day and how they can apply to our daily lives.
While the homily is ordinarily done by the priest celebrant, he may permit another concelebrating priest to give the homily, or may even permit a deacon to give it. The homily should, however, never—NEVER—under any circumstances be given by a lay person. To clarify, a lay person is, by definition, anyone who is not a deacon, priest, or bishop. Monks, nuns, and other individuals belonging to religious orders who are not ordained deacons, priests, or bishops are as much lay people as the average Catholic just going about their business as part of the universal church, and therefore, even monks & nuns should NEVER be allowed to give a homily. Deacons and priests undergo very thorough and rigorous education in philosophy, theology, scriptural history, and even a discipline called homiletics (the art of preaching), which all work in concert to better prepare them to give a theologically sound, emotionally charged, and spiritually challenging homily. A lay person who has had a deep religious experience that brought them to a profound conversion may have a very inspirational story to tell that many people might benefit from; but, if the priest celebrant wishes to allow them to share this witness, there are other much more suitable occasions to allow this, such as after the final blessing of Mass, or at some sort of “Parish Mission” where a central theme (usually tied to the liturgical season) is focused on, usually for a 2- or 3-night series…but again, NEVER during the homily.
If the Mass being celebrated is for a certain occasion with a certain congregation, such as a Children’s Mass, local customs may instill the desire to perform a small play or other artistic performance that further reflect the message of the daily scriptures. HOWEVER, these things should NOT take the place of the homily, but rather be a supplement to it. And, as always, whenever a priest celebrant wishes to allow for something that is not prescribed by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, in order to ensure that what is proposed is not against the spirit of being part of the universal Catholic Church, a priest should ALWAYS approve these sorts of things with his bishop BEFORE allowing them to find their way into the Mass.
Now, let’s take a minute to talk about our role during the homily. One of the reasons we attend Mass is to be spiritually fed. There is no easier way to do this than to be attentive during the homily. The Bible was written a very long time ago using language that was used a very long time ago, and when we try to apply our very limited English language to the overall message behind the Bible, we lose a considerable amount of really amazing guidance. The homily is “supposed” to provide this guidance to us so we can relate it to our daily lives today. Now, most Catholics know a priest or two who gives REALLY amazing, life-altering homilies consistently, while other priests….ehhh, not so much. Like St. Paul says, however, in Chapter 12 of his first letter to the church of Corinth, we all have certain roles to play and all certain gifts from God that we are called to use to fulfill those roles. Some priests are VERY gifted speakers, while others may be more gifted in understanding the finer points of sacramental theology, and still others may be more gifted in providing pastoral counseling and advice. So just because a priest doesn’t make you want to jump up and shout, “AMEN!” doesn’t mean he’s a bad priest. It just means being a memorable preacher might not be one of his particular gift. Our role is to see past what may be “lacking” from the presentation and focus on the message being delivered. Remember that priests have been chosen by God to fulfill this ministry, and we should trust in God’s guidance that the message His priest is giving is one we need to hear. So let’s remember to cut our priests some slack if they don’t give award-winning speeches at ever Mass, and just appreciate the genuine love that comes from their ministry.
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