Homily vs. Sermon

Recently I was standing outside the church after Mass greeting all the faithful as they exited. It was a good liturgical celebration. Folks seemed to respond well to the homily I had given that morning. It was a little risky and I said some tough stuff for any of us to hear but the message seemed to be just what was needed, (thanks be to the Holy Spirit).

As people exited, I received comments like, “Great job today, Padre. You really spoke to me.” Others said, “I really needed to hear that today. It’s about time someone said those things.” Still others came out and said, “Nice sermon today.” Nice sermon??? Sermon??? This wasn’t a moment of catechesis. It was a HOMILY rooted in the Gospel with a message to understand the Word of God and see how God was challenging us to live and love better than we are doing.

In truth, I don’t think people are familiar enough with the difference between a Homily and a Sermon. So here are their definitions according to the dictionary.

Homily - a religious discourse that is intended primarily for spiritual edification rather than doctrinal instruction, a sermon.

Sermon - a talk on a religious or moral subject, especially one given during a church service and based on a passage from the Bible.

Now. Why is it important for me to make this distinction? Because several priests and deacons who have the faculties (permission given by the bishop) to preach God’s Word, may in fact confuse these two as well. When they do, you’re usually the poorer for having listened to them and then leave Mass saying, “What was that all about? I feel like I wasted my time listening today. He lost me.”

In truth, most of the poor homilists out there are such because they received poor instruction on how to preach. I remember in the nine years I was in Seminary, there were at least four different individuals who taught Homiletics. (Yes, it’s a class that is taught so we can preach well). But each one of those professors had their own idea of what made up a good homily.

One professor said, “If you don’t preach at least 20 minutes, you’ve said nothing.” Another said, “If you preach more than ten minutes, you’ve preached too long.” Still another said, “Preaching is a crapshoot. Some will get it and some won’t.” (Truer words were never spoken).

Some years ago, I was asked to be a guest lecturer for a seminary homiletics class. After introducing myself, I said to the class, “If there is one thing that is essential for you to preach well it is this: you must pray on the scriptures and try to identify the meaning they have as God speaks to you through those sacred words. Don’t be afraid to share how God speaks to you in your life through His holy Word in your homily so that people can see how The Word of God is alive and necessary to form us in God’s will.” There was a collective gasp. One of the students raised his hand and said, “We’ve been told never to share on our personal lives because it distracts people from God.” NONSENSE!

Look. The Word of God is rich and sacred. The scriptures affirm, challenge, correct and inspire us to live a life of holiness. But if I can’t understand how God’s Word is “for me,” how can I ever apply it to my life and live accordingly? Why listen to the Word of God if we are not going to apply it to our own lives?

Recently I heard of a priest who invited his parishioners to start bringing their Bibles to Mass. He told them he was going to start a “series” on one of St. Paul’s Letters. (Beware of the word “series.” It’s a common term among Christian preachers and non-denominational folk).

So, let me get this straight. The Word of God, at Mass, has just been proclaimed for all the faithful to hear. These scripture passages have been intentionally chosen by the Church in order to connect the events of the Liturgical year and the message they convey for the faithful to grow in holiness. And this priest takes it upon himself to preach on what he wants to preach on, neglecting the proclaimed Word of God specific to the Mass? And people wonder why folks don’t attend Mass regularly. They aren’t being fed. Again, why listen to the Word of God if the priest/deacon is going to ignore it or avoid applying it to our lives?

God presents us with His living Word to feed us with the Word proclaimed and, in the Body, and Blood of His Son (Eucharist), and the priest has decided he knows better, tossing away the Word God is speaking to us. It makes no sense to me.

People too, often grumble when a deacon has been assigned to preach that weekend. Now, I have to say, I have been relatively fortunate to experience some excellent homilies from some Deacons. However, when he fails to speak as one “in the world” who can speak to the average person in the pew who is a layperson in the world or who is married with children, and decides to give some fragmented, confusing, theological or dogmatic treatise which he himself may or may not understand, he tends to lose his listeners.

Here's some basic rules.

· Preach what you know

· Preach from the heart!

· Don’t read your homily

· Know your audience.

· Give them something they can take with them and reflect on through the week.

· Be clear. Be brief. Be gone!