Homiletic Questions

The Church has called its clergy to preach the Word for centuries. It did not, however, lay down in a definitive way just how to do that. Preaching adapted, as it should, to the needs of the time. Ways of preaching in the patristic, medieval, and restoration periods had their own particular qualities. Renowned preachers like Origen, St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, Pope St. Leo the Great, St. Dominic, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Alphonsus Liguori were admired and imitated. Clerics took these great preachers as models.

Contemporary preachers, however, are remarkably fortunate to have even more than this history of extraordinary preaching. They have an official articulated vision of preaching from the Church as to what the Church calls its preachers in modern times. That vision was conceived last century including the liturgical, kerygmatic, and Biblical movements; the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Orate Fratres, Revue Biblique; and the contributions of noteworthies like Johannes Hofinger SJ, Fr. Romano Guardini, Jean Danielou SJ, Josel Andreas Jungmann SJ, Karl Rahner SJ – and before that, St. John Henry Newman of the Oratory. That vision was birthed at the Second Vatican Council in documents like Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963) and in the call to a greater use of Scripture in the liturgy leading to the later publishing of the Lectionary. That vision called for liturgical preaching later to be referred to as homily from Origen’s homilein as opposed to a sermon. The vision was for a homily that was profoundly scriptural, liturgical, Christocentric and essential for Sundays and feasts of obligation.

All the popes since the council have been instrumental in cultivating that vision, elucidating and emphasizing both its character and purpose. Documents like Ecclesiam Suam (Paul VI, 1966), Evangelii Nuntiandi (Paul Vl, 1975), Catechesi Tradenae (John Paul II, 1979), Sacramentum Caritatis (Benedict XVI, 2007), Verbum Domini (Benedict XVI, 2010), and Evangelii Gaudium (Pope Francis, 2013), among others, were instrumental in bringing that new vision of homiletics for our times into focus. That focus comes together in the Homiletic Directory (2014) which lays out what the Church wants, and just as important, does not want from its preachers.

This articulation is meant not as a straitjacket for the preacher, but rather as a helpful guide. The Directory makes the point that preaching the homily is a “variable ministry according to cultural differences and the gifts of the preacher” (section 3). There is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church — but within that oneness, that great circle, there is a variety of spiritual pathways, so that one may be Franciscan, Dominican, Jesuit, Carmelite among many other expressions. Similarly, each preacher has particular gifts the Spirit has given him and a particular personality for his preaching in a particular situation; that is grace building upon nature. Yet, just as there are marks that define what it means to be Catholic, there are marks that define the parameters of the circle of Catholic preaching. Preachers express their own preaching style within those parameters which are characteristics of Catholic preaching for our times.

Those characteristics which proceed from the Church documents are that the homily is to be:

• Focused (a clear central point that is worth making to a particular congregation)
• Scriptural (based on and proceeding from the Scriptures of that liturgy rather than a different agenda of the preacher)
• Liturgical (an integral part of the liturgy rather than a separate component)
• Prophetic (applied to the contemporary experience and questions of the particular congregation)
• Sacramental (a focus on what Christ has done, is doing, and will do, rather than a primarily Pelagian or Anthropocentric focus)
• Personal (convicted, authentic, faithful)
• Conversational (language, image, example related, grasped by, and related to the congregation)

These characteristics or marks of outstanding preaching do raise some questions.

1. Does every homily have to hit every outcome?

The list of outcomes seem challenging. Some preachers argue that not every homily needs to keep all of this in mind, that it makes the homily unwieldy. However, if one puts a question in front of each of the outcomes, it becomes clear that we do need to keep all the characteristics in play for every homily. The preacher can ask himself:

“Should this homily be conversational (as defined above)?”

“Should this homily make a clear point addressed to the contemporary experience of my listeners?”

“Should this homily emerge from the lectionary and liturgical texts of this Mass?”

Certainly, every homily should be derived from the content of the Mass and do a spiritual good to particular listeners in a way that they can readily appropriate. The Church has called us to concrete, rather than abstract, homilies that proceed from the liturgy rather than a totally different topic, no matter how valuable, that the preacher may want to put ahead of that.

2. How realistic is it to call a preacher to the kind of preparation that this kind of homily requires?

This legitimate question goes to the heart of the calling of preaching, what Pope St. Paul Vl reminded his preachers is “the Primary Apostolate” (Ecclesiam Suam, §90). Certainly, the preacher prays for grace and inspiration from the Spirit, but at the same time is called to put in all that he has, his widow’s mite, which is his time, energy, and preparation. If preaching is the primary apostolate, it is worth the effort and sacrifice that goes into it. Pope Francis notes that “the faithful attach great importance” to the homily and that therefore “preparation for preaching is so important a task that a prolonged time of study, prayer, reflection and pastoral creativity should be devoted to it” (Evangelii Gaudium §135, §145). In that same Apostolic Exhortation given in 2013, the Holy Father anticipates the understandable question that comes from overworked clergy.

Some pastors argue that such preparation is not possible given the vast number of tasks which they must perform; nonetheless, I presume to ask that each week a sufficient portion of personal and community time be dedicated to this task, even if less time has to be given to other important activities. (§145, emphasis added)

The Holy Father does not let up on this point. He is brutally insistent and continues “A preacher who does not prepare is not ‘spiritual’; he is dishonest and irresponsible with the gifts he has received” (§145). So, yes, it is difficult and requires time. Preachers are not called to improvise or simply rely on the Spirit to give them what they need so that they can minimize the hard work of preaching. In fact, when preaching is not hard work, the preacher might want to ask himself if he is fully engaging with the kind of process that Pope Francis and Pope Benedict have laid out.

3. How can a preacher who also preaches daily Masses do all of this?

The preacher responsible for daily Mass and Sunday Mass preaching can be overwhelmed with what the Popes have said about the homily. Most homiletic texts and documents are focused primarily on the Sunday homily. Few address the daily homily directly. Bishop Ken Untener recognizes the difficulty in his now classic text on preaching, Preaching Better: Practical Suggestions for Homilists (1999): “A weekday homily is a different species, just as a weekday mass is different from a Sunday Mass. The preparation process suggested earlier would be impossible every day of the week.” (§102)

But then he immediately follows that acknowledgement with “on the other hand” and makes an interesting proposal. He suggests that a homilist in preaching a Sunday homily could learn from what is done in the daily homily, rather than the other way round. That is, he asserts, qualities of a daily homily including “staying with one thought,” coming “right out of the readings,” being “personal,” being “more focused” are qualities from the daily Mass homily than the preacher should strive to bring into the Sunday homily. These qualities are consistent with what the Church has laid out for preaching. The difference between the two, then, is not so much outcomes or characteristics, but rather preparation. Some preachers will prepare the daily Mass homily with a prayerful encounter with the text, a consultation of a few resources, and outlining ideas all done in a session the night before the preaching. Another approach is to not see the week as seven separate preaching events, but rather as two. That is, to see the texts that run from Monday to Saturday as a unit. Instead of preparing nightly for the next day’s homily, the preacher looks for ideas, images, and insights into the texts that run through the whole week. His homilies through the week are unified around a single message as he refers back to the day before and/or to what is coming up. This approach brings a unity to the preaching emphasizing context focused on one extended homily rather than several short ones.

4. How is all of this applied to Funeral, Wedding, or Baptism liturgies?

Funerals for a child, an elderly person, an accident victim, or a suicide require special considerations. Weddings, too, whether between two Catholics or a mixed or disparity of cult marriage, also require special attention. The Homiletic Directory in referring to homilies in general and to the Sunday Homily in particular refers to the importance of tailoring the homily “to the needs of the particular community, and indeed draw inspiration from it” (8). This tailoring is essential to being both prophetic and conversational. In the same way, tailoring the funeral, wedding, or baptismal homily to the make-up of the congregation is important to the effectiveness of the congregation. That means using terminology and references that are understandable or at least defined, keeping in mind what is familiar and unfamiliar to those attending, and addressing the kind of questions that people in the congregation might have as they hear the readings, the preaching, or observe the liturgy. Aside from this emphasis on targeting, these homilies still are called to speak of Christ through and from the lectionary and liturgical texts in a prophetic way, but in a way that can be appropriated by the listener.

The parameters or characteristics for preaching to which the Church has called its preachers become habits of preaching. They are useful guides so that the preacher has a clear target in front of him as he engages the process of prayer, study, and crafting of the homily. They do not make things easy, and perhaps preaching is not meant to be easy. It just might be that the struggle of preparation is an important ingredient to preaching as the primary apostolate. These characteristics given to us by the Church do, however, makes things clearer, and set out for the preacher a goal for an effective and memorable homily.