Speaking during his weekly general audience in Vatican’s Paul VI hall, Pope Francis earlier today dedicated his teaching on gospel to the homily. The homily is the explanation and commentary on the Scripture portions read out during mass, and it is normally given by the priest or bishop.
According to Pope Francis, a homily is neither a discourse nor a conference and not a lesson, but rather a way of resuming that dialogue which has already been opened between the Lord and his people so that it finds fulfillment in life.
“Whoever gives the homily must be conscious that they are not doing their own thing, they are preaching, giving voice to Jesus, preaching the Word of Jesus,” he said. The Pope says because of this, homilies “should be well-prepared, and they must be brief!”
“Please,” he said, “be brief…no more than 10 minutes, please!”
To emphasis the point, Francis narrated a story, recalling how a priest once told him he was delighted to pray from his parents’ church because the church mass did not include homily.
The pope went on to say that long periods of homily are the cause of people chatting amongst themselves in church, some even resort to moving out of church to smoke cigarettes.
However, the Pope didn’t only address the side of the people giving out the homilies, but also those receiving. He pointed to the amount of complaining that happens when people are unenthusiastic about homilies, and told faithful that even when bored, they also have to make an effort by actively listening, and being patient with the limits of their pastor.
“Those listening have to do their part too,” the Pope said, saying Mass-goers must give “the appropriate attention, thus assuming the proper interior dispositions, without subjective demands, knowing that every preacher has both his merits and his limits.”
“If sometimes there’s reason to get annoyed about an overly long homily, one that lacks focus or that’s incomprehensible, other times it’s actually the prejudice [of the listener] which creates obstacles,” the Holy Father of the Church said.