The Homily and Priests .Pages

8/10/2019 The Homily and Priests .Pages

1/7

Schoenstatt Scotland Press

The Homily, and how it can be crafted: The priestpreaches as a believer to believersBy Retreat Director

It has to be an identification of

the priests own faith, coloured

measured and shaped by his own

life. He must express his peoples

faith. We are about an embodied

faith, expressed in our lovess e e k i n g e x p r e s s i o n a n d

affirmation. He needs to be an

able interpreter, for he is Gods

interpreter. Christs mission

remains. Read it from one age,

but interpret it from this age. The

preacher presents Christ, he is

present no less importantly than

in the Eucharist. Christ is also

present in the people and the

priest must recognize this. Dowe reverence the first part of the

mass, as we do the second part?

Christs life was a model, it was

normative, it gave example, the

gospels provide norms. The

reading of the normative text is

formative. The gospel illuminates,

makes sense and forms the waywe live. Can the person attach to

what is said, can he/she be

gripped even for an instant.

Spiritual, human, pastoral and

intellectual: There needs to be a

balance. Is the priest armoured

against letting people see his

heart, his humanity, his emotional

self . Be guarded, an old

professor once said referring to

seminary: This is the place foreejits, and there is no scarcity of

them. In considering a homily,

the priest has to consider: Do I

connect with the people? Do I

give them recognition? Am I

interesting for them? Are they

listening, am i listening to them?

Are we connecting? Is the lengthof my homily suitable for the

community I am addressing?

How is my delivery? Am I holding

their interest? Is there too much

repetition? The life of Christ was

normative. The homilist has to

confront the people. it has to be

true to life and the world. Be true

to the people. The priest cannot

hide behind an academic veil or

curtain, for a sermon is more thana treatise dealing with a subject

theologically and scripturally.

THE HOMILY & PRIESTS

Schoenstatt Scotland

Kentenich WayCampsie GlenGlasgow G66 7ATScotland

T: 01360 312 718

Th

eHomilyandPriests.

SchoenstattS

cotland


2/7


The priest cannot speak above the heads of the

people or like you were an alien. He must

remember the spirit active in him has been unifiedin the people, he cannot leave them behind.

Credibility/believability is what is sought, so

prepare the people for communion at mass, give

them a view of life for the week ahead.

The priest will preach for a verdict. People need to

make up their minds in their own hearts. it has to

be a man talking. History is now present - Galilee

is brought here. The more you look at it, the more

interesting it gets. We never quite get there, its like

a piece of music, we learn more at every listening.The priest can share some particular aspect of the

world in his homilies and use it to inspire, judge,

(caveat here) i.e., how far he/we fall short, it can

console - show mercy - forgiveness; it can

empower them to go forward. Above all, be fresh,

and have new insight, make it rich, prudent and

alive, letting the people go out refreshed. It bridges

the gap between Christ and us. The Christ of history

and the Christ of our faith. Word and life are

confronted, the word was made flesh. Faith is notan intellectual assent to a doctrine. The real faith is

attached to Jesus Christ, its not an academic

reflection, you need to attach yourself to Christ,

become Christ centred. It is an expression of your

faith. The priest should be propped up with what he

has learned. The homily should have theological

underpinnings. He may not remember it all, but he

is propped up. Personal faith - given our humancondition all faith is fragmentary, so there is a

tension and we have to rest in Christ, for all faith is

partial. The priest must be selective and remain

true. Checking if he is too selective and distorting

things. His subjectivity has to be aware of its own

limitations. It is God and man involved. He must

recognise the complexity of life, but not resent it,

for there is no recipe or prescription for salvation.

What do I want the

parishioners to do because

they hear the homily? This

is the key to a powerful

homily. Having a definite

purpose in mind. It needs

to

give

direction.

and

force

the priests message. The

priest needs to know what

result he wants. Power

comes from purpose. He

needs the underlying

The priest is up

against

unknowable

situations.

The priest must ask

himself can my

people come to

maturity over the

years I am maturing

these people.

People should have

moved spiritually.

His knowledge of

them will become

greater. as

movement should

have happened inparish.

TheHom

ilya

ndPriests.S

choenstattSco

tland

Dont prepare them just for the final comingbut for communion at the mass


3/7


4/7


We have a halflight ofhuman

knowledge. The suspension of

judgementisnecessary, forits

always complex. All thepriest

can hope for is that he has

sorted it out a bit more thanthepeoplehave. Hemustbein

practicewhatweareintheory.

He needs to practice what he

preaches.

The homily is an expression of faith, there is no

formula, the words you use are important. They are

part of the message. The priest should write the

following on his heart. Words have metaphysicalquality, give your people alms of image and

parable. They are the life of Christ. Images and

word pictures, they have life/vitality and vigour and

images and pictures carry life. Be embodied, not

disembodied. The priest should go for a resonant

picture. Think of the images, of the New Testament,

broad, broken, 30 pieces of silver, the images

encapsulate so much and give it resonance. Pilates

washing of his hands. They say in an economic way

what would take ages in other fashions. The crownof thorns, the empty tomb; have extraordinary

resonance. Illustrating the passion of Christ. You

see in Christs preaching the alms and images - he

was a story teller and he died for the truth of them.

Once upon a time a man went down from

Jerusalem to Jericho...a symbolic probe = to dig

into, your hearers with you - stand self revealed.There is no theological proposition. The story is a

fresh way of looking at something, it puts radical

demands on the listener.

Dont say, the message of the gospelis?

Those listening to the priest should come to a way

of acting. Everyone gets a different message. The

message can preclude what the spirit can do inpeoples hearts. Easy to say, difficult to do. Dont

mention the reading or christ till mid way through

the homily. Talk about the lives of people - doesnt

the reading today throw light on the situation...!

Homiletic Thoughts. Christ was a story tellerand he died for the truth of them

TheHomily

andPriests.

Schoe

nstattScotland


5/7


Most priests today will not say, my dear people.

And will spare you the folklore also.The Listener

stands self revealed, the listener says yes, that is

me I accept it or reject it. The Good Samaritan?

All the rest were baddies. Which is the bad and

which is the good, its a revealing, there is

upheaval in every parable where Christ breaks into

peoples lives. It has an effect, it presents you with

a choice, there is no moralising, no dogmatic

proposition. Work toward the overwhelming

question, there is a story in a proposition, make up

your mind! The Priest should not moralise! It is

not ideal, we sometimes think people need more

help. The homily is a counselling of the group.

dont tell them what to do. The key is to be non-

directive. The priest will be thinking, can I see the

way forward, and I havent told them. He will give

the listener the responsibility. he will involve

critical (active) listening in the preparation of yourstory.

How Emotional Intelligence cansupport and influence todayshomilists.

With approximately three minutes to get your

point across on a daily basis during a homily and

five minutes on a Sunday, considered proficiency

is required to ensure the people come with thepriest on that aural journey. It is through the power

of story in the form of homilies that some

individuals come to priesthood initially. Priests are

called in a precise way to be Christs servants,

stewards of the mysteries of God, especially as

they break open the Word of God for their people

and nourish them with the Bread of Life.

For priests are called to serve Christ, and his body,

the Church, they are also called to be people ofthe Word, of Sacrament and Service. Their love for

the Word of God is an absolute prerequisite for

ministry. Every day, every Sunday, every wedding,

and every funeral mass, finds the committed, the

faithful and also the searching individuals seeking

words of strength, hope and confidence. But the

clergy and those studying for ministry cant really

speak the Good News in an ongoing and credible

fashion lest they sit with it in ongoing study and

prayer.

Advanced Elements Thoughts and

Competencies Come to Mind: A

Reflection

Having reflected how competencies for delivering

positive homilies through storytelling can be

delivered; several advanced elements, thoughtsand competencies come to mind.

Empathy is one of the five chief components of

emotional intelligence (EI), important not only to

organizational leaders but also essential I feel, to

those involved in ministry. The others are self-

awareness, managing emotions, motivating oneself

and social skill. All of these are important to the

pastoral individual, for their preaching and general

communication has to constantly help individuals

to appreciate the meaning and mission of their

baptism. Empathy is an element in active listening,

active listeners know how to reflect feelings

without making gratuitous value judgements. I

would suggest it is also a sizeable element in

humility. The simplest way to think of the reflective

response is that it mirrors and expresses feeling.

Being able to put yourself in someone elses shoes,

to recognise what others are feeling without them

needing to inform you. Most people never relate to

you what they feel in words but rather, in theirtone of voice, body language, and facial

expression(s). In many situations you frequently

have to read communication in this way initially.

Empathy is assembled from self-awareness;

being attuned to ones own emotions. Daniel

G o l e m a n , W o r k i n g w i t h E m o t i o n a l

Intelligence (1998), his term for empathy is

empathic radar. He suggests without empathic

radar, people become blunt, cold and

inappropriate with each other. Non-empathicpeople dont know how to effectively ease the

collisions and pressures that naturally occur in

social communication. Those in ministry should

never underestimate the discerning qualities of the

people of God; for their radar denotes a speedy

detection of where your hearts genuine vigour

lies. We need to better appreciate empathy and

become empathic in parish ministry. It is however

just part of a skill-set outlined below that is

required. Priests and religious, need to be more

empathic in all areas of their lives where theycollide with Gods people in the world. Real

empathy is an emotional attunement.

TheHomily

andPriests.

Schoe

nstattScotland


6/7


Finding the right language

It is necessary to find the proper

wavelength and language to

communicate the Word to the

people. Emotionally expressive

people are the easiest to read

because their eyes and faces

constantly let you know how they

are feeling. We show empathy by

acknowledging the emotion,

remembering that empathising is

not always sensing someone

elses painful experiences, it can

also be in recognition of positivefeelings such as: success,

accomplishment, achievement

and pride.

Radar operator sensingthe atmosphere

I use the term radar operator,

where one should be sensing the

atmosphere as to how you can

best give of yourself in a sensitive

manner, thinking not of yourself

but of the other(s); this kind ofsensing is indeed at the root of

all loving. The priest should after

all be imitating Jesus concern for

t h o s e i n n e e d , t o b e

compassionate, and to love. We

must remember that one does

not become a master at this type

of thing overnight an must

understand that reading about,

and intellectually knowing aboutit is very different from actually

experiencing it yourself. If

anything we must be more

attuned, for it is one thing to write

about emotional intelligence from

an academic or corporate stance,

but it is much more challenging

to deal with directly.

Your priest is hopefully not like

the old Irish cleric who used to

get upset by the noise of children

during his homilies letting it

irritate till he would go red in the

face, and bellow gruffly: you

wouldnt bring them to the bingo,

why bring them here. Or, the

other cleric who would after

talking for seven laboured

minutes regularly during services,

about himself, (his congregation

thought that he had turned a

corner and had realised he was

neither sensitive or attuned to

them and their needs); turned full

on to his congregation, paused,

and said; well thats enoughabout me! What do you think

about me?

How do you suit yourself

up for empathizing?

Awareness & acknowledgement

are good starting points. Being

aware of the range of other

peoples emotions is only the

starting point on this journey of

discovery. This sensing quality,

the ability to read situations for

most people will not inform you

directly, you will have to read thesituation as outlined earlier, for

example, reading non-verbal

cues, scanning body language, an

awareness of shuffling bottoms on

seats, reading between the lines

and asking questions.

HOMILY PLAN

1. Phenomenon or story.

2. Analysis or punch-line

3. Relevance (scratch

them where they are

itchy)4. Main teaching. Offer

1-2 gospel sentences.

5. Application to their

lives today/ give them

something to go home

with ( a ling to the

Eucharist can be one

such)

6. A resolution for today.

TheHomily

andPriests.

Schoe

nstattScotland


7/7

Documents

The Homily and Priests .Pages