The homily, and how it can be crafted: The priest preaches as a believer to believers
By Retreat Director
It has to be an identification of the priest’s own faith, coloured measured and shaped by his own life. He must express his people’s faith. We are about an embodied faith, expressed in our loves seeking expression and affirmation. The homilist needs to be an able interpreter, for he is God’s interpreter. Christ’s 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. Do we reverence the first part of the mass, as we do the second part? Christ’s 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 way we 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 for eejits, 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 length of 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 than a treatise dealing with a subject theologically and Scripturally.
Don’t prepare them just for the final coming, but for communion at the mass
The priest cannot speak above the heads of the people or like they were alien. He must remember, the spirit active in him has been unified in 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, it’s 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 not an 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 human condition all faith is fragmentary, so there is a tension and we have to rest in Christ, for all faith 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 recognize 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 priest’s message. The priest needs to know what result he wants.
Power comes from purpose. He needs the underlying 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 recognize the complexity of life, but not resent it, for there is no recipe or prescription for salvation.
The priest is up against unknowable situations.
The priest must ask himself can my people come to maturity over the years I am maturing them? People should have moved spiritually. His knowledge of them will become greater, as movement should have happened in parish.
The priest is not solving a problem but lighting a way through them
The doctrine is a superstructure supporting it. The preacher is an integrated man with internal harmony, a harmony between inner soul and everyday life. He is himself and competence is sought. Interest is the way he attaches himself to something. Can people trust him? He should know what he needs to do! So what shape emerges? The homily is a small part of the total Christian vision and he has to open it up for the people. Exegesis is not homilizing. He needs to be aware of what is happening around him. Material is all around him, and so having a homiletic eye and ear, and being a reflective individual is essential. Having awareness and being cohesive are essential qualities. Awareness of what might be the solution or the way to the solution is helpful, for people have blocks, and one needs to be aware of this.
Two individuals living the same kind of life can have two different lives on the inside.
The priest must be aware! Every time he gets up to the ambo or into the pulpit, lives are at stake! Someone’s life can be changed. Having a tidy mind is a danger to the preacher! He will not have the answer to everything. He cannot take over the conscience of someone else. The life of faith accepts this complexity. It doesn’t alleviate it, it makes it recognizable. Theologians will never reconcile divinity and human grace and freedom. how can you be free yet graced, and we are but there are grey areas. Also the church and the world (non church) there is an area always that is grey and vague and unknown.
The priest will develop awareness of the target congregation. He will also develop impromptu storytelling elements. Develop creative storytelling ability, which brings the world to life.
The priest will not try to compress all he knows into 5 minutes. He will take a small part of that, its the spotlight not the floodlight. He should have one focus. He should be aware of his own righteous indignation, and not blame or criticize, he should not be impatient, and not hassle people.
Above all he needs to be respective of it in his own life. He does not have all the answers, and should know it. He should recognize his own humility, for the priest requires modesty and humility. The arrogant priest can kill a homily, for he must recognize the difficulty in knowing the truth.
We have a half light of human knowledge. The suspension of judgment is necessary, for its always complex. All the priest can hope for is that he has sorted it out a bit more than the people have. He must be in practice what we are in theory. He needs to practice what he preaches.
Homiletic Thoughts. Christ was a story teller and he died for the truth of them
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 metaphysical quality, 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. Pilate’s washing of his hands. They say in an economic way what would take ages in other fashions. The crown of thorns, the empty tomb; have extraordinary resonance. Illustrating the passion of Christ. You see in Christ’s 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.
Don’t say, the message of the gospel is?
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 in people’s hearts. Easy to say, difficult to do. Don’t mention the reading or christ till mid way through the homily. Talk about the lives of people – ‘doesn’t the reading today throw light on the situation…!’
Most priest’s 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 people’s lives. It has an effect, it presents you with a choice, there is no moralizing, no dogmatic proposition. Work toward the overwhelming question, there is a story in a proposition, make up your mind! The Priest should not moralize! It is not ideal, we sometimes think people need more help. The homily is a counseling of the group. Don’t 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 haven’t told them. He will give the listener the responsibility. He will involve critical (active) listening in the preparation of your story.
How Emotional Intelligence’ can support and influence today’s homilists.
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 the priest 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 Christ’s 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 of the 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 can’t 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, thoughts and 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 else’s shoes, to recognize what others are feeling without them needing to inform you. Most people never relate to you what they feel in words but rather, in their tone 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 Goleman, ‘Working with Emotional Intelligence’ (1998), his term for empathy is empathic radar. He suggests without empathic radar, people become blunt, cold and inappropriate with each other. Non-empathic people don’t 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 heart’s 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 they collide with God’s people in the world. Real empathy is an emotional attunement.
HOMILY PLAN
- Phenomenon or story.
- Analysis or punch-line
- Relevance (scratch them where they are itchy)
- Main teaching. Offer 1-2 gospel sentences.
- Application to their lives today/ give them something to go home with ( a link to the Eucharist can be one such)
- A resolution for today.
Radar operator sensing the 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 of sensing is indeed at the root of all loving. The priest should after all be imitating Jesus’ concern for those in need, to be 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 about it 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 wouldn’t 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 that’s enough about me! What do you think about me?’
How do you suit yourself up for empathizing? 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 empathizing is not always sensing someone else’s painful experiences, it can also be in recognition of positive feelings such as: success, accomplishment,achievement and pride.
Awareness & acknowledgement are good starting points. Being aware of the range of other people’s 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 the situation 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.
Sensitivity: has one of the highest correlations to emotional intelligence
By definition this radar operator is likely to notice someone else’s feeling and feel something themselves. Best ways to ensure sensitivity to others: don’t judge, diminish, belittle or ignore someone’s feelings. In relation to judging, while we are unwilling to be judged, we are very much inclined to judge others. We have two processes of thought working in our souls all of the time. We don’t want to be judged but we are constantly passing judgment on the actions and even on the motives of others, a right which belongs to God alone, because he alone can judge the heart. It is a complex matter for it is part of our facility to judge, for how would we ever know if anything is right or wrong, for instance. It becomes questionable however, when we ‘cast’ judgment negatively or destructively on others, to their harm and loss of self-esteem.
Radar Sensing Sensitivity
This radar sensing/sensitivity means being receptive to others cues especially non-verbal cues. The more you are able to receive in this way the more you can help yourself and others. Empathy is also closely related to compassion and understanding (Jesus had a compassionate heart). By collecting information about other people’s feelings, you can get to know them much better, getting to know parishioners in this way would be significantly helpful. Empathy is also connected to conscience. Those not in touch with their own feelings are not likely to have a strong sense of conscience. Examples of this can include a lack of guilt, or remorse. Empathy is also related to socialization, in children it is quite high but can diminish with age. The homilist must not be afraid to move out of his/her ‘world view’ into that of the other individuals’, for this is not about ‘you’, the person approaching you is asking for help even if they don’t know it at the conscious level. On the whole they are looking for empathy more than advice. Empathy should not be looked at in isolation, it is important but there is a suite of significant and interacting other elements that help to illustrate the bigger picture.
Things homilists might consider
- Develop awareness of the target congregation
- Develop impromptu storytelling elements
- Develop creative storytelling ability which brings the word to life Engaging in metaphorical storytelling
- Become a radar operator sensing the atmosphere for that which needs clarification and stating
- Apply new understandings and insights in helping the congregation and individuals to develop and perhaps change
- Be aware of what is happening around you. Material is all around you, have a homiletic eye and ear and be reflective
- Be aware of your own righteous indignation. Don’t blame and criticize, don’t be impatient, and don’t hassle people
- Done make false simplifications and don’t minimize difficulties
- The preacher is presenting Christ, he is present no less importantly than in the Eucharist
- That he/she acknowledges having a half-light of human knowledge. The suspension of judgment is necessary. It is always complex
- Two people living the same kind of life can have two different lives on the inside. Be aware, every time I get up to the ambo, or into the pulpit, lives are at stake.
- Someone’s life can be changed. Having a tidy mind is a danger to the preacher! He does not have the answer to everything
- Recognize in Christ’s preaching’s the alms and images – he was a story-teller and he died for the truth, depth and vigour of them
- Can the person attach to what I say
