In Defense of the Short Homily

Rescuing the Liturgy From the Nerds

Fulton Sheen, exception to the rule on homilists. Stock Photo

In his general audience this past week, Pope Francis reinforced previous addresses he has given, calling for homilies to be kept under ten minutes. The reactions to this were probably more interesting than a general audience from a papacy in its twilight. One could see a bit of horseshoe theory, where allies of the pope and Catholic traditionalists tended to argue for homilies to be scaled that. (As a part of several different group chats between traditionalists and writers, this is one of the few times you will see broad agreement between the two camps.) Opposed to this idea were those typically viewed as of “conservatives” like JD Flynn, who took the contrarian view that not only should the average homily not be shorter, it should be longer. I would like to give a brief defense of why homilies, on average, need to be shorter.

Before I do that, let’s get something out of the way. Some Catholic nerd on the internet is going to go “well Newman’s homilies on average were 20-25 minutes, and John Chrysostom routinely gave long homilies. Priests need to be like them.” To which I will reply: Shut up, nerd. If you prefer a meatier answer, those priests are the exception, not the rule. Not every priest is given the gift of gab, nor do we want every priest to have the gift of gab. If a priest has that gift, then let him use it. The assumption should instead be that you do not have said gift, because norms must be written with everyone in mind. So why should this be a norm?

Keep it Simple!

The number one rule of any speaking in public is to aim for simplicity. This is true whether your audience is one person, a small group, an auditorium, or a global audience. You have been given the time and attention of others, and you should not abuse it. Say what needs to be said, explain why its important, and then move on.

At this point, you will hear an objection that the Mass is not about getting you in and out as fast as possible, and this is certainly correct. I don’t advocate under ten minutes for reasons of speed. I advocate under ten minutes for the sake of coherence. In a ten-minute homily, you can easily identify three different points of reflection that you can spend several minutes on, before concluding with 30-60 seconds. A ten-minute homily can be incredibly meaty. To anyone who says ten minutes is not a lot of time to speak, talk to your significant other about your day for ten minutes, with zero interruptions. How many of you are going to fill up all ten minutes before you enter into a Trumpian weave?

What you will often find when you keep it simple is that you’re better at the more complex stuff. Show me a priest who gives a good twenty-minute homily and I will show you someone who gives a good (if not better) ten minute one. The reverse is not true. Someone who is bad at ten minutes will be worse at twenty minutes, as their worst habits will just be magnified. You will also find those who are good at ten seldom feel the need to go twenty.

Restraining the Clerical Ego

The word “clericalism” is often abused and has become a catch all for “stuff I do not like.” (See Francis’ ridiculous statement that priests buying liturgical garb is a worrying sign of clericalism in the Church.) While I think one can make the case that long homilies are an indulgence of clericalism, I’d like to think about this from a speaking perspective. At my job, I tend to be one of those voices that dominates meetings, doing a lot of speaking. I’ve been challenged by my management to continue doing so, but to also think about the ways in which I can abuse that position of prominence. When I speak on a topic, people often have no choice but to listen. There is always a temptation, no matter how implicit, to use that position of power to talk about whatever I want, and to equate “whatever I want” with “what people need to hear.” Imposing limits imposes discipline, and there is nothing more opposed to ego than discipline.

Not Everyone Going to Mass is a Nerd

This is the statement that is hard to digest. If you are reading this, you are likely a nerd. You are reading something written by a nerd. I say this not to shame us, but to give us a sense of perspective. Most in the Church have differing interests and priorities than we do. That doesn’t make them better, just different. The Catholic Church serves a wide range of individuals with the Gospel, and all their needs should be considered. You might be longing for a seminar style sermon that examines the Greek language and the context it provides, or the eschatological ramifications of the kerygmatic proposition of the Apostolic Message. (You are a nerd.) The mother in the pews with three children under 5 might not be. The individual at the 8am mass who just worked an overnight shift might not be. Are you going to call them bad Catholics because they look at that prospective sermon with indifference to potential dread? The Church needs to take all of those people into account, not just you. A good way to do that is to keep homilies focused, disciplined, and yes, 10 minutes or less. A meaty ten-minute homily is not “short.” Peter’s proclamation at Pentecost was probably 2-3 minutes long, and it cut people to the heart.

Mass is Not JUST About the Sermon

When you tell the nerd that there is more to the Mass than the homily or the proclamation of the Scriptures, they seem to think we are embracing the Jack Chick parody of the Church as an institution that hates the Word of God. We do not. Every Mass attended is permeated with Scripture. (There are probably 2-3 times the Scriptural references in the TLM as opposed to the Novus Ordo, a fun digression for another time.) The issue is that there is more to Mass than the homily and proclamation of the Scriptures. The Mass is about the entirety of Christian existence. The entirety of Christ’s public ministry is represented throughout the Mass. Mass culminates not in the homily or the Gospel, but in the Eucharist, the perfect gift to God the Father, and the saving gift for all mankind. The sermon is an important and indeed integral part of the representation of that public ministry. So is silent contemplation and adoration. How many parishes emphasize the importance of silence in their liturgies? (In many modern liturgies, the consecration will be done as quickly as possible to make more time for the lengthy homily, a surefire sign of clericalism narcissism.) We may not wish to talk about the temptation, but it is there: we as a Church are far more focused on visible displays of power where man is at the center, and less at the silent ways God moves or speaks. Like Elijah in the cave, we expect God to speak in more grandiose ways. This is a perfectly normal and human reaction. This is exactly why our norms at times need to restrain this normal and human impulse.

As mentioned in the beginning, if you are (or have) a priest who is vigilant about these temptations, and has the gift of gab? Norms and customs need not be laws. Yet if we want to improve the quality of preaching in the Church, we need a return to discipline in the homily. Having a norm of a homily under ten minutes is a good way to impose and cultivate that discipline.