The Tyranny of the 20 Minute Homily
What Pro Wrestling Taught Me About Homilies
While this audience might know me for my writing about Catholicism, the are others who know me for being an avid fan of professional wrestling. Seldom do the two worlds converge. (Outside of group chats with Gabriel Sanchez) This is one of those times. Last week, Cardinal Dolan penned an essay wondering aloud if Mass was “too long.” The essay was a mix of food for thought and the absolutely absurd. (Including a gratuitous swipe at “alt-right” individuals who like to celebrate Mass ad orientem that just showed his wild prejudices.) Yet there was one area he didn’t cover (by his own admission) where I think its clear the answer is yes, its too long: the homily. I said so on social media, and hoo boy did some passions get inflamed. So I’d like to clarify why I think the 20 minute homily is so terrible.
To those outside of the Catholic Church, this sounds weird, because, on average, Catholic homilies are the shortest of all Christian communities. There is a reasoning behind this, and its not to make Mass more efficient. Homilies are meant to be brief reflections on the Gospel and about how you can apply it to your everyday life. It isn’t even technically “part” of the Mass, but its something that is widely understood as important. For Catholics, there is also the importance of the Eucharist, where Catholics encounter the timeless reality of the foot of the cross. That is the height of Christian worship. The Scriptures play a critical and essential role in getting us there, but it is ultimately a supporting role. Reasons like this are why St. Pius X warned against the risk of “ornate sermons” in Acerbo Nimis that draw applause from the congregation, yet don’t reach the heart and soul
What Pro Wrestling Can Teach About a Homily
If you think in professional wrestling the most important part is how you wrestle, you’d be wrong. There are great mat technicians who were at best middling stars. (Same with UFC, where men with flawless technique will always be working the undercard.) Since the goal of professional wrestling is to connect with an audience, one of the most important parts of being a wrestler is to explain why the audience should care. This leads to what is known as a promo, where the wrestler gives a brief speech about himself, his upcoming match, or a story that you should care about. This is what makes the star. One thing that is clear from these stars is there isn’t any particular style that makes a good promo. Dusty Rhodes channeled a southern revivalist preacher. Nick Bockwinkle was the verbose professor. Terry Funk and Steve Austin’s promos were focused on the boiling intensity under the surface that was always ready to explode. CM Punk as the Iconoclastic truthteller in a world full of cowards who prefer stability to freedom. Individuals like The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) or Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) were the rich snob with undeniable charisma playing the crowds like a fiddle. What all these guys had in common was they didn’t need to speak for 30 minutes, they often had the audience eating out of the palm of their hand within 5-10 minutes. Sometimes they could accomplish with a 45 second vignette what could not be accomplished by others with an hour to speak.
Yet not everybody could be that great speaker. In its place, you had individuals who often read from a prepared script, and to make sure you understood them, would talk. and talk. And talk. AND TALK. During the 2010’s, WWE (the largest wrestling company) had a trope where the show would open with a 20 minute opening talking segment. Sometimes in the first hour of the show, 2-3 minutes would be devoted to the ring, over 50 minutes would be spent doing talking of some form or another.
While I am sure there will be some priests who take offense to this, it needs to be said: those of you preaching 20 minutes are the second category I discussed here. There’s absolutely some skill in being able to preach for 20 minutes on a subject, a certain technical brilliance behind it in many cases. Yet more often than not, that technical brilliance dies a death before the congregation. In many cases, the congregation smells the self indulgence in the air as the priest shows off what book he read, what detail from his life (where the priest is ALWAYS the hero doing virtuous things, because of course he is), and why gosh darn it he is just the greatest Christian ever. The purpose of the homily is not to show off how well read a priest is, or how thunderous he can be when he’s in his groove. It is to provide practical benefit to the audience on how to put in practice the gospel or the liturgy of that day.
Be a Better Speaker
The point of any speech is to connect with the audience, to make them feel something, and to guide them to something else. When Peter preached to the Jews on Pentecost, many were cut to the heart by a very brief speech, and were guided to Christ as a result. Priests should always ask themselves if their audience is receptive to what they are saying, and if what you are saying is actually leading towards changed lives. Like all good speakers, they should be introspective on what they can cut out. There is a huge temptation to say whatever you want when given an open mic, and it’s really easy to rationalize it by saying the congregation “needs to hear it.” In reality, often you feel you need to say it. When you focus on what you can give up in a speech while maintaining the core message, you’d be surprised how much of it can be cut, and how powerful one message supported by two points can be versus one message surrounded by 8 points. (If you need all 8 points to make your argument, there’s a chance your argument isn’t very good.)
So how long should the homily be? I think we need to be mindful of a legalistic mindset where you have to have a hard limit. Sometimes you might need to speak longer. Sometimes 5 minutes is okay, sometimes 15 minutes really is required in the moment. What I think should be the guiding principle is to state what is required, and nothing more. The motto should be GMSI: Get My Sermon In.