O I do hope that the Holy Father takes up the suggestion of a "Year of Preaching", made by one of the Bishop's at the Synod. I was this evening [not in my home parish, incidentally, so I am protecting the anonymity of the guilty party] subjected to a homily that went off up a side alley, and then persisted in meandering around it well beyond the time that, at a political party conference, the red light would have gone on and the microphone been switched off ....
Now there is certainly an inappropriate way for the laity to criticise the parish priest's homily - especially if it has been that bit too "relevant" to their situation and challenged them in their living of the Christian life - and any criticism should not constitute an attack or attempt to undermine the parish priest. Criticism should also be offered courteously. But, on the other hand, there is a certain rightful accountability to which I think a parish priest can be held by his parishioners. A basic justice that a parish priest owes to his hearers is to decide properly what he wants to say, and to undertake a basic level of preparation of it, before he arrives at the ambo or pulpit; and then to resist any temptation to meander off ........
At Mass the lay faithful are rather a captive audience, and I can't help but feel that that is sometimes open to abuse by a parish priest.
On a more positive point. How often do parish priests ask their parishioners what they would like them to preach about? If the homily is intended to meet the pastoral needs of the hearers, this seems a fairly basic way of the parish priest trying to achieve that. It doesn't mean that he has to say what the punters want to hear, but he can at least try to address their anxieties.
I tried this some years ago when I was asked to give a talk to the parents of the children making their first Holy Communion in the parish. I (innocently, in teacher mode) assumed that the parish priest would have an idea of a topic to fit in with his programme of four parents sessions. "Oh, anything you like" was the unhelpful reply from him. So off I went to do my market research among the parents. I did get some useful pointers from one parent, and the following gem from another, this latter in the foyer of our local Sainsbury's, on a Saturday morning, in rather a loud voice: "Oh, sex, drugs and rock and roll". I didn't at the time, but now wish I had gently pointed out that I was too young to remember those days ...
If you want to know what I actually said, read "The Presence of Jesus in the Family" in FAITH Magazine May/June 2003. The talk as delivered wasn't quite as academic as the write up of it, particularly the section about the Liturgy.
2 comments:
I think the Parish Priest knew you were an "excellent" man in the Parish and he could rely on you to deliver an apt talk to the parents- you should be pleased you were trusted
Now I wouldn't go too much on the "excellent man" - sounds rather too much like the viri probati that the advocates of married priests talk about ordaining ...
I suppose I was pleased to be trusted, but I was a bit surprised that a parish could have a four-session programme for parents without really planning ahead what the content of the sessions was going to be ...
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