The server has been down and so I have been unable to post - or do a lot of things for that matter. My, how this Luddite has become dependent upon technology. I have tried to temper this drastic change in my lifestyle by buying and old underwood typewriter. WOW, what nostalgia. I miss that sound. Of course it also reminds me of writing papers in college, going to a room in Bierce Library, putting a quarter in the slot (half an hour) and using an electric typewriter (oooh! advanced technology) to write term papers.
Remember? Move to the center of the page. Back space half of your title in order to center it on the page. . .
Maybe it wasn't as great as I remember.
ANYWAY
Paragraph 65 concerns the homily. There is so much I want to say about it but that is not the purpose of Friday Potpourri SAVE THIS which His Holiness, Pope Frances said about the homily in "The Joy of the Gospel," "We know that the faithful attach great importance (to homilies) and that both they and their ordained ministers suffer because of homilies; the laity from having to listen to them and the clergy from having to preach them!"
It is interesting to note that the homily is highly recommended but not alway demanded. How different this is from our Protestant brothers and sisters many of whose services almost entirely consist of preaching. (I've often wondered what an Envagelical preacher does if he should find himself utterly alone on a Sunday. I could still have Mass. Does he still preach? But I digress.)
The homily should touch on the readings, the propers of the Mass, the mystery being celebrated, and the needs of the people. (Not all of them all the time . . . but you get the idea.)
The only time homilies are required are Sundays and holy days of obligation that is celebrated when the congregation is present. So say I am alone in a log cabin in the middle of the woods on Sunday and want to celebrate Mass. I don't have to give a homily to myself.
The homily is to be given by the celebrant, or, it may be delegated to a concelebrating priest or the deacon and that pretty much ends the list save for a rare occasion of a non-celebrating clergy, for good reason, stepping in to give the homily say at a parish that has seven Masses and the missionary comes out to give his appeal without having to be at every Mass.
That is not to say that lay people cannot preach. They certainly can. Just not at Mass. We have all kinds of opportunities if it seems good for the parish for this to take place (this is not in this chapter by the way.) Liturgy of the Hours, benedictions, missions, festivals of praise and worship are all examples of possibilities of this taking place.
1 comment:
On an old Underwood typewriter . . . one like the picture in your post . . . . . I taught myself how to type . My father had one in his office. I still have it . . . down in the basement. I took it to a local typewriter repair guy for cleaning. He said he didn't want to fool around with it . . . cleaning it was too labor intensive. It's an heirloom.
rmk
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