Good homilies make good Catholics

Most priests want to give homilies that wake people up and inspire them to be more faithful and effective Catholics in everyday life. When I talk with friends who have left the Catholic church, the number one reason I get that they left was poor preaching and poor witnessing. This is especially true of those who left for the evangelical churches. Catholic priests as a group have the reputation of being poor preachers; delivering poor homilies.

As a Catholic lay person, I’ve been on the receiving end of homilies for 34 years (35 years this coming April 30, 2019). I have heard excellent homilies and homilies that nearly put me to sleep. Unlike the average layperson, however, I get to attend conferences and seminars on public speaking and on delivering effective homilies just to enhance my knowledge on sermons and public liturgy. Putting my experience and my education on applied linguistics together, here are some ways I think any priest can be a more effective homilist.

First, priests should avoid giving hardcore preaching. Mr. Webster has no definition for hardcore preaching. But as a lector/commentator myself, I get to listen to homilies almost everyday. And for me hardcore preaching is the very intense way of preaching on morality; on what is right and wrong; on values and profanity. There is nothing wrong with preaching. But if this kind of homily is done habitually, then churchgoers start to look for a sign of witnessing from the preacher-priest. At the end of every Holy Mass, churchgoers would feel that heaviness and conscience-stricken emotion brought about by that hardcore preaching. This becomes negative to churchgoers and would discourage them from attending Holy Mass.

Second, priests should not be always teaching in his homily. Personally, I would rather listen to a hardcore preach than to listen to a homily which is full of teaching. A homily which has the element of teaching is VERY BORING. It is like listening to a classroom teaching inside the church. Classroom teaching now is integrative and interactive especially in language classrooms. The priest should be very charismatic to make the churchgoers glued to his teachings whether it is bible or moral teachings.

Finally, priests should deliver a homily which is a combination of preaching and teaching under the guise of inspirational sermon. The Sta. Ana Shrine Parish now is fortunate to have priests who can deliver good homilies. I would like to mention Fr. Abonales because I get to listen to his homilies almost everyday. He has a little of teaching; sometimes no hardcore preaching. But his homilies are always inspiring and from the heart (or maybe it is based from his experiences). Fr. Bantiles has been in Sta. Ana Shrine Parish for the last 6 years and his homilies are always inspiring to me. He is actually second to Msgr. Labagala when it comes to being a good homilist. Good homilies feed and quench the thirsting souls of the Catholic faithfuls whose main reason in attending a Holy Mass is to listen to a good sermon.

Therefore, the last 34 years of my life has made me become a good Catholic because I was nurtured with good homilies in Sta. Ana Shrine Parish.

(Thanks to the following priests whose homilies made me a better person now, according to their appearance in Sta. Ana Shrine Parish: Msgr. Nardz, Fr. Gamaya, Fr. Campeon, Fr. Tabiliran, Fr. Cubero, Fr. Dalumpines, Fr. Retorca, Msgr. Cuison, Fr. Angelia, Fr. Autida, Fr. Mandreza, Fr. Meñez, Msgr. Gorgonio, Fr. Montero, Fr. Ribac, Fr. Dela Victoria – currently the parish priest of Sta. Ana Shrine, and Archbishop Capalla)