Sunday, April 19, 2015

Superficial Preaching - Priests need to preach the Gospel and not themselves!


Here is a video that explains how I feel most of the time. As a convert to the faith and someone who struggles a lot with lust and acedia, when I go to Mass there is nothing more upsetting or off putting than a priest who does not preach the GOSPEL or explains the FAITH but instead espouses wish washy pop-psychology. I went to Mass last week on Divine Mercy Sunday and the monsignor of the Cathedral preached all about political issues relating to refugees and asylum seekers, not once did he mention of expand on the Gospel or even try to weave the theme of Social Justice into the biblical readings of the day. He was more interested in getting us all the take pamphlets home from a writer who had written about the Government's anti-immigration policies instead of Zealously preaching the Gospel. I was infuriated!

Catholic priests need to start realising how important the homily is. The homily is something sacred, it is not the place or time to be expressing personal opinions. It is the time to explain the Word of God, it is the time to feed the faithful from the Table of the Word before feeding them from the Altar. Pope Francis in Evangelii gaudium even goes so far to say that the homily is actually part of the sacrifice of the Mass itself! :

138. When preaching takes place within the context of the liturgy, it is part of the offering made to the Father and a mediation of the grace which Christ pours out during the celebration. This context demands that preaching should guide the assembly, and the preacher, to a life-changing communion with Christ in the Eucharist. This means that the words of the preacher must be measured, so that the Lord, more than his minister, will be the centre of attention.

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