What's wrong with homilies today? Elizabeth Tenety, who contributes to the Washington Post's provocative and always-interesting On Faith section, sums it up for her generation with this entry, which blames it all on "Christianity Lite."
Take a look:
Advocates of the Latin Mass often cite the banal music in our churches as reason enough to bring back the ethereal rite of old. While they insist that the mystery and grandeur are the missing elements in our liturgies, and the Latin Mass the solution, I have noticed another looming problem, one not easily fixed by Latin elements:Thank YOU, Elizabeth.
The Christianity preached from our Catholic pulpits is totally lame.
In my family, we have a running joke about the bland predictability of homilies. If one family member is suspected of having not attended mass on a particular Sunday, another may use reasonable measures to determine the individual's guilt or innocence.
"What was the homily about?" we may inquire of the suspect.
"Love. It was about loving God and loving your neighbor."
Can't argue with that response! Because what I have heard preached from Southern California to Boston, Massachusetts, is a charming, neat, and terribly bland "Love one another." "Be nice."
I've somewhat irreverently taken to referring to the kind of homilies that string together terms like "love your neighbor as yourself," "God among us," and "Blessed Mary Ever Virgin," but lack any real substance, as "Theological B.S." Sure the priest talked for twenty minutes. But he could have told us to "just be nice," and "trust in God." It would have saved us all a lot of time and really said the same darn thing anyway.
Critics call this lackluster brand of Christianity which tries to make people feel good 'Christianity Lite.' This religion fits in quite charmingly with that nice sweater set, our 2.2 kids, recently purchased S.U.V and the 470 pounds of food that each American household throws away each year. This religion doesn't disturb people. We wouldn't want that Jesus guy to get in the way of our comfort now, would we?
Or would we?
Shane Claiborne is a Christian who started a faith based ministry in Inner-City Philadelphia. His organization, The Simple Way, is a community of faith that serves the people of Philadelphia in many different ways –from feeding homeless, to tutoring children, to living as modern-day monastics. On Krista Tippitt's Speaking of Faith program, Claiborne spoke about the perilous threat of Christianity Lite:
I'm convinced that if the Christian church loses this generation, it will be not because we didn't entertain them, but because we didn't dare them, you know, with the truth of the world. And it won't be because we'd made the Gospel too hard, but because we made it too easy, and we just played games with kids and didn't actually challenge them to think about how they live.
Thank you, Shane. Thank you.
She has more in her post about bad Catholic music, too. Give it a look.
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6 comments:
Oh, AMEN! In our house we call it, "the special" homily, "special people, special love, special God..." and it's all we've heard for the past 30 years. When a priest does come up with a challenge, it's not the kids who object. It's the boomers.
It is true that good homilies are rare at many parishes. If I want any kind of challenge in the Chicago area, I can head over to mass at Saint John Cantius. While good homilies are rare, they are not extinct. I know one priest in the NW suburbs here who is quite fearless in his homilies and in his public faithfulness to the Gospel and to the Church.
That aside, the reasons for bad homilies are pretty much the same as for bad liturgy, bad music, the watering down of Catholic education from primary school through graduate school, lousy modern church architecture, etc. Why would homilies be an exception to the rule of contemporary banality?
So true!
The lack of challenge to 'take up your cross and follow Christ' in homilies is a seriously problem.
My friends and I joke about the "Jesus loves you" homilies. I mean, we know that Jesus loves us... I don't think we have to be told every week. At some point the same simplistic message weekly is actually insulting.
After 30+ years as a Catholic it wasn't until I went to St. John Cantius that I ever heard a homily about abortion, contraception or really anything challenging. Now when I am challenged I LOVE it.
My wife, I, and a growing band from our small parish will make the trip to St. John Cantius on occasion JUST for the "sacredness" of the liturgy, the music (or lack thereof on occasion) is a bonus...but it is the RESPECT of "where you are and what you're involved in here..." that is what makes us take up this 280 mile round trip. THIS is the Catholic Church that most long far I believe. It is the job of every single Catholic, lay and cleric, to pick up that cross and start lifting it so high...no one will miss seeing it! We have a very short window of opportunity I think to bring back the sacredness.
It starts with our homilies...we simply must start challenging our congregations...and become willing to lead by example.
My local priest is fairly young and I think preaches some good homilies. He tends to follow the idea that "laughter succeeds where lecturing fails," so they tend to both funny and theologically rich.
You've hit the nail on the head.
I think we should all pretend to fall asleep through such sermons, just to get the message across to the preacher!
What do you think?
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