Father Dario Viganò, director of "Cinema" and president of Ente dello Spettacolo, an Italian foundation dedicated to the cinema, as well as president of the Redemptor Hominis Pontifical Institute at the Pontifical Lateran University, spoke with L'Osservatore Romano about the recipe for a good homily.
Some highlights, from Zenit:
Despite its complexity, Father Viganò pointed out two important aspects to ensure that a homily achieves its communicative objective: the consistency of the preacher's life and the brevity and concreteness of the message.
Quoting a phrase of St. Bernardine of Siena, patron of advertisers, the priest emphasized that the key lies in the clarity of the homily. "The preacher must speak very, very clearly, so that the listener will leave satisfied and illumined, and not dazzled."
In regard to consistency, the author recalled a phrase from philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who said that "the difference between a pastor and an actor is precisely the existential moment: The pastor must be poor when he preaches about poverty; he must be slandered when he exhorts to endurance in slander. While the actor has the task of deceiving by eliminating the existential moment, the preacher in fact has the duty, in the most profound sense, to preach with his own life."
In regard to brevity, the priest explained that it is a question of avoiding both "non-existent homilies" as well as "endless homilies."
"St. Francis," Father Viganò recalled "exhorted his friars to use pondered and chaste words in their preaching, for the usefulness and edification of the people, proclaiming to the faithful the vices and virtues, the punishment and glory, with a brief speech, because on earth the Lord spoke brief words."
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3 comments:
The best book on homiletics I've come across - I return to it frequently - is Naming Grace by Mary Catherine Hilkert. The best advice I ever recieved regarding homilies came from a former pastor who said, "Keep it on a single topic." Most readings have a dozen or more possible topics that could be expanded upon. It also helps that one of the ushers gives me 7 minutes, then he stands at the back of the church giving me the "wrap it up" sign.
Shortly after ordination, our homiletics teacher gave each of us this book, "How To Make Homilies Better, Briefer, Bolder." It's quite good.
But I've found the best resource is reading and hearing really good homilies. My favorite homilist is Fr. Jim Schmitmeyer, who used to have a web site called Blue Collar Preacher. His stuff is superb. Check out his book, "Preacher in a Hard Hat." He's taught homiletics in his native Ohio and I'd love to hear him preach someday.
Looks terrific, I'll order a copy. He makes the same point Hilkert makes - homilies need to connect the Good News with the lives of the people. When a homily leaves me flat, it's usually because the preacher (sometimes myself) has wandered off into a rarified realm far removed from the listener's everyday lives, or the preacher has resorted to a finger wagging reproachful homily. Thanks for the tip.
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