With most Filipino Catholics unable to read the Bible regularly and Sunday Masses the only occasions where they encounter the Word of God, Pope Francis has pointed out that “the homily priests deliver can actually be an intense and spiritual experience for the faithful as it becomes a consoling encounter with the Holy Spirit as a constant source of renewal and growth (Evangelii Gaudium, 135).
However, the pontiff also noted that this unfortunately does not happen in many instances, which perhaps is the reason why he included a chapter about the homily in his encyclical.

Francis thus spelled out that it is truly a disservice to the liturgical assembly if the presider does not prepare for the homily—(attendees), he said, deserve pastors who take seriously their task of giving a good homily.

He mentioned that among the many responsibilities of the Church’s pastors are being called to be good preachers, after all, as Canon 767 §1 puts it, “among the forms of preaching, the homily, which is part of the liturgy itself and is reserved to a priest or deacon, is pre-eminent.”

This raises the question that since existing Church policy prevents qualified lay people from giving the homily, should pastors then allot the necessary time and effort for their homily?

In support of the pope’s pronouncement, Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Department of Theology associate professor Ruben Mendoza cited that in the past, Filipino priests were the most educated and even the most intelligent members of the local community, but those days are gone as at present, many lay people are more educated and intelligent than them.

“Some lay people have received more theological education than their ordained ministers and some are better public speakers than priests. In this context, our preachers mustn’t give patronizing homilies in which they presume that their listeners know little about what they are preaching,” Mendoza disclosed.

As an example, the Ateneo professor recalled hearing a priest criticize feminism in his homily and sadly, Mendoza noted, what the priest knew about feminism was only a caricature of it.

“His critique was more reflective of his biases than the shortcomings of what he was criticizing. (So), the saying, ‘A little learning is dangerous’, is very true,” he said.

“I know that not all our ordained ministers are good public speakers. They might not have the gift of the gab, but the important thing is that, despite their limitations, they make the necessary effort to prepare good sermons. Doing so means they must be steeped in the Word of God. It demands that they update themselves on contemporary biblical scholarship and, more importantly, pray over the Word of God,” he added.

To conclude, Mendoza urged pastors and priests that for them to give relevant and meaningful homilies, they should be reminded of the words of Pope Francis that are truly instructive: “The preacher also needs to keep his ear to the people and to discover what it is that the faithful need to hear. A preacher has to contemplate the word, but he also has to contemplate his people (Evangelii Gaudium, 154).”