NEWS FEATURE: Helping the Preacher Preach His Best

c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ The typical priest may give more than 600 sermons a year. Three on Sunday, one daily, and that’s not counting all those baptisms, weddings and funerals. So how can an aging, shrinking priesthood, pressed with responsibilities from overseeing schools to making sure the light bill gets paid, give […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

CLEVELAND _ The typical priest may give more than 600 sermons a year.

Three on Sunday, one daily, and that’s not counting all those baptisms, weddings and funerals.


So how can an aging, shrinking priesthood, pressed with responsibilities from overseeing schools to making sure the light bill gets paid, give proper attention to each homily?

By setting priorities, say religious leaders in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, where there is a major effort to place renewed emphasis on homilies. At a recent biannual convocation of 275 priests, and in a peer coaching program involving 100 clerics, the Catholic Church here is encouraging clergymen to make the most of the one opportunity they have to connect with many of the region’s 1 million church members.

“The first call of the ordained is the proclamation of the Word,” said the Rev. Edward T. Estok, secretary to Bishop Anthony Pilla and director of continuing education and formation for ministers at the Center for Pastoral Leadership.

As a follow-up to a pastoral letter on preaching from Pilla, the diocese this year experimented with a pilot program where small groups of priests gathered to work with one another. For three months, the 20 priests involved would tape one of their sermons, get parishioner feedback, then meet to talk about what they were doing well and where they needed to improve.

In October, preaching was the subject of a one-day convocation of diocesan clergy. At that time, some 80 clergymen signed up to be part of the priests’ preaching support ministry.

It is one thing to talk about spending more time on homilies. But with retirements and deaths taking a toll on the priesthood, and few candidates entering the seminaries, it becomes difficult for priests in the field to give more attention to any aspect of ministry.

Some priests may increasingly turn to services that provide canned sermons or shave off preparation time for sermons. Generally, Catholic sermons last about 10 minutes on Sunday, and experts advise about an hour of preparation for each minute, Estok said.

No one is going to deliver a knockout sermon every time. And at 4 p.m. on a Saturday or 7 a.m. on a Sunday, a low-blood-sugar time for congregants, rousing the troops presents a challenge.


What priests can do is to re-evaluate their schedules and make a priority of sermons. That means someone else needs to deal with the faulty plumbing in the church school, and visiting the sick has to be a responsibility shared by church members.

“My primary responsibility is to the proclamation of the Word,” Estok said.

Among practical advice homilists offer to one another, knowing what you want to say and sticking to that idea is considered a key to an effective sermon.

“The biggest sin of all preachers is multiple points,” Estok said.

Along with sticking to one major point, preachers are advised against being long-winded. The ideal length for a Catholic sermon is eight to 10 minutes, Estok said.

Priests also are advised not to appear too rigid and to avoid pointing at congregants in a manner that appears scolding.

The Rev. Douglas M. Proehl of St. Angela Merici Church said he tries to avoid religious jargon, “what I call pious platitudes,” and tries to make connections with the daily lives of congregants.

On the other side of the pulpit, priests say, parishioners can help by offering positive criticism after Mass. It is disappointing for a priest who puts his heart and soul into a sermon not to hear any recognition from congregants at the church door after Mass.


Estok said there is a general impression priests are immune to parishioner reaction to their homilies, but “preachers are more sensitive about them than the general public thinks.”

And the Holy Spirit works both ways.

Not only does the priest have to be open to God speaking through him, but congregants have to be open to the Spirit themselves, priests say.

Part of that means listening to what the priest is saying instead of daydreaming or reading the bulletin during the homily.

Proehl remembers one couple telling him “after we made our parish renewal you became a better preacher.”

DEA END BRIGGS

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