Liturgical Footnote #14: The Homily
Jesus, as the Divine Logos (“Word”), is eternal. He always was, is, and always will be. However, as the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel makes clear, “The Word (in the Greek, Logos) became flesh and dwelt among us.” In other words, the Eternal Son entered into time, into history, by becoming the Incarnate Word. Since Jesus lived in a particular period of history, and in a particular culture, He used the language, expressions, and images of that culture at that time in history. While the words of Scripture are truly Living words which continue to have meaning and value for us today (they are eternal), the manner of their expression can be difficult to understand and fully appreciate at times because they are “dated.” For example, what is a “denarius”? We do not use that term today, in English (it was equal to one day’s pay). To fully appreciate the Eternal Word being expressed in Scripture we often need to have it brought into terms that we understand today. This is why in the seminary, more than any other single subject, the Scriptures are studied. It is the purpose of the homily to explain the Living Word of Scripture.
The GIRM #65 states, “The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended, for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life.” For this reason, the homily really should never be omitted on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and it is highly recommended even at daily Mass, particularly in the seasons of Advent and Lent. The homily should be an explanation of some aspect of the Scripture readings for that Mass or some other text from the Mass (e.g., explaining the Eucharistic Prayer, talking about the Solemnity, feast, or saint of the day). The homilist is suppose to take into account “both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (GIRM #65). One thing this suggests is that as a priest gets to know his congregation better, his homily should start to be geared toward their own manner of expression, images, and even challenge the particular congregation in the areas of the Christian life they need to work on to a greater extent. The homily may only be given by an ordained minister.
Sometimes you might hear someone make a distinction between a homily and a sermon. Some people might say that a sermon is done at a setting other than Mass, or more instructional and old-fashioned, whereas a homily is done at Mass and focuses on the Scriptures. As one author put it, “the idea that there is a subtle difference in content is moonshine….” (Randolph, Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread, p. 80). Basically the difference is one of languages; in Greek the word homilia means sermon or “homily,” whereas in Latin the word is sermo. For some reason, after Vatican Council II, the Greek terms became more in fashion instead of the Latin (as a side note: Vatican Council II did not “forbid” the use of Latin and mandate the use of the vernacular. While the Council did suggest that the use of the vernacular be expanded, it explicitly stated that the Latin language was to be maintained in the Liturgy, especially the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, to facilitate the celebration of Mass when the Faithful from different countries and/or language groups are present. So, how’s your Latin?).
