Pope Francis —REUTERS
Feeling like a lost, drowsy sheep during long and winding homilies in your church? Here’s the good news: the Pope totally understands.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church has again advised priests to keep their sermon under 10 minutes lest they lose their flock to dreamland, so to speak.
“After eight minutes, preaching gets dispersive and no one understands,” he said in an off-the-cuff remark during his general audience on Wednesday at St. Peter’s Square.
“Never go over 10 minutes, ever! This is very important. Priests must not preach about themselves but about the Gospel,” he added, drawing applause from the gathering.
The Pope noted that certain sermons could go on for 20 to 30 minutes. But for the preaching to be effective, it must have “one idea, one sentiment, and one invitation to action”—all delivered within 10 minutes.
Earlier reminders
The 87-year-old Pontiff gave a similar reminder to the clergy in June—when he said an eight-minute homily would do—and in February 2018.
When he first talked about it in 2018, he also asked churchgoers to be patient with the limitations of their priests and still make an effort to actively listen to the homily.
READ: Drastic change? On the Pope’s advice to keep homilies short
“Those listening have to do their part, too,’’ he then said. “They must give the appropriate attention, thus assuming the proper interior dispositions, without subjective demands, knowing that every preacher has both his merits and his limits.”
For Filipino Catholics, the Pope’s reminder to the priests came 11 days before the start of the traditional dawn Masses or “Simbang Gabi,” the nine-day predawn services leading to Christmas Day.