What is a homily?

A homily uses words. Of words, Alexander Solzhenitsyn said: "If they are not about real things, and do not cause things to happen, are they any better than the barking of village dogs at night?" If it is not to be the barking of dogs then Thomas Merton reminds us: "As it is handed down the Gospel must reach each one of us as brand-new, that is, as news and good news at that, or not at all."

If the homily is to be good news it must touch our hearts. A Hindu monk who was dying asked a Catholic priest to instruct him in the basics of the Christian faith. When the priest did so the old monk remarked: "You have filled my mind with beautiful thoughts but you have left my heart empty."

But more than being just words a homily is part of the liturgy. It is part of the dialogue between God and us, and between each other as we pray and sing and move in worship. The word "homily" comes from a Greek word, homilein, which means, "to converse".

The homily is not about the preacher speaking at people. It is part of a conversation within the people of God as we seek together to hear what God is saying to us in Word and Sacrament and through the events and people of our lives. That after all is how Jesus preached both at table with friends and on the lake side.

These homilies are offered not in the belief that they live up to these ideals. Rather, they are a contribution to the conversation. They are presented also as a way of holding the preacher accountable for what he says.