

























Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     113 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C H A P T E R  8  
 

 

 

Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly 

Ministry and Challenges in 

Contemporary Homiletics 
 

Lawrence Ekhayemhe ADOROLO 

 

 

 

Introduction 

The use of the concept, Liturgical homily has its foundation on the 

liturgy and the spirit of the liturgy which has its profound meaning in 

the actual celebration. The word liturgy is from the Greek word 

“Leitourgia”  and which is from two-component words laos – people 

and ergon – work. Thus, the liturgy was a concept used for the work 

carried out by the people. It means public work of any kind, 

particularly in the civil life of the people.1 But as time went on, it 

became a concept used in the religious services in the temple. 

Following the etymological meaning of the word, liturgy, we can say 

that liturgy is the public and official worship of the Church.”2 In the 

history of the Church, this has been a general understanding of the 

term liturgy as expressed in the worship and the rites.3 

 The use of this concept culminated in the papal encyclical of 

Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei.4  The document states that: “the Sacred 
Liturgy is consequently, the public worship which our Redeemer as 

Head of the Church renders to the Father, as well as the worship 

which the community of the faithful renders to its founder, and 

through Him to the heavenly father. It is, in short, the worship 

rendered by the mystical body of Christ in the entirety of its Head and 



114   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

members.”5 This was the line followed by the constitution of the 

second Vatican council on the sacred liturgy, which consequently 

emphasized active and conscious participation of the faithful in the 

spirit of every liturgical celebration. We must note here that Christ is 

always present in the Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. 

Thus, he is present in his word since it is himself who speaks when 

the holy scriptures are read and preached to us in liturgical 

celebrations.6 It is in the homily that the actual power of the Word is 

made manifest. The term ‘homily’ has a wide range of definitions. 
For some, it is a biblical sermon; for others, a doctrinal talk, some say 

its aim is to edify a congregation; others give as its purpose, moral 

instruction. Even among the Christian churches, there is a diversity of 

usage. Many protestant still prefer the word “sermon,” even when 

they refer to preaching that occurs within the liturgy. When they do 

use the word “homily” they describe it as walking through the text, 
step by step.”7 Roman Catholics on the other hand, now widely use 

“homily” for the renewed form of preaching ushered in by the 

liturgical reform of Vatican Council II; it is that form of preaching 

which flows from and immediately follows the scriptural readings of 

the liturgy and which lead to the celebration of the sacraments. In 

current Roman Catholic Parlance “homily” is distinguished from 
“sermon” where the latter is a form of preaching that is not 
necessarily connected to the biblical readings and is heard outside the 

context of the liturgy; homily, on the other hand, is a popular 

exposition and application of the scripture. A homily must have the 

following characteristics: biblical, liturgical, kerygmatic and must be 

familiar.8 

 The word “homily” from its etymology is derived from the 
Greek word “homou” (together) and “homilos (a crowd). The word 

connotes a familiar conversation with a group of people or a pastor 

conversing with a flock in words and images that they recognize. The 

crowd is not some haphazard mob of strangers but a gathering of 

friends, people familiar to the preacher. It is not a conversation of 

imposition or of persuasion.9 

 However, for the purpose of this work, the liturgical homily 

should be understood as an interpretation primarily from the scriptural 

and liturgical sources to show God’s wonderful action in the history 
of salvation, particularly as it is related to the specific community 

being addressed. Thus, it is a type of interpretation drawn from the 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     115 

 

 

 

scripture to make practical application to the spiritual life of the 

worshipping assembly.10 

 This work attempts to discuss the theology of liturgical 

homily. It seeks first by establishing a clearer understanding of the 

concept; its nature and theological basis. It further attempts to 

examine the role of liturgical homily and subsequently to discuss 

some of the problems in the practice of liturgical homiletics. It 

highlights some of the common practices today. This paper concludes 

with some recommendations to advance faithful adherence and 

practice as a liturgical action in the spirit and mind of the Church. 

 

The Nature Of Liturgical Homily 

The word ‘homily is not a conversation or persuasion but rather a 
discussion like the one the two disciples engaged in as they were on 

their way to Emmaus (cf. Luk. 24:14). In the discussion, one noticed 

that the Lord’s interpretation of the things that went on in Jerusalem 

“these past days” is different from their own. In every liturgical 
homily, the preacher shed light on the word of God and makes the 

heart of the assembly burn. The preacher does not force his preaching 

upon listeners. The familiar conversation on the road to Emmaus 

shows that homily is more than information; it is the interpretation 

that leads to recognition of the good news. 

 With a backdrop from the Greek etymology of homily which 

means familiar conversation Chibuko sees the nature of liturgical 

homily as a familiar conversation on the very mysteries of Christ.11 

He notes that liturgical homily consists of the systematic exposition of 

the scripture readings or of some particular aspects of them, or of 

some other texts taken from the Ordo or proper of the Mass of the 

day, having regard for the mystery being celebrated or the special 

needs of those who hear it.12 more so the character of the homily 

should be biblical. It must be on interpretation of the scriptural texts. 

This is thus a distinguishing mark of preaching liturgical homilies. 

The aim or paramount importance of every liturgical homily is the 

spiritual feeding of the faithful. This would justify why the liturgy of 

the word could rightly be called the “table of the word” this 
nourishment prepares the faithful for the nourishment that comes up 



116   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

again at the second table at the liturgy of the Eucharist, which is the 

“table of the Body and Blood”.  
 In a distinct and expository fashion, Robert Waznark gave 

some of the characteristics of a homily which are: biblical, liturgical, 

kerygmatic and familiar.13 By biblical, he means an exposition and 

interpretation of some sacred texts and that the preaching should have 

a scriptural basis; by liturgical he meant that the word is made flesh 

again in the liturgy celebrated; Thus, this preaching is done within the 

liturgical celebration. ‘Kerymatic’ on the other hand connotes 
preaching that has a herald metaphor which is beyond the words of a 

mere human messenger but the word of God spoken through a 

messenger. “Familiar conversation” talks of a familiar style in the 

communication of this word, that is a familiar conversation with a 

group of people or a pastor conversing with a flock in words and 

images that they recognized.14 Despite the developing trends of the 

meaning of liturgical homily today, the above four characteristic 

marks still help to define and explore the nature of liturgical homily. 

However, they can be further nuanced in the light of liturgical praxis 

and cultural shifts. Be that as it may, every homily must be prophetic 

in nature. Meaning it should be able to move from an interpretation of 

scripture to life, to the interpretation of our daily life to scripture.15 

 By nature, every homily is first to proclaim the Word of God, 

not our personal irritations or convictions and then preaching about 

the signs of God in the lives of the people. The homilist should never 

be the focus of the homily; he should avoid personal references, 

mixed metaphors, and negative associations. Rather, it should be 

coherent and brief.16 Patrick Chibuko discussing the nature of 

liturgical homily says every homily “should be sufficiently biblical, 
theological in content and rooted in sound doctrine. It should have a 

tinge of newness to a familiar topic, should be in time with the 

liturgical season or occasion, be based on the eternal truth of the 

Gospel and the Paschal mystery of Christ.17 Furthermore, the nature 

of liturgical homily shows that it is not a time the preacher gives his 

personal views about current theological debates. However, these are 

useful in the liturgical homily in so far as thy help the preacher to 

unfold the mystery of faith being celebrated and help the faithful to 

appreciate the faith that they are celebrating and to profess it stoutly 

in their lives. It should consist of only the exposition of the Word of 

God as contained in the scriptures in such a way as to bring home its 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     117 

 

 

 

saving and liberating truth to the hearers, enabling them to understand 

that truth in relation to their daily lives in the world which Christ 

came to redeem and which those who are in Christ are called to serve. 

This ministry of preaching must be done articulately and effectively. 

It is not at such time the preacher learns oratory or exercises 

personality power, rather it is the holy spirit who uses the word of the 

minister to bring home to the hearers the truth of the scriptural 

message for them.18 This does not mean that the preacher need not 

spend hours of prayer and study in preparation of his homily; 

although it is God who gives the increase, the labour of planting and 

watering must be done by the human minister (cf. 1 Cor. 3:6). Hence, 

every liturgical homily must be a proclamation with special relevance 

to the existential situation of those who are addressed. 

 Homily by nature is not picking one or the other phrase or 

idea from a gospel or an epistle and using it as the basis of moralizing 

which has little or no relation to the rest of the word of God nor any 

connection with the sacred banquet into which the whole liturgy of 

the word is supposed to lead the people.19 Its character should be that 

of the proclamation of God’s wonderful work in the history of 
salvation, the mystery of Christ ever made present and active within 

us. The object of every homily is to draw from the texts the message 

of salvation, which they contain and to confront the present 

congregation with it as if they were hearing it for the first time. In 

other words, no matter what the text may be, it is always the gospel 

that we preach, or more precisely, what we proclaim. Hence we must 

say that whatever we ourselves may feel about it, to turn aside from 

this proclamation and to substitute instruction or moral exhortation 

for the direct preaching of the word in the liturgy is foreign to the 

very idea of liturgical homily and indeed of preaching itself.20 

 In a nutshell, the preacher does two things in every liturgical 

homily: to teach and move; to teach the virtues and vices: the virtues 

to make them loved, practised and cling to; the vices to have them 

detested fought and flown. You to have to give light to the reason and 

warmth to the will. Preachers are always to tie their liturgical homily 

to one of the four fundamentals: faith morals, sacraments and prayer 

that remain the foundations of the present Roman catechism.21 

 



118   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

Theological Backgroud Of Liturgical Homily 

My attempt here in providing a theological background to liturgical 

homily will include a biblical foundation (Old and New Testaments), 

the patristic period, the magisterial and some contemporary 

theologians on liturgical homily. 

 

Liturgical Homily in the Old Testament: The Old Testament 

contains a great deal of liturgical celebration and rites presided over 

by the elders of the people of Israel. The entire bible is borne out of 

the liturgical celebration of the people and presided over by elders.22 

Therefore, the tradition of exposition of biblical readings is found in 

the Jewish synagogue. It was a tradition of interpreting and applying 

the scriptural message to the contemporary situation like other 

elements of Christian liturgy, this particular ecclesial form of 

preaching which saw an amazing development during the patristic era 

is rooted in Judaism, especially in the synagogue worship of Jesus’s 
time. This consisted essentially of a liturgy of the word, which is 

composed of four parts: The reading of the Torah, reading from the 

Prophets, the Homily and prayer. The synagogue homily being a 

reflection of the entire biblical tradition is completely original with 

respect to the other cults. It is associated with the word and its special 

importance for these people, among whom it is constantly re-

actualized in the face of new events and the demands of fidelity to the 

covenant. 

 However, two texts give us a very good idea of the function of 

the synagogue homily and sum up its history. Neh. 8:18 tells us how 

Ezra read from the book of the law of God interpreting and explaining 

its meaning so that everyone could understand the reading. Luke 4:21 

recounts the words with which Jesus, in the synagogue at Nazareth, 

introduces his commentary on the reading of Isaiah 6:1-2 “today this 
scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”23 

 

New Testament: The Sabbath bible reading custom which had to be 

followed by clarifying explanation was for our Lord the main 

opportunity for preaching the Word of God to receptive hearers and to 

proclaim his kingdom.24 In the New Testament, we find many 

elements that lead to the Christian homily. 

 On the way to Emmaus, the two disciples in their words 

express disappointment. Then Jesus appears and began to explain to 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     119 

 

 

 

them the scripture beginning from the Old to the New Testament. At 

the end of the explanation, there was the breaking of bread and they 

recognized him. Through the explanation of the word, their hearts 

were burning with joy and the joy came to fullness in the breaking of 

bread.25 This is a wonderful example of what happens at every 

liturgical celebration where a well prepared and delivered homily 

precedes the celebration of the sacraments. Jesus taught them the full 

meaning of the scripture. In the feeding of the five thousand people 

(5000), Jesus taught them before giving them something to eat. He, 

first of all, taught them and then fed them (Matt. 14:13-21). Also at 

the last supper, he taught them before the celebration.26 

 On the same tradition with Jesus, the apostles, therefore, 

examine the Old Testament for words and events that are fulfilled in 

the mystery of Christ. The first Christian communities express their 

faith awareness that Christ is present among them through the word 

and sacraments of the church. The Acts of the Apostles constantly 

gives us a glimpse of Paul as he “converses” with his communities 
assembled in the name of the Lord. At Antioch in Pisidia, Paul and 

Barnabas, in similar circumstances were ordered by the rulers of the 

synagogue to direct “a word of encouragement to the assembly (cf. 
Acts 13:15). One could be right to say that during the apostolic era as 

we have it in the New Testament; the homily was an effort by the 

apostles to proclaim the good news of Jesus through whom God has 

acted and continued to act in our lives. 

 

Patristic Era: The exposition of scripture continued in the liturgical 

preaching of the early Christian churches. The witness of Justin to the 

preaching of the homily as an established liturgical practice would 

always remain a credible reference point for subsequent liturgical 

tradition. His description of a second century liturgy preaching 

contains one reliable information which is very old about the homily 

at Mass: “On the day called Sunday all gather in the same place, 

whether they live in the city or in the country: the memories of the 

apostles or the writing of the prophets are read for long as time 

allows. When the reader has finished, the president delivers a 

discourse (Logos) urging and exhorting us to imitate these good 

examples …”27 The basic characteristic of the patristic homily is that 



120   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

in Christian homilies three methods are involved; Reading of the 

sacred text, detailed explanation of what has been read, and 

contemplation of the mysteries in their realization.28 This was a show 

of strong desire to proclaim the things of God in human terms. This 

era was displayed in essence what liturgical homily ought to be, 

namely an informal conversation by a pastor of souls with his people 

during a liturgical action based on the biblical texts presented by the 

liturgy. There was an emphasis on the essential elements of a homily 

which is derived from the fact that it is given during a liturgical 

action.29 

 Furthermore, this era through Origen strove through 

allegorical exegesis to adapt the scripture to all levels of the 

congregation through the homily, to describe the familiar style in 

which preaching is done. It was a style that is direct and free, a 

manifestation of mystical exegesis of scripture, practical application 

and final exhortation, but the tone set is one of familiar 

conversation.30 

 Also, the systematic reflections in Christian preaching by two 

greatest homilists: St John Chrysostom and St. Augustine were proud 

and stimulating during this era.31 This, as it were, is not the 

place to offer an extended exposition of the Patristic Fathers’ 
contribution to the theology of preaching or the relation of preaching 

to the sacraments. But it suffices to say that their sources and 

contributions on homiletics provide much valuable information and 

bedrock for a liturgical homily. The writings of the Fathers of the East 

and West supply much valuable insight in this regard.32 Therefore, in 

general, it can be confidently stated that the patristic Fathers of the 

Church commonly teach that God is actively present in the reading of 

the scripture and the preaching of the Word of God in every liturgical 

celebration. 

 

The Magisterium: In the Church’s magisterium, the ground for the 
renewed vigour towards the abundant use of the scriptures in the life 

of Christians was softened especially by Pope Leo XII in his 

encyclical letter, Providentissimus Deus (1833), by Pope Benedict XI 

in his letter Spiritus Paraclitus (1920), and by Pope Pius XII’s Divino 

Afflante Spiritu (1943). Indeed sacred scriptures are of paramount 

importance in the celebration of the liturgy, especially in the 

Eucharistic Celebration,33 for it inspires the other prayers and songs of 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     121 

 

 

 

the Eucharistic celebration, all the action and signs of liturgy derive 

their meaning from the scripture.34 

 With this, it becomes the good wish of the Fathers of the 

Second Vatican Council that easy access to the sacred scripture 

should be provided for all the Christian Faithful not only by merely 

reading the Word of the sacred scriptures but above all through 

exposure to a biblical-based homily. Hence, Sacrosanctum Concilium 

(SC) states that the Sacred Scriptures is of the greatest importance in 

the celebration of the liturgy. From it are drawn the lessons which are 

read and which are explained in the homily.35 Furthermore, it says 

that “by means of the homily, the mystery of faith and the guiding 
principle of the Christian life are expounded from sacred texts during 

the course of the liturgical year.36 

 The Code of Canon law in canon 767 paragraphs three and 

four went further to recommend that “if a sufficient number of people 
are present, there should be a homily at weekday Masses, also 

especially during advent and lent or on a feast day or an occasion of 

grief. It is the responsibility of the Parish Priest or the Rector of a 

church to ensure that these provisions are carefully observed.”37 In the 

second typical edition of the 1972 Roman Missal, Paul VI added that 

homily should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant.38 

 The 1981 typical edition of the order of readings of the Mass 

recalls the most important teaching concerning the homily, describing 

it more briefly as part of the liturgy of the word.39 But it adds some 

important direction thus: whether the homily explains the biblical 

word of God proclaimed in the readings or some other texts of the 

liturgy, it must always lead the community of the faithful to celebrate 

the Eucharist wholeheartedly, so that they may hold fast in their faith. 

From this living explanation, the Word of God proclaimed in the 

reading and the Church’s celebration of the day’s liturgy would have 
a greater impact. But these demands that the homily is truly the fruit 

of meditation, carefully, prepared neither too long nor too short and 

suited to all those present even children and the uneducated. 40 

 

Contemporary Theologians: In order to correct obvious anomalies 

in the liturgical celebration, many contemporary theologians have 

taken pains to educate both the clergy and the laity on the proper 



122   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

nature of liturgical homily and how it can be best actualize in our 

liturgical celebrations. 

 According to Robert P. Waznak, “every homilist represents its 
community voicing its concerns, by naming its demons and thus 

enabling it to gain some understanding and control of the evil which 

afflicts it. He represents the Lord by offering the community another 

word, a word of healing and pardon, of acceptance of love.41 The 

primary task of the homilist, therefore, is not to explain but to 

interpret. He seeks to attend to the present moment as revelatory of 

God’s past events and future possibilities are seen in the light of 

present theophanies. Waznak concludes by saying that every homily 

should lead God’s people to recognize a living word of meaning in 
the Eucharist and in the concrete circumstances of their lives.42 

 For A.G Martimort, a homily is a pastoral act because it 

consists in breaking the bread of the Word; it is a truly liturgical act 

because it continues the effective action of the readings and forms a 

single whole with these. Whether delivered by the chief celebrant 

himself or by another Priest or by a deacon, care must be taken not to 

weaken the connection of homily with the liturgical action.43 He sees 

the homily as the most important way of bringing out the “today” of 
God’s Word in the life of Christian assembly who had gathered for 

ecclesial prayers and celebration and will soon scatter again and 

return to the world. A good homily must be first of all a proclamation 

of joy for what God has done for us and then it should enlighten the 

concrete life situations of present-day people, revealing where and 

how this salvation can be achieved and fulfilled.44 

 A very well proclaimed word of God and well prepared and 

delivered homily nourishes the faith of the people in a great deal. It 

keeps the celebration alive. They are usually very challenging and 

never boring. Therefore, the readings and homily are to be celebrated 

in the same manner as the words of consecration. Just as the word of 

consecration cannot be altered anyhow, the same applies to the 

readings and homily.45 Hence Chibuko says that “every homily must 
speak of life, passion, death and resurrection of Christ, namely the 

paschal mystery. Cross of Christ must not be found missing in 

homilies especially in a materialistic society that seems to be 

deviating from the cross and going after a cross-less Christ. The 

centrality of the paschal mystery of Christ must be sufficiently 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     123 

 

 

 

emphasized.46 He furthermore brought out the power behind the word 

of God in the liturgy when he says: 

Anywhere the Word of God is powerfully proclaimed 

and preached, (behind a powerful microphone or 

public address system), enriched with nourishing 

fruits of deep prayerful reflections, local idiomatic 

expressions, poetic forms, proverbs and wisdom tit-

bits, with good liturgical and cultural music to help in 

digesting the word and signs, the situation is quite 

different. Attendance at such ceremonies are usually 

full and the Christian life and culture boom. Then in 

response, the people are prepared to take up 

responsibilities to solve social problems because they 

are now fully armed with Christ and all these, of 

course, lead to reverence to the Word of God and the 

sacrament being celebrated.47 

Thus, the homily heightens the awareness of who we are now as well 

as who God is calling us to become. Through it, the people receive in 

their heart a word of encouragement, correction, wisdom, guidance, 

hope or deeper insight into their selfish claim on their own lives. 

Consequently whatever we need must be in the homily for those who 

are expecting to hear it. A liturgical homily must always have a deep 

personal meaning for those who await it openly.48 

 

Homily As A Liturgical Action 

The designation of a homily from other forms of preaching implies 

the fact of one given at a liturgical celebration on a biblical text and 

by an ordinary minister of homily and by a presiding cleric (cf. sc. 

52). Since the liturgical reform of the second Vatican council, the 

homily is seen to be an integral part of the liturgy of the word. It may 

be based not only upon the scriptures proclaimed but also upon any of 

the liturgical texts and upon the mystery being celebrated. This 

distinguishes the homily from a sermon, which is a religious, but not a 

strictly liturgical form of oratory and may have no relation to readings 

or other liturgical elements of the celebration in which it is delivered. 

The liturgy of the word is prescribed in all the revised liturgical rites, 

even in the private celebration of the sacrament of penance. The 



124   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

liturgical rites themselves proclaim that the Christian community is 

based on God’s written word and only in the context of hearing the 
word can we celebrate the various sacramental mysteries. Thus 

whether at Mass of during the celebration of one of the liturgical rites, 

it is always assumed that a proclamation of the word may be followed 

but at least a brief homily.49 The liturgical homily has achieved its 

esteemed place in all liturgies. The homily has a place and must not 

be neglected in the celebration of all the sacraments, at Para-liturgies, 

and in assemblies of the faithful. It will in every case, be a privileged 

moment for preaching the Word of the Lord: the homily as a liturgical 

action leads the assembly to celebrate the liturgy more deeply and 

more fully, more faithfully and be formed for Christian witness in the 

world. The homily enables the people to respond in faith through 

liturgical word and gesture. It is in such sense we see the homily as 

liturgical action.  

 In a further development, while the homily provides a bold 

and existential proclamation to the stability of the liturgy, the 

liturgical ritual gives the homily its rooted-ness in the Gospel and the 

church’s tradition of prayer. More so, the stability of the liturgical 
context safeguards the homily from becoming an instruction, a non-

gospel speech, and an appeal for personal piety over against the needs 

of the community. The fact of the homily being structured in a 

liturgical context prevents it from any frivolity preaching can ever 

degenerate to. Thus, the homilist must know that the exhortation he 

gives is not any kind but one that should be markedly biblical 

arousing the faith of the people and based on the particular liturgy 

being celebrated. We can see a kind of mutual association between 

the liturgy and homily. While the homily gives the liturgy a structure, 

the liturgy protects the homily from an aberration. The homily is the 

meeting point between the word proclaimed and Christ’s signs, which 
converge to accomplish among the faithful the mystery of faith.50 The 

homily in this sense could be said to be interpretative, interpreting the 

particular liturgy being celebrated. Thus as a liturgical action, homily 

takes on the features of an actual celebration and draws inspiration 

from particular rites and ritual. The homily, therefore, as a liturgical 

action should blend with the overall rhythm of the liturgy celebrated. 

 

 

 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     125 

 

 

 

Today’s Problems with Liturgical Homily: 

The homily is where there is one of the major liturgical problems in 

today’s liturgy. The grassroots problem of a liturgical homily is in its 

preparation and delivery. This problem touches on the purpose of the 

homily and it is deeply rooted in the question of interpretation. A 

homily must be able to take the word in its original meaning and 

translate it into ever-new expressions, courageously using it to 

confront the most dramatic aspects of our constantly changing culture 

and crisis in which people find themselves today.51 

 Nowadays, insufficient time and lack of adequate preparation 

characterize the delivery of liturgical homilies. In most cases, the 

celebrant (homilist) gives only a few minutes to the homily on 

Sunday or other major liturgical celebrations because of other various 

parish activities that are taking place within the liturgical celebrations. 

Due to lack of adequate preparation, the problem of showing off in 

the process of delivering is very common among homilists. This 

comes in various ways. Some take the occasion as an opportunity to 

show off their oratory. In some great liturgical occasions the homily 

time is now the time for one of those rhetorical exercise with 

appropriate gestures and vocal inflection which have always delighted 

the crowd and which like  some works of art, exist for the art’s sake, 
that is, in this case for the pleasure that good people take, as they say, 

in listening to a “man who can speak well.52 For some, anything could 

be spoken of as well and besides the gospel and no allusion is ever 

made, ordinarily, to the other scriptural texts of the liturgy. Moral 

exhortation, political comments, financial appeals, and sometimes, 

but less frequently, a sort of catechism lesson for adult had long since 

taken the place of the homily  

 For others, it is the time to speak about social problems in 

order to win the peoples approval, and for some still, it is a time to 

entertain the congregation. The situation becomes more problematic 

when the homilist because of lack of preparation uses the time for 

delivering a homily for singing, clapping, dancing and even using 

funny expressions calculated to invoke laughter and applause.53 

Furthermore, the practice is now gaining ground in our local churches 

whereby after the gospel, the choir or the homilist himself intones a 

chorus, sometimes as long as five minutes or longer in some extreme 



126   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

cases, before the homily. The homily as an integral part of the liturgy 

of the word comes immediately after the gospel reading. Thus, it is an 

unnecessary prolongation of the liturgy to begin a hymn after the 

gospel which takes a considerable length of time during which many 

in the congregation do not know whether to keep standing up or to sit 

down. 

 Another practical problem facing liturgical homily in today’s 
liturgical celebrations is the lack of effective public address system in 

our Parish churches. The use of a public address system is to facilitate 

communication, but this is not always the case; rather, most of the 

public address systems in our churches are not functioning well. 

When they are used, the congregation hardly hears the preacher 

clearly and distinctly, it irritates and alienates the congregation as 

well as frustrating the genuine effort of the preacher. Hence, the 

obvious presence of poor public address system in most of our 

churches militates against the actualization of a good liturgical 

homily. The consequence of all the identified problems is that the 

faithful go home after each liturgical celebration with little or nothing 

to inspire and nourish their Christian living.   

 

Present and Common Practices today: 
In a liturgical celebration, the people of God who gather to celebrate 

await eagerly to hear God speak to them through the mouth of the 

Priest when he preaches. Even though we can’t deny the fact that 

some priests still take this part of the celebration seriously by the way 

and manner they preach the Word of God, some others however, have 

long lost the sense of the mysteries they celebrate in the way they 

deliver their homily in the liturgical celebration. This point becomes 

very true, when we consider the singing, clapping, and dancing we 

often experience during homily time which often results to sweating 

and losing concentration and end up not getting any spiritual 

nourishment from the word of God in such liturgical celebration. The 

only explanation to this in my own view is a desire by the priest to be 

acclaimed rather than pass across the Good News of Christ. Also, 

playing to the gallery, that is attempting to impress the people because 

of poor knowledge of the scripture. 

 Indeed the present situation of some liturgical homilies today 

show lack of adequate preparation, failure to use simple language, 

failure to go straight to the point and inability to relate the Word of 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     127 

 

 

 

God to the lives of the people on the part of the priests. Priests should 

be confident of what they say and preach it with authority, power and 

conviction and without fear or favour or just merely reading abstract 

ideals that elicit sleep and distraction on the congregation. 

 The situation now shows that some priests no longer follow 

the Catholic methodology of delivering a homily. Rather, the 

Pentecostal influence seems to be more evident in our preaching. 

Hence, one wonders the effect of the courses of homiletics and liturgy 

taught during the seminary’s formative years. Some priests now use 

the ambo during the time of homily in our liturgical celebration as an 

opportunity to preach politics, talk about themselves, reel insults on 

personalities and attack those whom they feel hinders their progress in 

the parish. In some instances, there is no single reference to the 

readings of the day, rather it will be a talk from one political issue to 

another or talk about fundraising in different forms all in the name of 

church projects. Though priests should be current on the issues 

affecting the society in the pages of national dailies and see how they 

can use the scriptural readings of the day to address the situation, does 

not mean that priests should be preaching false miracles and healing 

as we are currently observing in our celebrations now. This practical 

application is lacking in our liturgical homily today because some 

homilies are void of adequate preparation, skilful presentation and 

many often it is not done behind a good public address system. This is 

very true when you consider the fact that some of the liturgical 

homilies we listen to today don’t have a particular topic or theme for 

the day. Hence no precise message but repetitions and thus fail to 

address the people’s fears and worries, rather what we see is an overly 

emotional style of shouting and dancing as well as preaching Christ 

without the cross. 

In some occasions the priests rush their Masses; hence they 

give little time to preaching the Word of God because they are 

rushing to meet up another Mass in the other stations or in the same 

Church. The consequence of this is that parishioners of such parish 

after Sunday Mass go to other churches where more time is given to 

the preaching of the Word of God. In some of our celebrations, the 

liturgy of the word is generally poorly celebrated. The lectors are not 

properly trained to read effectively. Taking of photographs, video 



128   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

coverage and other movements which are now practices of the day 

contribute immensely to the poor celebration of the liturgy of the 

word. For a proper celebration of the word and for the actual 

nourishment of the people, such actions and movements should be 

discouraged in our liturgy. Nobody can give what he does not have. 

Some priests today are carried away with material things and so are 

easily distracted. Some are always and only concerned with the 

structural development of the parish. Thus, they have little or no time 

to study the scripture, meditate and reflect on the Word of God using 

the bible and other Church documents and commentaries to prepare 

their homily. Proper preparations, it is said, prevents poor 

performance.  

 However, the obvious truth in the present and common 

practices in liturgical homily is that some of the liturgical homilies 

have been pastorally enriching and helpful to the spiritual 

nourishment of the clergy and lay faithful. On the contrary, some of 

the liturgical homilies both in content and in style of delivery have 

been poorly done, and cannot properly elicit faith and inspirations in 

the spiritual life of the people.             

 

Recommendations: 

Based on this in-depth study, it is obvious that a thorough and critical 

view of the subject matter has been dealt with by showing that the 

Church is not only to read the word of God but also to see to it that 

through the homily the Christian life is nurtured, by taking into 

account the mystery being celebrated and the needs proper to the 

people of God. Hence some recommendations offered here are to 

serve as a working tool to improve the content and style of preaching 

the homily in liturgical celebrations. They are meant first and 

foremost to promote evangelization and also to help both the clergy 

and the lay faithful in the actualization of every word of God 

celebrated in the liturgy. From the foregoing, one could notice that the 

homily within liturgical celebration poses a very vital challenge to 

both the preacher and listeners. Thus, these recommendations will in 

no small measure help the clergy and the assembly to have a better 

knowledge of the nature of liturgical homily and how it can nourish 

their spiritual life, and also help in the appreciation of the celebration 

of the entire paschal mystery of Christ. 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     129 

 

 

 

(1) Liturgical Commission: The Second Vatican Council 

recommends a functional liturgical commission for promoting 

liturgical apostolate. The role of such commission in the 

liturgical life of any given local Church is indispensable. It 

will help to regularly assist in the formation and 

implementation of liturgical guidelines. Such guidelines and 

implementation will help a great deal in controlling some of 

the ugly situations we observe in the practice of liturgical 

homily today. 

(2) On-going Liturgical Formation of Priest: Since the homily 

is a type of preaching generally reserved for the clergy and it 

is seen as part of the Church’s teaching office, there is an 

urgent need for on-going formation among the clergy which 

was recommended by the document of the Second Vatican 

Council on the ministry and life of priests. The ministry of 

priests involves sanctity and knowledge. Just as priests have 

monthly recollections and annual retreats of at most a week 

duration for their spiritual growth, something comparable 

ought to be put in place to address their needs for on-going 

theological formation. 

(3)  Proper Liturgical Formation for Major Seminarian: The 

seminarians of today are priests of tomorrow who will be 

given the responsibility of preaching homilies. According to a 

popular adage: “The morning shows the day”. The scripture 
says “train up a child the way he should go, and when he is 
old, he will not depart from it (Prov. 22:5). There is a need for 

proper formation of major seminarians. Since the training of 

future priests starts from the seminary, there is the need for 

their curriculum to be updated especially in the area of 

homiletics. The Church insists that in carrying out various 

ministries in the Church, the minister must be properly 

trained. Hence, those to be ordained priests require 

appropriate formation for the role they are called to play in the 

Church. In homiletics curriculum, the formation can be 

general and specific. The general formation will take the form 

of doctrinal and liturgical formation. They should be equipped 

with more than a passing knowledge of the Scripture, Sacred 



130   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

Doctrines, the teachings of the magisterium, liturgical norms 

and practices etc. Specifically, they should be formed 

liturgically, this formation will give them some basic 

understanding of the meaning and structure of liturgical 

celebration in general and also the relationship between the 

liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. This 

formation should also involve technical training of the 

seminarian on how to prepare, and deliver a liturgical homily. 

(4) Faithfulness to the Church’s form of worship: There is a 

need to put some order and uniformity in the liturgical 

celebration especially in the liturgy of the word. This should 

be consistently followed in the celebration of all the 

sacraments. Thus, any attempt by the priest to imitate some of 

the Pentecostal churches in their emotional style of shouting 

and dancing as well as preaching Christ without the cross 

should be discouraged. The essence of liturgical celebration is 

total transformation expressed in the sanctification of the 

people, the edification of the Church, the glorification of God 

and witnessing in Christian living. 

(5) Proper Preparation: There should be proper preparation by 

the priest before every homily. In the liturgy, there is no room 

for improvisation. The homilist should and must not go to the 

ambo just to say something; rather he should go to the ambo 

with something to say. A very well prepared and delivered 

homily will nourish the faith of the assembly a great deal. It 

will also keep the entire celebration alive and will be 

appreciated by the assembly. All prepared and delivered 

homily will be very challenging and never boring. As part of 

the preparation, the homilist should endeavour to guide 

against too long or too short homilies. He should be able to 

strike a balance. A good homilist is one who through his 

proper preparation sees to it that no more than proportionate 

time is given to each of the integral parts of the celebration so 

much so that the actions are kept flowing and performed with 

dignifying grace. The preacher with proper preparation must 

approach the ministry of preaching with all seriousness, zeal 

and utter dependence on the Holy Spirit. 

(6) A Theme for Every Homily: In every homily delivered, 

there should be a theme. A particular topic with a reflection 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     131 

 

 

 

on the readings or mystery being celebrated should be 

delivered with depth, precision and especially with contextual 

relevance. To go through an entire gospel topic can bear fewer 

fruits because the preacher, who can dwell only very little on 

every element, cannot develop them or explain to the 

congregation what he wants to say. Bearing in mind, that the 

assembly is present and disposed to hear sacred ideas that will 

influence their lives, the preacher, through his theme and 

content of his message should be able to present commentary 

of the readings and an application of same to the concrete 

situations that make meaning to his listeners. From the theme 

also, the assembly should be able to draw a connection 

between the content of the homily and their daily life as 

Christians. 

 

Conclusion:  

This study has evaluated in-depth the nature and actual application of 

liturgical homily in the life of the Church. It was able to create the 

awareness that there is a need for improvement in the style and 

content of liturgical homily today. From the presentation, it was 

established that lack of preparation by priests hampers proper 

liturgical homilies in the liturgical life of the Church. From the 

findings of the study, it is also clear that the Church has everything to 

gain if the clergy understands the nature and importance of homily in 

our liturgical celebrations. By so doing, they will be acting in full 

conformity with the Bible, the theology of the Church, liturgical 

provisions and the teaching of the magisterium. It is a general call for 

all to recognize and appreciate the nourishment that every well 

prepared and delivered homily can bring to the Church and her 

mission of evangelization. 

 It is the belief that this work will to a great extent be able to 

remove any misunderstanding that some might have heard about the 

nature of liturgical homily before now. Thus, we wish to state that 

although this work does not claim to be exhaustive of all there is to 

explore and discuss about the liturgical homily, it still has 

convincingly spelt out the dynamics and challenges of the clergy in 



132   Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

the preaching of a liturgical homily. However, it can serve as a 

springboard for further researches in the future.                     

 

 

Endnotes 
                                                           
1 Frank L. Cross (ed), The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Church, 2nd edition) 

(London: Oxford University Press, 1974). 
2 Gasper Leferbre, The Spirit of God in the Litrugy, (London: Burns and Oattes, 

1959) 12. 
3 Jovian P. Lang, Dictionary of the Liturgy, (New York: Catholic Book 

Publishing Crop, 1989) 254 – 255. 
4 Pope Pius XII, Encylical Letter on the Sacred Liturgy, Mediator Dei Nov. 20, 

1947. 
5 Mediator Dei 20. 
6 Sacrosanctum Concilium 7. 
7 Robert Waznak, “Homily” in Peter Fink, ed., The New Dictionary of 

Sacramental Worship, (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1990) 552-553. 
8 Waznak, “Homily” in Peter fink ed. 552-553. 
9 Lang 254 – 255. 
10 Lang 254 – 255. 
11 Patrick Chibuko, Keeping the Liturgy Alive – An Anglophone West African 

Experience, (London: IKO- Verlag fur Interkulturelle Kommunikation, 2003) 

124. 
12 Chibuko, Keeping the Liturgy Alive – An Anglophone West African 

Experience, 125. 
13 Waznak, “Homily” in Peter Fink ed. 553-558. 
14 Waznak, “Homily” in Peter Fink ed. 555. 
15 Waznak, An Introduction to the Homily 26. 
16William Bausch, Story Telling – The Word Homilies and How to write them, 

(New York: Paulist Press, 1996) 57. 
17 Chibuko, Liturgical Preaching According to the Modern Liturgy 38 
18 Richardson 264. 
19 Emerie A. Lawrence, Homilies for the Year, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The 

Liturgical Press, 1965) vii. Viii. 
20 Emerie viii 
21 Martin Vivies “The Nature and content of Preaching” in Faith and Liturgy: 

The Proceedings of the Seventh International Colloquium of Historical, 

Canonical and Theological Studies on the Roman Liturgy, (London: Ciel, 2002) 

29-30.  
22 Fink 553. 
23 Domenico Sartore, “The Homily” in: Ansagar J. Chupungco ed Handbook for 

Liturgical Studies, the Eucharist Vol.3, (Collegeville Minnesota: The Liturgical 

Press, 1997) 91. 



Theology of  Liturgical Homily: Priestly Ministry and Challenges…     133 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  
24 Cf. Luke 24:15 – 35 
25 CCC 1337 
26 Chibuko, Liturgical Preaching According to the Modern Liturgy 7 
27 Sartore 191.  
28 Sartore 192. 
29 Fink ed. 553 – 558. 
30 Sartore 211 – 212. 
31 Edward J. Kilmartin Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice, (Kansas city: 

sheed and ward, 1988) 288. 
32 Kilmartin 288 – 289. 
33 SC 24 
34 Sartore 194 
35 SC 35:2 
36 SC 52.  
37 The Code of Canon Law, (London Collins Publication. 1983) 767. 
55Misale Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosanti Occumenici Concilii Vol. II 

Instauratum, auctoritate Pauli Pp Promulgatum, ed typical altera. 1975. 

Institution Generalis. 42. as cited in: Domenico Sartore, 195. 
39 Ordo  Lectionum Missae (OLM), 1969, 24. 
40 Paul VI, “Evangeli Nuntiandi” Evangelization in the Modern World. Teporis 
43, AAS58 (1976) 1008 – 125. 
41 Waznak 558. 
42 Waznak 558. 
43 A.G. Martimort ed. The Church at Prayer Vol. I Principles of the Liturgy, 

(Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press. 1987) 139 
44 Martimort ed. Vol. II: The Eucharist 67 – 68. 
45 Chibuko, Liturgical Preaching According to the Modern Liturgy 30. 
46 Chibuko, Liturgical Preaching According to the Modern Liturgy 31. 
47 Chibuko, Liturgical Preaching According to the Modern Liturgy 31 – 32. 
48 Theodore E. Dobson, How the Eucharist can Transform Your Life, (Indian: 

Paulist Press, 1998) 30 and 66. 
49 Dennis C. Smolaski, Sacred Mysteries: Sacramental Principles and Liturgical 

Practice, (New York: Paulist Press, 1992) 72. 
50 Chibuko, Liturgical Preaching According to the Modern Liturgy 16. 
51 Patrick Chibuko, Paschal Mystery of Christ: Foundation for Liturgical 

Inculturation in Africa, (New York: Peter Lang, 1999) 44. 
52 Alfred P. Gibbs, The Preacher and his Preaching, (Lagos: Ken Maranatha 

Ventures, 1989) 24. 
53Hilary P.O. Okeke, Let us Celebrate the Mystery of Faith: a pastoral Letter, 

(Onitsha: Good Mark Print Production, 2005) 71.  

 


