Pope Francis: Homilies should never be longer than ten minutes

Source: Vatican Media

Pope Francis focussed this week's General Audience on the role of preaching in the Church. He encouraged preachers to rely on the Gospel's content and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Addressing pilgrims in St Peter's Square, the Pope reflected on the First Letter of Peter, in which the first Pope defined the apostles as "those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit."

Pope Francis explained that in this expression we find the two elements of Christian preaching, namely "its content, which is the Gospel, and its means, which is the Holy Spirit."

Reflecting first on the content, Pope Francis recalled the use of the word "Gospel" in the New Testament.

It has two principal meanings, said the Pope. When it indicates any one of the four canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the word means "the good news proclaimed by Jesus during His earthly life."

However, after the first Easter, the word "Gospel" assumes its new meaning "of good news about Jesus, that is, the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ," said the Pope.

He explained that this is what the Apostle Peter calls "Gospel" when he writes, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."

Pope Francis went on to note that the preaching of Jesus and, subsequently, that of the Apostles, also contains "all the moral duties that stem from the Gospel," starting from the ten commandments up to the "new" commandment of love.

But, stressed the Pope, "if we do not want to relapse into the error denounced by the Apostle Paul of putting the law before grace and deeds before faith, it is necessary always to start anew from the proclamation of what Christ has done for us."

It is for this reason, the Pope continued, that in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, "I insisted a lot on the first of these two things, namely the kerygma, or 'proclamation,' on which every moral application depends."

The Gospel must be preached "through the Holy Spirit," said the Pope. "Preaching with the anointing of the Holy Spirit means transmitting, together with the ideas and the doctrine, the life and profound conviction" and thus "not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power."

Speaking off-the-cuff, Pope Francis urged preachers to transmit "one idea, one sentiment, and one invitation to action" within - at most - ten minutes.

"After eight minutes, preaching gets dispersive and no one understands," he said. "Never go over ten minutes, ever! This is very important."

In conclusion, the Pope noted that some might object, saying that it is easily said, but wondered how it can be put into practice.

Preachers, he said, must pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to proclaim Christ with their preaching.

Preachers must not preach themselves but Jesus the Lord.

"Not wanting to preach oneself also implies not always giving priority to pastoral initiatives promoted by us and linked to our own name, but willingly collaborating, if requested, in community initiatives, or entrusted to us by obedience," he said.

In conclusion, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit might teach the Church how to preach the Gospel effectively to men and women of today.

Watch today's Audience on the Vatican Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQynQ5deSKI