{"id":16488,"date":"2012-09-02T17:17:34","date_gmt":"2012-09-02T23:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=16488"},"modified":"2015-03-13T16:56:21","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:56:21","slug":"when-a-priest-uses-someone-elses-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/09\/when-a-priest-uses-someone-elses-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"“This does not seem right to me”: when a priest uses someone else’s homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I received the following e-mail this morning:<\/p>\n

Dear Deacon Greg:<\/p>\n

\n

Today during Mass our pastor read your homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/strong><\/a>, with hardly a word changed and without acknowledging that someone else had written it. This is at least the third time this has happened, and it appears to me that the pastor almost never writes his own homilies.<\/p>\n

I do not want to be uncharitable, but this does not seem right to me. What I was wondering is, is this a common practice for Catholic priests and deacons? I would just like to get some sense of whether this is acceptable or not from an \u201cinsider\u2019s\u201d point of view.\u00a0I cannot think of anyone\u00a0else I can ask who might be familiar with the expectations and practices within the church.<\/p>\n

Thanks for any guidance you can offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a subject that has come up before. Last year, I even wrote about how, personally, I don\u2019t really mind if others use my work.\u00a0 <\/a><\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s \u201cacceptable,\u201d on the other hand, is something else. (And a reader responded<\/strong> <\/a>on that issue, too.) If you search the web, you\u2019ll find a lot of opinions about \u201cpulpit plagiarism.\u201d\u00a0 I suspect it is more widespread that most priests, deacons, and Protestant ministers would like to admit, especially in the Age of Google.\u00a0 At the very least, an acknowledgement that the material comes from someplace else seems to me both honest and sensible. If nothing else, it\u2019s truth in advertising. And it does no harm to admit, \u201cWhile preparing this Sunday\u2019s homily, I found this posting on the Internet and the writer captured what I want to say, and I\u2019d like to share it with you,\u201d and that\u2019s that.<\/p>\n

It also does no harm to admit every now and then that you\u2019re human.\u00a0 A friend once told me about a priest who taught him in the seminary. After proclaiming the gospel at Mass one morning, this priest said, \u201cI\u2019m afraid my schedule was crazy this week and I didn\u2019t have time to adequately prepare a homily. So let\u2019s take a few moments and reflect on The Word we\u2019ve just heard, and allow God to do the preaching in our hearts.\u201d He sat down, and after a couple minutes of silence, Mass continued.<\/p>\n

For some in the congregation, it may have been the best homily they\u2019d ever heard.<\/p>\n

Preparing a homily and preaching are skills that can be strengthened with practice, though they don\u2019t come easily or naturally to everyone.\u00a0 A priest or deacon who is compassionate, prayerful, hard-working and holy can still be a dud in the pulpit. Maybe admitting that is a first step to better preaching.<\/p>\n

In that regard, I\u2019ll close with some sage advice from Rev. Alfred McBride, whose excellent book \u201cHow to Make Homilies Better, Briefer, Bolder\u201d<\/a><\/strong> should be on every priest and deacon\u2019s shelf.<\/p>\n

He offers in his introduction the following simple tips:<\/p>\n