\nA local minister once likened writing a Sunday sermon to doing a school research paper every single week \u2014\u2014 a daunting task, when viewed in that light.<\/p>\n
Fr. Joseph Levine, pastor at St. Peter Catholic Church in The Dalles, shared his process for preparing a homily, as a sermon is called in the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
Levine not only has weekend mass on Saturday and Sunday, but also performs a daily mass for which he also has to prepare a homily.<\/p>\n
And while his homilies at daily mass are shorter and a bit more off the cuff \u2013\u2014 he does a different one each day \u2014 \u2014 his Sunday homily requires considerably more preparation.<\/p>\n
The Sunday homily \u201cis the thing I most prepare for, so it probably does structure my week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Levine considers himself a teacher, and uses his homilies to give context and background to Scripture.<\/p>\n
The scriptural readings he\u2019ll preach on are already set out in a three-year lectionary cycle. He\u2019ll look up the passages early in the week, or sometimes the week before.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll look at the readings, I\u2019ll pray, and then it really varies, because the question is, what do I need to speak about?\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, the kernel comes to me right away, sometimes, it\u2019s, \u2018What am I going to speak about next Sunday?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Once he\u2019s got that kernel of an idea, the real work begins. He\u2019s got to figure out how to introduce the topic, \u201cbecause that start is very important.\u201d Then he has to figure out \u201cHow am I going to make this understandable and accessible? How am I going to relate this to people\u2019s lives? Sometimes that\u2019s easy, sometimes it flows, sometimes it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
But once he\u2019s got the flow, he can quickly craft a homily, coming up with a 1,500-word draft on his computer, sometimes in just a couple of hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I\u2019ll practically have the homily composed in my head. The next step is finding the time to sit down at the computer when I\u2019m able to focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once he gets a draft done, he tweaks it, usually to edit it down. His homilies run about 12-15-20 minutes, which is longer than most, he said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure there\u2019s not somebody out there timing me,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than 10 minutes is regarded as long these days,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m trying to really teach, not just saying a few inspiring words. Inspire as well, but I\u2019m trying to explain things as well that don\u2019t often get explained, and that takes time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can be simple and punchy and short, but there\u2019s an elephant in the living room,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd explaining the elephant in the living room \u2013 \u2014 that\u2019s what takes time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u2018elephant\u2019 is \u201cusually some connection with our modern life and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says he also doesn\u2019t \u201cdumb down\u201d his homilies. \u201cI will challenge people to think, but I think that however difficult the homily there is always something that anyone can understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also writes it out, which is against the recommended method of just using an outline.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Read it all.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How one priest does it: A local minister once likened writing a Sunday sermon to doing a school research paper every single week \u2014\u2014 a daunting task, when viewed in that light. Fr. Joseph Levine, pastor at St. Peter Catholic Church in The Dalles, shared his process for preparing a homily, as a sermon is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1387,11193],"class_list":["post-22993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-preaching","tag-dallas","tag-preaching"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n