I want to compliment the fine column by Deacon James Toner in the Aug. 14 Catholic News Herald, "Happy homilies." I don't think I have seen a better one than that in years.
Bland homilies are truly moral failures in that poor parishioners come for this one-hour devotion and then have to hear a listless sermon that wouldn't make the most devout nun listen. Young people coming to hear the Word of God need desperately to be inspired and not end up brainless in the pew because the homilist gave a redundant rehash of the Gospel they just heard spoken with all the fervor of a mouse.
While the Eucharist is the most important part of the Mass, the homily is terribly important, too. Perhaps no one in this country is better than 76-year-old Wisconsin native Father Dale Grubba. His homilies are priceless and scarcely ever go over seven minutes, and people remember what he says. He is the pastor of two churches, plus finds time to serve as a priest to the racing community, write books, and be one of the finest award-winning auto racing photographers in America. He accompanied Kurt Busch during his run in the Indianapolis 500 and then his turning around and coming back to run the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
If we could do interesting sermons with a twist of humor and storytelling every week, no more than 10-11 minutes in length, we could revolutionize the Church.
Why can't we? We can, by making it a major endeavor.
Strong emphasis must be placed in the seminaries toward public speaking and, in particular, storytelling. Isn't that exactly what Our Lord did?
All homilists would do well with a yearly two-day course in public speaking run by professional instructors such as Ty Boyd, a Charlotte Catholic. He has instructed many CEOs and public figures on how to give interesting, captivating speeches.
We are all bombarded via TV, movies, etc., with the finest entertainment in the world featuring people who talk about interesting things. How much better can you get than Charlie Rose, Pope Francis, Dianne Sawyer, and other high-profile people we see and hear on the world stage?
So, when a homilist gets up he has to be able to keep people's attention. At Mass we have been taught to at least look at the homilist and act like we are paying attention, so that might give him a sense of complacency.
So my challenge is: Speak well, make people smile and speak short.
— Howard A. Wheeler Jr., who lives in Huntersville, is a professional speaker, college lecturer, and the former president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
On behalf of more than 33,000 senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests who benefit from the Retirement Fund for Religious, please accept my prayerful thanks for your diocese's tremendous support of the 2014 collection. The Diocese of Charlotte donated $310,075.52, its highest total ever. Since the collection was launched in 1988, total diocesan contributions have amounted to $5,027,952.96.
Your generosity, combined with that of Catholics across the nation, enables our office to distribute critical funding to help religious communities meet the day-to-day needs of senior members. It also enables us to provide education, resources, and consultative support to help religious communities plan for long-term retirement expenses. The good we are able to do is in direct measure to the good we have been given. For this, we offer abundant thanks. May our loving God bless you.
— Sister Janice Bader, avowed with the Sisters of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, is the executive director of the National Religious Retirement Office.