ePriest.com: Your Spanish Homily

Readings

Reading I: Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11
Psalm: Psalm 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16, 18-1
Reading II:
Gospel: Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

Preaching Tip

Good Beginnings

"In our homily sessions, we noticed three common problems with beginnings:

• Too sloppy

Our first few sentences are often flabby, puffy, and filled with unnecessary verbiage. The people are hanging on our first words, and we're meandering along...

• Too long

Our opening material is usually easy to talk about, so we chat on and enjoy it. If it's a story, we milk it. Wordy beginnings dull the point of the message and waste the people's attention when it is sharpest. The concern here is not the length of the homily; it's the sharpness.

• A separate piece unto itself

Many a beginning is artificially linked to the rest of the homily and throws no light on our core thought. It doesn't need the rest of the homily, and the rest of the homily doesn't need it. A good test of a beginning is to see if the material could easily fit later in the homily. If not, it is probably unnecessary."

Preaching Better, by Bishop Ken Untener, pp 23-24