tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312447.post1652661625464115431..comments2024-03-28T16:16:51.062-04:00Comments on Musings of a Pertinacious Papist: Hushing horrid homilies & seeing the sacred in artUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312447.post-7438886588908342672010-01-27T13:07:16.301-05:002010-01-27T13:07:16.301-05:00Rachel does make a good point about the brilliance...Rachel does make a good point about the brilliance of those who acquiesce in the watering down of homilies into ear-tickling banalities. Yet a large part of these mushy homilies, I would impute to simple lack of spine. They represent a spirit of capitulation to the cultural milieu of mindless sentimentality.Sheldonhttp://www.sheldoncomics.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312447.post-88780133882321885232010-01-25T18:00:11.184-05:002010-01-25T18:00:11.184-05:00I agree with your point about the mushy horrid hom...I agree with your point about the mushy horrid homilies being "brilliant" in their own compromised way. Good point.Pertinacious Papisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03213911570586726075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312447.post-49066998514910757222010-01-22T21:47:02.685-05:002010-01-22T21:47:02.685-05:00Some of those mushy and seemingly horrible homilie...Some of those mushy and seemingly horrible homilies are actually quite brilliant in their way, when you realize they're crafted to mean whatever the hearer desires. "The Eucharist is meant to be shared," said one priest who offered no further elaboration. I could take that mean we need to evangelize, and someone else could take it to mean we need to come out of Mass with a friendly attitude, and someone else could take it to mean that it's high time we jettisoned restrictions on non-Catholics receiving Communion.<br /><br />Or again, "Let us give from our poverty and not from our wealth," said another priest, and I thought, "Well, that's pretty hardcore-- does he want us to give all we have to live on like the poor widow in the Temple?" But it might only mean "Give in a spirit of humility," or, "Don't be ostentatious like that rich guy in the Temple."<br /><br />Or what about this, which I heard from a Presbyterian pastor but which closely resembles some Catholic homilies: "We need to be seeing and hearing where Christ has fallen into the concrete reality of somebody else's life." It sort of sounds good-- he mentioned both Christ and "concrete reality"!<br /><br />I once heard Cardinal Mahoney speak here in L.A., and it seemed to me that priests in this diocese have learned their style from him.<br /><br />But I've heard some very bracing homilies too, from religious priests. They've gotten very specific and direct about contraception, abortion, the reality of Hell, the necessity of Confession, the heroic lives of the saints, and the presence and power of Christ in the Eucharist. That kind of thing is not only more helpful, but also <i>much</i> more interesting.Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06624317806947588259noreply@blogger.com