Homiletics from the other side of the fence

Homiletics is basically the process of learning how to write and deliver a homily.  I took three semesters of homiletics in my own formation which I needed to successfully complete in order to be granted the faculty to preach.  Just because you are ordained(this goes for the deacon and the priest), you still need faculties from the Archbishop to be able to deliver homilies.  Fortunately, I managed to receive such faculties upon my ordination.

Here I am almost three years later and I am on the other side of the fence, if you will.  Since service is the charism of diaconal ministry, I was pleased to be able to answer in the affirmative when asked to assist with this class.  We have 20 men in formation pointing toward ordination in December of 2012.  This is the first of three semesters of homiletics for them which will include ample time in writing and delivering practice homilies.

In these earliest days of the class the focus is more on lectures that lays a solid framework for preaching, from official Church documents, encylicals, the Catechism and most excellently, Sacred Scripture.  A strong discussion on exegesis, hermenutics as well as format, style, delivery will all be addressed in the weeks ahead.

As part of this process it has been common to have the candidates deliver their practice homily in front of their fellow candidates, the wives present and some deacons who are well known for a strength in homiletics.  This can be very difficult as we stress complete and total honesty.  As an example, if one candidate did a particularly poor job it is actually uncharitable not to share an honest assessment with that candidate.  And if a particularly good effort was brought forth it is equally uncharitable to be harsh when not needed or to effuse praise that fails to help the candidate understand what he did well.

I'll post more on this over time, especially explain a little more about exegesis, scriptural arguments, etc.

I hope that your experiences at Mass, when the Deacon delivers the homily, have been good experiences and helped you to understand more fully the Word of God from that day's readings and helped moved you to action in the hours, days, week ahead.