People are sometimes curious about my homily writing process, and I am often embarrassed to admit that it is not great. Ideally a preacher would prepare his homily weeks ahead of time, maybe even looking at the course of readings over a series of Sundays, to build up a cohesive theme and guidance for his community. At minimum, he should probably pray over the readings multiple times in the week preceding. Unfortunately, I do not do any of that.
My first priestly assignment was in the Skagit Valley, a crucible that pulls its priests between five different faith communities, three of which also have huge Spanish communities. Unlike many newly ordained vicars, who maybe have some teaching responsibilities and hospital ministry but also sufficient time for study and reflection if they want it, I was keeping a pastor’s schedule from the start. So I developed the habit of cramming my homily preparation into one continuous block, either Friday nights or Saturday mornings, because it was the only way my calendar was going to work. At Assumption, I try never to schedule anything on Saturday before confessions, so that I have the 3-5 hours of uninterrupted time I need to write a homily. You can imagine the stress, then, when I have to schedule a wedding!
In addition, I have only been assigned to bilingual communities and I do not possess sufficient proficiency to preach in Spanish without a text, so I have also always had to prepare an exact text of my homily each week so that I could translate it. This certainly had its benefits: I would get less tired doing five Masses each weekend, because I only had to read, not create; plus, I could attack controversial issues and be confident that I had not made any gaffes because I was very deliberate with my wording. But reading from a text also makes me seem more formal and impersonal than I actually am.
Which brings me to the last few weeks. Right before Easter, my Hispanic Commission told me that they wanted me to be more direct and forceful in my Spanish homilies, something that my English communities generally prefer I not be, which has challenged me to try to write a different Spanish homily each week. And that has freed me up to try preaching in English from an outline rather than a text. It is something I did as a deacon and a style I am excited to try out again. The benefits are that I am more personal and leave more room for the Holy Spirit to redirect me. The detriments are that the homilies are less tight (meaning they are longer), I am more easily tired by the 10:00 a.m. Mass, and I am more easily thrown off by distractions or stresses (meaning, if I have something on my mind, we are more likely to see a stinker homily).
Anyway, I am excited to keep experimenting with this. Let me know how it goes.
Fr. Moore 