Pope at Audience: Homilies should be focused and no longer than 10 minutes

By Francesca Merlo

In continuing his cycle of catechesis on the Spirit and the Bride, Pope Francis dedicated his Wednesday General Audience to the evangelising work of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the Church's ministers.

Addressing the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope reflected on the First Letter of Peter, in which the first Pope defined the apostles as “those who preached the good news to you [through] the Holy Spirit."

Pope Francis explained that in this expression we find the two constitutive elements of Christian preaching, namely "its content, which is the Gospel, and its means, which is the Holy Spirit."

The content we preach

Reflecting first on the content, Pope Francis recalled the use of the word "Gospel" in the New Testament.

It has two principal meanings, said the Pope. When it indicates any one of the four canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the word means "the good news proclaimed by Jesus during His earthly life."

However, after the first Easter, the word “Gospel” assumes its new meaning "of good news about Jesus, that is, the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ," said the Pope.

He explained that this is what the Apostle Peter calls “Gospel” when he writes, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

Pope Francis went on to note that the preaching of Jesus and, subsequently, that of the Apostles, also contains "all the moral duties that stem from the Gospel," starting from the ten commandments up to the “new” commandment of love.

But, stressed the Pope, "if we do not want to relapse into the error denounced by the Apostle Paul of putting the law before grace and deeds before faith, it is necessary always to start anew from the proclamation of what Christ has done for us."

It is for this reason, the Pope continued, that in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, "I insisted a lot on the first of these two things, namely the kerygma, or 'proclamation,' on which every moral application depends."

The means by which we preach

Turning then to the second of the two elements of Christian preaching, "means," Pope Francis noted that when considering kerygma, "we must bear in mind the means by which it is proclaimed."

The Gospel must be preached “through the Holy Spirit," said the Pope. "Preaching with the anointing of the Holy Spirit means transmitting, together with the ideas and the doctrine, the life and profound conviction" and thus “not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power."

Speaking off-the-cuff, Pope Francis urged preachers to transmit "one idea, one sentiment, and one invitation to action" within at most 10 minutes.

"After 8 minutes, preaching gets dispersive and no one understands," he said. "Never go over 10 minutes, ever! This is very important."

In bringing his catechesis to a close, the Pope noted that some might object, saying that it is easily said but wondered how it can be put into practice if it does not depend on us but on the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Preachers, he said, must pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to proclaim Christ with their preaching.

Secondly, he added, preachers must not preach themselves but Jesus the Lord.

"Not wanting to preach oneself also implies not always giving priority to pastoral initiatives promoted by us and linked to our own name but willingly collaborating, if requested, in community initiatives, or entrusted to us by obedience," he said.

In conclusion, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit might teach the Church how to preach the Gospel in an efficacious way to the men and women of today.