Mechanics of a homily...What it is and What it isn't!

Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP, relates:

Several readers have written asking me to explain what a “homily” is, meaning, I think, that they want to know what a homily is supposed to do in the liturgy. I’ve directed them to relevant church documents, etc. but I think the question deserves a more direct answer. In the comment boxes on Jimmy Akin's site I listed off a few things that parishioners could look/listen for in a homily so that they could give Father constructive feedback. I made a dramatic plea for the Catholic faithful to hold priests to high standards of preaching. The bottomline is quite simple: if you don’t care about the quality of the homily, Father isn’t going to spend much of his rapidly dwindling time on quality preparation. He needs to know that you think it’s a priority!

Fr. Powell's discussion begins with what a homily IS and ISN'T. Many Catholics know when they have not really received the Word as it should be been explained - they seem to know, to sense, when a homily is not really a homily. Then again, some are blessed to be nourished weekly and daily by homilies in which the Word of God is faithfully presented. The faithful know when they are being fed something substantial, something that 'sticks to the ribs', so to speak. And they know, as well, when they have been given a 'cotton candy' homily or worse.

Fr. Powell provides valuable insights into his preparation.

I am downright tenacious about preaching the following:
a) the universal call to holiness;
b) our salvation understood as our divinization;
c) our salvation as an undeserved, unmerited, totally FREE gimme from God;
d) our responsibilities to the Body of Christ as members of the Body of the Christ;
e) the need for true humility before the authority of the Church to teach the authentic faith;
f) the absolutely indispensable necessity of a powerful private and common prayer life (cf. CCC Part IV), and
g) our responsibilities in revealing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty to one another!

These points seem to me to be absolutely indispensable in imparting the Word of God to the faithful so that they may be fed on an intellectual as well as spiritual level.

Father's homilies can be viewed here. Enjoy!