“The homily is the touchstone for judging a pastor’s closeness and ability to communicate to his people… [The faithful] and their ordained ministers suffer because of homilies: the laity from having to listen to them and the clergy from having to preach them! “(Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium)
One
Sunday morning, my family attended the Mass in one Catholic cathedral. People
filled the church to overflowing. Then the priest delivered his homily. I was
disappointed because he was unprepared. People were all there, all ears, tuning
in earnestly to his homily. He lost the huge opportunity in planting the seeds
of God’s love in the fertile hearts of the multitude. A plain truth crossed my
mind then: outside that church one could hardly gather a handful of people to
listen to what one would say.
Here’s
a delicate sensitivity by one Catholic parishioner edited for brevity:
“I’m
frustrated at the moment because I attended a wedding this past Saturday: the
homily was too long, uninspired, and boring. When the attendees came into the
church, they were happy, upbeat, and energized for the day’s celebration…
“Then
the preacher beat them into submission. After a few minutes, the body language
of the people in the pews screamed, 'just sit tight – it will have to be over
soon – won’t it?'
“What
a missed opportunity. There were over 100 people at the wedding mass, a good
percentage of whom pretty clearly were unchurched. Just imagine if he could
have found something to say that would make people say: 'Hmm, never thought of
it that way before.' Instead, they were given fodder for yet another round of
mass-is-boring and Catholics-can’t-preach.”
The
pandemic left us no option but in attending Sunday Mass online. The contrast in
the quality of the homilies between the two – delivered online and at the local
churches -- is staring us in the face. The homily preparation factor has made
the difference. With good reason, the priest delivering the prepared homily online
has gotten the drift of the impact of live TV coverage which has chimed in with
Pope Francis’s assertion on the value of preparation:
“Preparation
for preaching is so important a task that a prolonged time of the study,
prayer, reflection, and pastoral creativity should be devoted to it… Some
pastors argue… preparation is not possible given the vast number of tasks which
they must perform… each week a sufficient portion of personal and community
time be dedicated to this task…”
Problem: Priests need time to
prepare homilies constrained by their other tasks
Below
is an unedited sample of Chat GPT homily. Generated in seconds in the style of Bishop
Fulton John Sheen for the Sunday Mass, it brings to a focus Jesus Christ’s
words in the bible: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
(Matthew 4:19)
My
dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear the call of Jesus to “come
after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” This call is not just for the
apostles of old, but for each one of us in the present day.
As we
reflect on these words, we might ask ourselves, what does it mean to be a “fisher
of men”? It means to be a soul-winner, a bringer of salvation to those who are
lost. It means to be a missionary, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to
the world. And it means to be a disciple, follow Jesus, and live a life of love
and service to others.
But
how do we become fishers of men? We do so by first being caught by the net of
God’s love and grace. We must come to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior and
allow him to transform our hearts and minds. We must be open to the work of the
Holy Spirit in our lives, and allow him to guide and empower us in our mission.
One
powerful example of this can be seen in the life of Mother Teresa. Mother
Teresa, a Catholic nun, devoted her life to serving the poorest of the poor in
Calcutta, India. She was caught by the net of God’s love and allowed it to guide
her every action. She was a true fisher of men, bringing hope and love to those
who had none.
Mother
Teresa once said, “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending
a love letter to the world.” This profound anecdote illustrates the humility
and surrender that is necessary to be a true fisher of men. Mother Teresa
recognized that it was not her strength or ability that was at work in her
ministry, but the power of God working through her.
So, my
dear friends, let us answer the call of Jesus to come after him, and let us
become fishers of men. Let us be caught by the net of God’s love, and let us
cast our nets out into the world, bringing salvation to the lost, and glory to
God. May the Lord bless and guide you as you seek to follow him and bring
others to him. Amen.
Question: Is Chat GPT homily a
gift to the Church?
Answer: Maybe, because it addresses
Pope Francis’ concern for pastors about preparing quality homilies by applying pastoral
creativity thereby affording them more time for their other tasks in their
respective ministries.
Question: Is Chat GPT homily a
sacrilege?
Answer: Maybe, because it is,
in the words of singer-songwriter Nick Cave, “a grotesque mockery of what it is
to be human” – his response to Chat GPT generating his song “in the style of
Nick Cave.”
Cave asserted: “Writing a good
song is not mimicry or replication… it is the breathless confrontation with one’s
vulnerability… it is the redemptive artistic act that stirs the heart of the
listener… [that] recognizes in the inner workings of the song their own blood,
their own struggle, their own suffering.”
Head still photo courtesy of pixabaydotcom
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