Pope Francis to priests: the homily should not last more than 8 minutes

In the General Audience this Wednesday, June 12, Pope Francis advised priests to give homilies that last no more than 8 minutes, and that contain “a thought, a feeling and an idea,” so that they can “translate the Word of God from the book to life.”

Continuing with his cycle of catechesis on the “Holy Spirit and the wife”, he highlighted that the Holy Scripture is a testimony “authorized and inspired by God” and by the Holy Spirit, which translates into “the divine inspiration of the Bible.” .

“The Holy Spirit, who inspired the Scriptures, is also the one who explains them and makes them eternally alive and active,” he then noted.

“The Death and Resurrection of Christ is the lighthouse that illuminates our lives”

Along these lines, he stated that sometimes, a passage of Scripture “that we have read many times without any particular emotion, one day we read it in an atmosphere of faith and prayer and, suddenly, that text illuminates, it speaks to us.” , sheds light on a problem we are experiencing, clarifies God’s will for us in a given situation.”

“To what is this change due, if not to an illumination of the Holy Spirit?” asked the Holy Father. For this reason, he assured that “the words of Scripture, under the action of the Spirit, become luminous.”

The Church, Pope Francis explained, “is nourished by the spiritual reading of the Holy Scripture, that is, by the reading carried out under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who inspired it.”

“At its center, like a beacon that illuminates everything, is the event of the Death and Resurrection of Christ, which fulfills the plan of salvation, fulfills all the figures and prophecies, reveals all the hidden mysteries and offers the true key to reading of the entire Bible. The Death and Resurrection of Christ is the lighthouse that illuminates the entire Bible, it also illuminates our lives,” he highlighted.

A pocket Gospel, Pope Francis’ advice for “spiritual reading”

Likewise, he stressed that the Church, the Bride of Christ, “is the authorized interpreter of the text of inspired Scripture, the mediator of its authentic proclamation.” Since the Church is endowed with the Holy Spirit, “for this reason she is an inspirer and interpreter, she is ‘the column and foundation of the truth’.”

Pope Francis recalled that “the duty of the Church is to help the faithful and those who seek the truth to correctly interpret the biblical texts.”

Later, he pointed out that one way to carry out the spiritual reading of the Word of God is the practice of Lectio Divinawhich consists of dedicating a moment of the day to the personal and thoughtful reading of a passage of Scripture.

“This is very important. Every day, take time to listen, and another time to meditate, reading a passage of Scripture. And for this reason, I ask you, always have a pocket Gospel and carry it in your bag, in your pockets. And so when you are traveling, or a little free, you pick it up and read something. This is very important for life. Get a pocket Gospel and read it during the day. Once, twice, when it happens,” the Holy Father advised.

“The homily should not last more than 8 minutes”

Next, Pope Francis cast his gaze on the “spiritual reading of the Scriptures par excellence,” which is what is carried out in the Holy Mass, that is, the homily.

So that the homily helps “to translate the Word of God from the book to life,” he especially advised priests “who talk so much, and so often it is not understood what they are talking about,” to make a brief and concrete homily.

In this way, so that the faithful do not fall asleep, Pope Francis asked that the homilies “not last more than 8 minutes” and stated that they must contain “a thought, a feeling and an idea.”

“The homily should not last more than 8 minutes, because after that time attention is lost, and people fall asleep, they stay asleep, rightly so. A homily should be like this, and I want to say this to the priests who talk so much, so many times, and it is not understood what they are talking about. Short Homily; a thought, a feeling, and a thing of action, of how to do. No more than 8 minutes. Because the homily must help translate the Word of God from the book to life,” he emphasized.

Likewise, he reiterated that in the words of God that we hear every day at Mass or in the Liturgy of the Hours, “there is always one that is intended especially for us, something that touches the heart.”

“If we welcome it into our hearts, it can illuminate our day and encourage our prayer. It’s about not letting it fall on deaf ears,” she added.

Finally, he encouraged the faithful to be constant in reading the Bible, which allows us to get closer to the Holy Spirit.

“May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Scriptures and now flows from them, help us capture this love of God in the concrete situations of our lives,” he concluded.

At the end of his catechesis, during the greeting to the Italian-speaking faithful, the Holy Father asked as usual for the end of wars in the world, especially in the martyred Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and Myanmar.

“Let us pray for peace, today peace is needed. War is always, from the first day, a defeat. May the Lord give us the strength to always fight for peace,” Pope Francis exhorted.