Listening to the homily

PRIESTS, of course, should try their best to prepare and

deliver their homilies well, seeing to it that the word of God is

effectively transmitted and the loving encounter between Christ and

the people is facilitated. But the people themselves also have to know

how to listen because without the proper dispositions, they will miss

the point no matter how well the homily has been given.

            Christ himself must have referred to this concern when a

number of times, during the course of his preaching, he would conclude

by saying, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mt 11,15; Mk

4,9) I suppose he was asking the people to have faith in him, because

without it, his words would never sink in them.

            Christ himself, who is already the fullness of divine

revelation, had been misunderstood by many people and continues up to

now to suffer the same predicament.

            There were those who, lacking in faith in him,

consistently tried to find fault in his preaching. Even the apostles,

already very close to him, sometimes could not figure out what he

meant. That’s why they often asked him, “Explain the parable to us.”

(Mt 15,15)

            Obviously, part of the problem is that much of Christ’s

preaching, and therefore, a good part of our faith, contains mysteries

which are truths that go beyond the capacity of our senses and

intellect. Just the same, if one has faith, these mysteries offer no

problem in being accepted and believed.

            When we attend the Holy Mass and listen to the homily, we

have to make sure that our proper dispositions are in place. We are

not there to see or hear some theatrical or oratorical performance. We

are there to join in the sacrifice of Christ.

            At Mass, we step into another kind of reality, the reality

of the liturgy where through human ministers and natural things like

words, prayers and some materials like bread and wine, the presence of

Christ, his sacrifice of his life for our own sake, the whole

redemptive work of Christ take place.

            We certainly have to make adjustments in terms of attitude

and dispositions when we attend Mass and listen to the homily. That’s

why it’s highly recommended that we, the people, have to make due

preparation before attending Mass. We just do not go there as if the

Mass is one more event to attend during the day.

            We have to enliven our faith and piety, stir up our

consciousness to the fact that at Mass we will have a direct contact

with Christ, we become contemporaries of his especially as he offers

his life on the Cross in Calvary, and we are invited to make our own

sacrifice, uniting it with his.

            In this way, we can recognize the voice of Christ and the

proper spirit behind his words during the homily, regardless of how

the priests would mangle his words because of lack of preparation and

bad delivery. We would be moved to act on his words, to be doers also

and not just hearers of Christ’s word.