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Santa Fe priests exceeding the five-minute homily time limit have been warned they could lose the faculty to preach.
The Santa Fe archdiocese says the restriction is part of its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In a 31 July memo, Archdiocesan vicar general Fr. Glennon Jones says the archdiocesan chancery had “received reports of some homilies going on for well over the 5-minute limit set by the Archbishop.”
“This not only increases exposure time [of the coronavirus] to others, but increases the discomfiture of many congregants, to the point of some not attending Mass because of it.”
Jones went on to say that priests who continue to exceed the five-minute homily limit, Archbishop John Wester would consider various courses of action including the “possibility of suspending the faculty to preach.”
The warning was part of a series of “periodic communications” from the chancery regarding pastoral and sacramental practice in the archdiocese during the pandemic.
The five-minute homily referenced in the July 31 memo appears to have been preceded by a relaxation of the archdiocese’s posted guidelines, which state that homilies be “very brief,” and “three minutes max.”
Wester’s various restrictions and directives aim to ensure Mass is concluded within “30-40 minutes.”
The July 31 memo also tells priests that in light of the pandemic, communicants can receive the Eucharist “inside the Church if they leave directly thereafter.”
The General Instruction for the Roman Missal does not prescribe a particular length of time for the homily.
It says the homily “is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life.”
“It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.”
Pope Francis has made no formal norms regarding the length of time for homilies.
However, in his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, he stresses the homily’s importance, saying:
“The homily has special importance due to its eucharistic context: it surpasses all forms of catechesis as the supreme moment in the dialogue between God and his people which lead up to sacramental communion.”
“The homily takes up once more the dialogue which the Lord has already established with his people.”
Francis says a priest must discern in prayer and from his knowledge of his people, how best to preach to them.
“The preacher must know the heart of his community, in order to realize where its desire for God is alive and ardent, as well as where that dialogue, once loving, has been thwarted and is now barren.”
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