“It doesn’t fit, when one is in God’s service, to have a
gloomy face or a chilling look.”
St.
Francis of Assisi
Thursday, October 3, 2019
IN 25 WORDS
OR LESS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 26th Thursday
in Ordinary Time is: “In 25 Words or
Less?”
We’ve all have heard the question: “Can you tell me what
you’re trying to say in 25 words or less?”
For starters - that usually causes pause - or hesitation.
TODAY’S TWO READINGS
I got the thought for this homily from today’s two
readings.
In the first reading Ezra the priest- as today’s reading from Nehemiah 8: 3puts
it, - is “Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate,
he read out of the book from daybreak until midday….”
That’s a lot of words and that’s a lot of time.
As preacher I have seen at least a hundred times the
watch looking gesture and signal.“Wrap
it up.” “Hurry it up.” “Enough already!”
Did anybody do that to Ezra that day - when the reading
went from daybreak till midday?Oops
they didn’t have watches.
In today’s gospel Jesus disciples are to give a message.
It’s 4 words: “Peace to this household.” [Luke 10:5.]
In both readings the next thing that happens is to eat
and drink.
There’s the Mass in short form: words and food.
That’s our every day: words and food.
Isn’t that what we do every day: in the daily mass called
our household? We eat and we talk. We chat and chew.
5BRIEF
POINTS
ONE: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
On November 19, 1863, two men gave an address at
Gettysburg Pennsylvania Cemetery.Edward
Everett gave a talk that had 13,687 words in it. It took about 2 hours. He was followed by Abraham Lincoln who gave a
272 word talk.
TWO: SERMON LENGTH
What’s your opinion on sermon length? For a Sunday
sermon? For aWeekday sermon?
THREE: RELATIVITY OF TIME
As Einstein put it, time is relative. How long a minute
takes depends upon what side of the bathroom door you’re on.How long a sermon takes depends upon who’s
speaking.There’s actual time and
“feeling time”.
FOUR: LEARNING FROM TV
Back in the late 1960’s at a New York priest’s meeting someone asked for volunteers to give 2
religious talks for WPIX - Channel 11. One
was to begin the day; the other to end the day. They were to be exactly 3
minutes. The first was at 5:27 AM till 5:30 AM and the second was from 1:30 AM
till 1:33 AM. It took me 3 times each time to be exactly 3 minutes.Good learning.
FIVE: LEGACY
At the Water Gate Ezra - speaking for the future of the
community - goes for a few hours. Could you spell out in 25 words or less your
legacy - what you see is the meaning and purpose of life or what have you?
CONCLUSION
This sermon took 3 minutes and 30 seconds and was 499words exactly. How long did it feel? Did I
say anything that had a grab?