After the ushers collected them, we could now hear the real homily, correct? I'm talking of the actual exposition and teachings based upon the Scripture readings just heard, or some other pertinent topic from Church teaching. Well, we heard....
NOTHING! ZERO! ZIP! NADA!
After a lame one-liner about how the appeal tied into the Scriptures, Father dove right into the Creed. Section 65 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states that "the homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended, for it 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.." Furthermore, Section 66 tells us that "There is to be a homily on Sundays and holy days of obligation at all Masses that are celebrated with the participation of a congregation; it may not be omitted without a serious reason." (emphasis mine) Thus the complete omission of today's homily at Mother Seton to accomodate this simpering sales pitch constitutes liturgical abuse.
Fellow DC Catholics, I'm quite certain that you too had to suffer through that recorded drivvel today. But were your homilies also completely omitted as was the case at Seton today? Please advise via the comment box, giving location and Mass time. If enough homilies were likewise omitted, I must suspect that this omission - in other words, liturgical abuse - might have been ordered from "on high". I look forward to your feedback. Thanks.
