Boring homilies? At that time... let's make the most of it.Boring homilies? The opportunity of the weekBoring homilies? Preaching without killing of boredomDuring Lent last year, I was surprised to hear the one-minute sermons of the former pontifical preacher for six days. I asked myself as I listened to them: is it possible to say something in such a short time?
The answer is given with solvency by this preacher. With a sheet of paper in his hands, he speaks, almost reads, a text he has prepared, and uses as a central point a few words from the gospel.
We are facing a challenge that seems impossible: to deliver a message in a short time. This is also done by speakers who give TED talks of about twelve minutes. It is advised that the homily should last less than ten minutes. Pope Francis has repeated it many times, he said in a general audience: "The homily should be brief: an image, a thought, a feeling. A homily should not last more than eight minutes because after that time one loses attention and people fall asleep, and he is right".
Brief preaching
Some time ago, I read a booklet entitled: Say it in six minutes, by Ron Hoff. It refers to meetings of executives and economic approaches for people who, being very busy, do not have time to listen to a long speech.
The truth is that I don't know if it's possible to say anything at all in such a short timeIt is also necessary to substantiate what one says, but it is also true that today, if the message is longer than one minute, it seems to be eternal.
What ideas did I take away from that one-minute preaching?
The first is the need to prepare the text very well, and even to have it written in its entirety.
The way he reads it, with a kind tone, with a smiling face, he is not recriminating, nor is he questioning, he is proposing serenely and kindly. It seems almost spontaneous, a conversation with a friend.
Another consideration is the power of the words of Jesus: from a brief sentence of the Gospel it is possible to structure a whole message. The Gospels, there is no doubt about it, are the most read book of all times, four very short texts, full of so many images, parables, signs, slogans, phrases that transcend their origin to be present in everyone's life: give to Caesar what is Caesar's, let not your right hand know what your left hand is doing, let us make three tents, man of little faith, come and see, why weep, do not sow tares, they have no wine, he is a lost sheep, this is the prodigal son, let fire fall from heaven, men of little faith, and so on.
Voice and speech
I remember years ago, looking for texts that explained the secret of public speaking, I found one that said: "pronunciation, pronunciation, pronunciation". It seems simple...
It is clear that verbal communication depends on the tone of voice of the communicator, but it also requires good content, it is not just about attracting attention, but we want to convey a message.
Sometimes, I listen to very good speakers -it is a pleasure to listen to them-, but what I am left with is that the message has been a real labyrinth of phrases strung together in a marvelous way, in the end leaving only the taste of the delight of witty, funny, agile discourse, but...
We are faced with the challenge of transmitting our message, and we want to do it in a way that reaches the listener, that challenges him. It is true that we are facing a task that requires the action of the Spirit to bear fruit, but it is necessary to help the Spirit, because it will not be possible to get a clear message if what I say is an intricate succession of words that deviate from all logic and that pretending to reach everyone, something unintelligible reaches everyone.
The public
In addition, we are also facing another challenge, we are talking to a heterogeneous audience, each one has his own story, his own way of receiving the message, at that moment he may be motivated or not and, in addition, the listener has a previous knowledge of the speaker, it will not always be positive and if he is personally known: no one is a prophet in his own home.
We always listen more attentively to the speaker who arrives from abroad, from another city, and who will give the keynote lecture, where he will also tell the best anecdotes of his life, and who arrives with an aura of prestige and who will return to his place of origin.
The key, I dare to say, for the message to get through, is to develop it as if it were a thriller, some ideas suggesting others that I do not know how or when they will arrive, through interconnected scenes, without letting the listener's attention wane, without taking everything for granted, without saying from the start everything I have to say, and leaving an open door for the message to continue resonating, as if it were music that springs from within us.
This is an example of a first-rate speaker who has been encouraged to transmit a one-minute text, which leaves an idea, but, to be honest, it is so brief that the message leaves a taste of little, although it is very suggestive.
Finally, I would like to say that all verbal transmission is mysterious. Sometimes, we see a video of a minute or a minute and a half, and we are surprised by the amount of things it conveys. This is the time of advertising.
Will we have to apply the language of advertising to the way we convey our ideas? Perhaps this conclusion is a bit simplistic, but it may be worth a try.
