Homily

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Dr. Goodword
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Homily

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Oct 02, 2015 10:26 pm

• homily •

Pronunciation: hah-mê-li • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A morally edifying sermon to inspire a congregation, as opposed to a more philosophical message on theological doctrine. 2. A platitude, a short expression of an uplifting nature. 3. A tedious and probably insincere tirade on morality.

Notes: The visit of Pope Francis to the US has cast a spotlight on today's Good Word. He is, of course, a seasoned homilist who homilizes often. Recently, however, the meaning of this word has taken a turn toward the pejorative (the same direction as sermon). Today both these words metaphorically imply tedious, self-righteous moralizing.

In Play: When referring to the activity of the Catholic Church, today's word is taken quite seriously: "Pope Francis delivered a homily to an audience that packed the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on his recent visit." Unfortunately, this word is more often used sarcastically these days: "Foster Grant gave me a five-minute homily on the evils of alcohol while trying to maintain his balance after a three-martini lunch."

Word History: The ancient Proto-Indo-European language, from which most European and South Asian languages evolved, had a word sem- "(as) one". This word wandered through the Germanic languages, coming to English as same. In Latin it became semper "always", as in the US Marine Corps motto, semper fi(delis) "always loyal". That is also it in simul "at the same time", underlying English simultaneous. In Greek, however, initial S usually became H, so it appears in that language as homos "same", as in homogenize. (We see the same shift in Greek hemi- "half" versus Latin semi- "half".) This adjective is the base of homilos "crowd", a oneness of many. A discussion with a crowd then was a homilia in Greek, a word Latin borrowed without much change. English, as is its wont, adapted the Latin word for its own purposes, changing the meaning to that of today's Good Word.
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Perry Lassiter
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Re: Homily

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Oct 03, 2015 10:58 am

Homily has always had interesting connotations to me. Catholics and other "high church" denominations focus on communion, or the mass, as indicated by the architecture. The altar is central, with pulpit and lectern on the sides. In other Protestant churches the pulpit is central as a statement that proclamation of the Gospel should be the focus.

Ergo proclamation can be secondary in high churches to the Eucharist. Thus the connotation to me is that homilies tend to be less forceful than sermons and of a bit lesser importance, though I'm sure it varies. Not intended as criticism, merely a statement of the connotations to me as a Southern evangelical.

There is a famous criticism of both sermons and homilies that has been circulated for a long time. ."Today we have too many mild-mannered preachers, preaching mild-mannered sermons to Mild-mannered people, with a view to making them more mild-mannered."
pl

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Re: Homily

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Oct 03, 2015 2:12 pm

Perry: You and I both know a famous teacher of homiletics. He is Clyde Fant. Clyde is a Baptist but text books he wrote have been used in Seminaries of all denominations including Catholics. Catholic priests usually call their sermons homilies. I have always thought the two words were synonyms, and still do. The high point in a Baptist service is the sermon. The high point in a Catholic service is the Eucharist. I know a Lutheran pastor who insists that the high point in a service is the General Confession. For me, I like the hymns, as long as they are the old ones.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
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Re: Homily

Postby Perry Lassiter » Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:22 am

Clyde is from Shreveport and was in Baylor with me. Saw him a year or so ago when he returned to FBC Ruston for a special occasion. The church built a fine auditorium under his leadership that still looks new.
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