What I have been trying in vain to explain for years, Pope Francis has brilliantly stated on 24 November 2013:
HE HOMILY CANNOT BE a form of entertainment like those presented by the media, yet it does need to give life and meaning to the celebration. It is a distinctive genre, since it is preaching which is situated within the framework of a liturgical celebration; hence it should be brief and avoid taking on the semblance of a speech or a lecture. A preacher may be able to hold the attention of his listeners for a whole hour, but in this case his words become more important than the celebration of faith. If the homily goes on too long, it will affect two characteristic elements of the liturgical celebration: its balance and its rhythm. When preaching takes place within the context of the liturgy, it is part of the offering made to the Father and a mediation of the grace which Christ pours out during the celebration. This context demands that preaching should guide the assembly, and the preacher, to a life-changing communion with Christ in the Eucharist. This means that the words of the preacher must be measured, so that the Lord, more than his minister, will be the centre of attention.
— §138 Evangelii Gaudium [source]
MY RECENT ARTICLE (here) spoke about these exact qualities of the Liturgy: balance and rhythm.
The only thing I wish F1 would have added is a condemnation of priests who give announcements for 15 minutes after each Mass. Sadly, I’ve known quite a few priests who think of themselves as Rush Limbaugh, Chris Matthews, Bill O’Reilly, or [ Insert Sermonizer of your choice here ]. These priests preach for 40 minutes every Sunday and make announcements for 15 minutes (jokes, birthdays, etc.) before giving the dismissal. However, if the choir did a Gloria lasting more than 2 minutes, they got yelled after Mass. The reason I know this for a fact: years ago I would take a stopwatch out when they started making announcements. Yet … they always used Eucharistic Prayer No. 2 (cf. GIRM §365).
For this precise reason, I composed a whole bunch of extremely short Mass settings, like this one.
P.S.
I think the worst sermon I ever experienced was a school Mass wherein the priest preached for over an hour (my students missed 1st period) and was literally bouncing all over the pews, screaming at the students. He even brought a “Boombox” to the pulpit so he could blast excerpts of rock music at the students.
