Homilies Are Not Sermons
The homily by the priest or deacon follows the proclamation of the Gospel. The homily is not a “sermon,” which is technically a talk on a particular subject – e.g. holiness, grace, sin, heaven, hell, etc. “The Homily is part of the Liturgy and is highly recommended, for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life. It should be an explanation of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (GI, 65).
The homily is such an important element of the Mass that “On Sundays and Holydays of Obligation there is to be a homily at every Mass that is celebrated with the people attending, and it may not be omitted without a grave reason. On other days it is recommended, especially on the weekdays of Advent, Lent and Easter Time, as well as on other festive days and occasions when people come to church in greater numbers. It is appropriate for a brief period of silence to be observed after the Homily” (GI, 66). Just as the Body of Christ is broken prior to Communion, so the homilist “breaks open” the meaning of God’s Word to help all of us recognize how the Lord Jesus is now present among us and what he is doing in our lives, church, and world today.
The Assembly then proclaims its faith using the Nicene-Constantinople Creed, which was recited by the bishops during the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. During Lent, we may use the Apostles Creed. With the new translation of the Apostles Creed, we must be cautious not to think that Jesus “descended into hell”, which we understand to be the realm of Satan and the devils. A better translation would have been “Jesus descended among the dead” meaning that he really died and that he freed all those from “Sheol” (the Jewish netherworld) who were waiting for the Savior’s coming.
The inclusion of the Profession of Faith or Creed has a fascinating liturgical history in both the Eastern and the Western Churches. Neither the Apostles Creed nor the Nicene Creed are believed to have been composed for use in the Mass since historically they begin with the word “Credo” or “I believe” and not “We believe” which would be more fitting for a liturgical assembly. As we saw in St. Justin Martyr’s description of the Liturgy of the Word, he does not mention the Profession of Faith.
The most likely setting of the Creed was in the baptismal liturgies when candidates professed their “individual” faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. St. Cyril of Jerusalem in 350 A.D. explained its meaning during Mass to his candidates preparing for baptism. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults has a rite called “The Presentation of the Creed” when the Church professes its faith to the elect who will be baptized and confirmed during the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. Father Joseph Jungmann, the great Austrian liturgical-historian, claims that the Creed was used as a profession of faith before baptism. The Creed was likewise used in Constantinople, the patriarchal see of the Eastern Church, as a profession of faith at the time of baptism.
Father Sauer continues his series on the Mass in the Dec. 2 issue of The Message.
