This and that

There was a sportswriter for the Providence Journal named Bill Reynolds.  Bill was an accomplished reporter and author. He was a standout basketball player for Brown University in his day as well as an afficionado of basketball as a sportswriter. One hallmark of Bill’s sports reporting was his Saturday column entitled “For What It’s Worth.” This column consisted of a concise collage of sports news, current events, and/or movie or book reviews. The collage was also flavored with his own commentaries and opinions.  After reading his entertaining column, readers generally looked forward to the next one, which would appear in the paper on the upcoming Saturday. Bill died in July of 2023. May he rest in peace.

I mention this because Bill, before the age of soundbite news at our fingertips, seemed to understand the dynamic of human nature. Because in many ways we are a society on the go, task-minded, and focused on the next thing. We like brevity.  We like things to be concise, entertaining, and informational. Many of us like bullet points because they tell us succinctly most of the who, what, when, where, why, and how. Recognizing that we are selective regarding time, even the Wall Street Journal puts on its digital edition how long an article will take to read, giving readers even more freedom to choose to invest the time or not in reading. Probably, most of the information we consume is brief, to the point, and strategic in the way it communicates.

Considering our short attention span, Pope Francis, at his June 12 public catechesis on the importance of the word of God and helping people to apply the Scriptures to life, said to priests, “But the homily for this must be short: an image, a thought, a feeling. The homily should not go beyond eight minutes because after that time you lose attention and people fall asleep.” The Catholic News Agency article that was reporting on the catechesis and the message of Pope Francis that day also highlighted that it was not the first time that our Holy Father has mentioned that priests should keep their homilies brief. In making his suggestion for briefer homilies, obviously Pope Francis is considering the reality that people have shorter attention spans. Circumstances can also contribute to our short attention spans.

Pope Francis’ comments reminded me of a preaching experience that I had while serving as a transitional deacon in St. Matthew Parish in Cranston, Rhode Island. The parish church was (and still is) an elegant brick church located on the corner of a very busy intersection. It had stained-glass windows with small louver stained-glass windows that opened to allow air in. The church was not air conditioned. The day that I was preaching was a Rhode Island “scorcher,” with high temperatures and high humidity. The vigil Mass was at 7:30 p.m. The church had baked in the sun all day, and inside it was hot like a brick oven. With great zeal, I preached a homily that lasted about 15 minutes! I don’t remember what I preached about, nor do I think that anyone in that hot church could have told me afterwards what I preached about during those 15 minutes. What was I thinking?

Pope Francis has his thoughts on preaching as do many others. His point about trying to take the word of God from the pages of the Scriptures and applying it to our lives is so very important. Jesus reminds us of this important reality when He says at the end of His famous Sermon on the Mount, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (Matthew 7:24). Jesus’ words give us stability. Jesus’ teaching gives our lives caught up in this fast-paced world direction.

May I offer a suggestion? For what it is worth, perhaps consider reading the Gospel from the daily Mass each morning before you leave for work, school, or leisure. It’s easy. The U.S. Bishops’ website, usccb.org, has the daily readings, so there’s no need to buy anything. To read the Gospel would take maybe two minutes. If you read it twice, it’s only about four minutes. Pick out a phrase or sentence that stands out to you, and read that again. This little exercise only takes about five minutes. That’s not too bad. The word we read may be inspirational for the day ahead, therefore, these five minutes would be a great investment of our precious time.

If you have persevered in reading this article, thank you!  Enjoy your summer. God bless you.

Bishop James Ruggieri
13th Bishop of Portland