I was invited to give a talk on stewardship at all the Masses at my parish this weekend, and the way it was presented to me was that I was going to give my talk before the Mass began.

I received an email yesterday that now I will be giving my talk during the homily. I know lay persons aren't allowed to give homilies, but are they allowed to speak at the beginning of the time for homily, as long as the priest speaks as well? In other words, is it alright for a lay person to speak about stewardship for a minute or two during the homily, with the priest following afterward with his homily?

Is this acceptable? I feel unsettled about it, but I don't know what to do. This is the parish where I work as a teacher, and the priest is my boss. If I back out now, even on the grounds of conscience, it's going to be problematic I'm sure down the road.

Can you call your priest and talk to him?

Would it be impossible to move your stewardship talk to the proper place, near the end of Mass?

Redemptionis Sacramentum

http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/documents/ ... ng.shtml#9

74. If the need arises for the gathered faithful to be given instruction or testimony by a layperson in a church concerning the Christian life, it is altogether preferable that this be done outside Mass. Nevertheless, for serious reasons it is permissible that this type of instruction or testimony be given after the Priest has proclaimed the Prayer After Communion. This should not become a regular practice, however. Furthermore, these instructions and testimony should not be of such a nature that they could be confused with the homily, nor is it permissible to dispense with the homily on their account.

I suppose I could, but this was set up at the priest's request through the Director of Development. She was the one who contacted me and told me, at first, that I would be speaking before the Mass (they didn't want to do it at the end because they were apparently afraid that parishioners would start leaving).

My fear, like I said, is that he's my boss, and I would feel like I was telling my boss how to do his job.

I also work for a parish.

I would ask.

You need to talk to your pastor and express your concerns and the reason behind them (Redemptoris Sacramentum, and I bet there is something in the GIRM concerning this too.) I've had to bring to the attention something I thought was not proper - do it in a loving and questioning manner. Ask him if (and how) you are incorrectly understanding what the church documents are saying.

Parishioners really shouldn't be leaving before the last blessing and the recessional anyway. Now if your priest addressed this expressly in his homily, I bet no one will be willing to stand up and be seen by everyone else as early-leavers

By the way, the readings today were a good reading for stewardship!

I hope it's kosher for a noob to post in here.

I was duped into giving a talk during (actually, in place of, as it turned out) a homily. A few years later, when I became more sensible, I realized it was not proper. Feel free to ask some competent people in your area, but I think you'll find that it's an indefensible practice.

Personally, I wouldn't try to change anyone's mind, that's a dead-end street. Just do whatever you have to in order to get out of it. Fake a stomach cramp, whatever. And, just a tiny word to the wise, take it however you want:

Any priest so unmindful of your spiritual health that he would put you in that situation isn't the spiritual guide you need leading you to heaven...but I know that if your life is anything like mine, you may not be able to escape. Good luck.


Oh, BTW, I once saw one much, much worse: At one parish, the Priest announced that the homily would be about health, then relinquished the ambo to a "full body screenings nurse" who represented a mobile screening van that had parked in the parish parking lot and was offering scans for $39.95. She told us the benefit of health screenings for 10 minutes, then we had the Offertory. For reelz, yo.

That was pretty much my reaction, too, Siggy.

Your message on stewardship would be undermined by breaking the rules, and stepping outside what a good honorable steward should do.