The Fog of Sin

When I was in young man, I would complain to my father that most priests were very unskilled when it came to public speaking and that this was most apparent during the homily. The homily is the part of the Catholic Mass where the priest, after reading from the Gospels, discusses the readings covered and how they could be implemented in our lives. My father told me that my job was to listen and that the Holy Spirit can work, no matter how unskilled the presentation.

And he's right. So, every Sunday I do my best to listen to the message, not the messenger. However, there have been a few homilies that have really stuck with me.

One of which I remember more for how it struck me as funny than for its divine guidance. It was at a friend's wedding where the priest, who was a good friend of both the groom and me, and whom was concerned about the struggles the couple may face, repeatedly reiterated that they were "going to have problems." God could get them through, but they were "going to have problems!" After the seventh "you're going to have problems" the homily finally ended.

The most gifted homilist I've heard was a priest in college named Father John Oliver. Two of his homilies have stayed with me. One of which, he started by walking into the middle aisle and threw a bunch of change onto the cement floor. Everyone perked up. He then went on to tell us how we should respond to the voice of God the way we responded to the sound of money.

The second homily I remember from him was about sin. He rolled out a very large bowl and he asked us how much water we believed it would take to fill the church with a very thick fog. He then reached into the bowl and pulled out a very small glass of water. His point was, like water vapor, it takes very little sin to cloud our judgment.

As I work toward creating my own Christian film production company, I've written a commercial script based on that homily. I hope to shoot by the end of the year. I'm currently looking for locations of a sound-friendly church with a great looking crucifix. When we're done, we'll make this commercial avalailable to Catholic Churches nationwide. It's the first step in a long process to convert my passions for filmmaking and my faith into a career.

In the meantime, a new priest, Father Michael Morris has joined our parish and the Holy Spirit flows through him and through his homilies. He is a joy to hear and when I get the message, I am appreciative of the messanger as well.