the.com/homily
A sermon's gentler cousin — advice dressed up as comfort, short enough to survive attention spans.
means A short, moralizing talk or piece of advice meant to instruct or comfort, often delivered with more gentleness than rigor.
from From Greek 'homilia,' meaning conversation or discourse, itself from 'homilos,' a crowd or assembled company — rooted in 'homou' (together) and the idea of being in one another's company. The word traveled through Latin into church usage, narrowing from general 'talking together' to the specific sense of a preacher addressing a gathered congregation — so at its root, a homily is less a lecture handed down than a conversation among people assembled together.
- origin
- Greek homilia meant conversation, not lecture
- length rule
- traditionally under ten minutes, unlike sermons
- secular use
- any moralizing cliche, like a greeting card
- catholic mass
- required after the gospel reading, every time