The general feeling appears to be that current events are beneath the Homily. That the Homily is supposed to stick to the readings and help relate them in a very general way to how church members are supposed to conduct their lives.
So we get encouraged not to lie or be lazy or prideful, etc.
Fewer Catholics are getting a Catholic elementary/high school education. Few Catholics go to church events or spend any time with the priest except at church or maybe a brief chat after Mass.
The only time that a priest can send a message to a significant portion of the remaining faithful is in the Homily. And yet it seems that Catholic practice discourages and/or prohibits priests from bringing up topics like contraception, abortion, gay marriage, etc. because there are exceedingly few readings that the priest can use as a launching point for such discussions.
Failure has been baked in.
You are so right. ~sigh~
My priest does all the time. He says that a good preacher preaches with the newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other.
The overall point of your remarks is a good one, but I would dispute that there are few readings that provide a springboard to discussions of contraception, abortion, gay marriage, etc.
Although the Scriptures don't refer t those issues by name (check your concordance), they do relate teachings very, very frequently about man and woman, marriage, child-having (that's what the "begat, begat, begat" is all about) and idolatry.
It is quite feasible --- I have done it -- to teach thoroughly about the "hot disputed questions" using nothing but a solid exposition of the Commandments, the Sacraments, the Epistles of Paul (he is absolutely rich on these topics) and, referring to the Liturgical Calendar, the Lives of the Saints.
And few Americans are getting a solid elementary/high school education.