It depends, in part, on what’s happening next. If you have to get the people from 9:00 a.m. Mass out, so the people for 11:00 a.m. Mass can get in, then there’s an obvious constraint on homily length.
At my church on Sunday afternoons, we have Mass at 1:30 and 4:30, so there’s a little more “give” in the schedule.
Glad to see you. Are you affected by the flooding after Florence?
I think Msgr is referring only to Sunday Mass homilies. His columnt is more about the freedom of a priest to choose, depending on his parish and the circumstances, how long a homily will last.
Msgr. Pope’s parish has a 9:00 am and 11:00 am Mass, in between which is Sunday School for children and for adults. There is also a Saturday vigil and Sunday 7:00pm Mass. I’ve attended his church (it’s now my parish) for 11:00a and 7:00pm.
The Sunday @ 11:00am is the long Mass, so there’s a lapse until 7:00pm. People in the parish know the drill. If you go to the 11:00am Mass, you know it’s going to last the better part of 2 hours. At that Mass, not only is the homily a full half hour, but it’s like a “high” Mass where everything is sung either by the (fantastic!) choir or the choir and congregation. And, week after week, that Mass is well attended. I personally hate to miss it. If a parishioner is short on time, they can go to one of the other Masses.
When I was young I lived near G’town Hospital and many grad students who were my neighbors would go to Mass in the hospital’s chapel ... in and out in 16 minutes!