From America Magazine:
Lengthy, abstract homilies are “a disaster,” so preaching should be limited to 10 minutes, Pope Francis said.
Speaking off the cuff to diocesan liturgical directors Jan. 20, the Pope said homilies are not academic conferences. “I sometimes hear people say, ‘I went to this parish, and yes it was a good philosophy lesson, 40, 45 minutes,'” he said. Francis encouraged priests to keep their homilies to “no more than eight to 10 minutes” and always include in them “a thought, a feeling, and an image,” so that “the people may bring something home with them.” Homilies are “sacramentals” to be “prepared in prayer” and “with an apostolic spirit,” he said. But, in the Catholic Church, he said, “in general, the homilies are a disaster.”