From various directions voices come about the decreasing effect of the homily on living choices and attitudes of the listeners to these homilies. Pope Benedict XVI in his apostolic adhortation Sacramentum Caritatis on the Eucharist, the source and peak of the Church’s life and mission, reminds: “Given the importance of the word of God, the quality of homilies needs to be improved” (Sacramentum Caritatis 46). New challenges may be met by literature, which is consistent with the indications of the Vatican Council II: “Literature and the arts are also, in their own way, of great importance to the life of the Church” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes 62). The Council Fathers’ words open new horizons and broad possibilities before literature, and especially before lyric poetry in homily preaching.
