With reference to Kathleen Choi’s column “Good sermon, Father” in the May 10 issue of the Hawaii Catholic Herald, I have always been a firm believer that the precious few minutes a priest has with his congregation during his sermon is a moment in time that will cause parishioners to draw conclusions on how effective his message really was.
As a member of Toastmasters International (TI) and having lived in the Sinai Desert as a frequent visitor to the Holy Land, I have always said that if I were “Pope-for-a-Day”, I would require all priests to:
1) join TI to polish their presentation skills on how to connect with the congregation and
2) have priests tour the Holy Land so when they read from the pulpit it is with the passion of the “being there, done that” category.
Bowman Olds
Montclair, Va.