The homily offered one of the first major illustrations of how O’Malley views American culture, and of how his status as a Franciscan Capuchin friar affects his priorities. He spoke at length about the importance of preaching, which was a major preoccupation of St. Francis.
“We have only to look at the New Age bookshelves and psychic hotlines and television stations to see that there is a hunger for God and for spirituality among our people, but today’s audience is not easy,” he said. “The boomers . . . are heirs to Woodstock, the drug culture, the sexual revolution, feminism, the breakdown of authority, and divorce. . . . And they are addicted to entertainment — even the news must be entertaining.”
O’Malley, who was installed as archbishop of Boston last summer, appears far more conversant with popular culture than his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, spicing his humor-laden homilies with quotes not only from the Bible but from theater, literature, movies, and television. Yesterday he referred to the motion picture “Contact” as well as the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom.
But he described American culture as particularly inhospitable to Catholic teaching, and likened preaching to Americans to a form of martyrdom.
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