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Rev. Richard Carlino, the pastor of St. John the Evangelist and St. Anthony's parishes in Schenectady, has learned that he gives homilies that hold listeners' interest and shed light on Scripture.

But the homilies don't quite help parishioners bring the message of Christ to others or make them want to share the message - and the priest doesn't make one clear point each time he talks.

"I thought I used to," Father Carlino said. "I'll try harder. I'll try to get in their skin a little bit [and] make it spicy."

Parishioners gave the priest feedback through a homily evaluation survey he requested a liturgy committee group draft last spring. Only one percent of parishioners - about 200 people - responded, but Father Carlino thinks the feedback has the potential to enrich the Mass experience for all of his parishioners.

"I think priests should be open to that," he said. "It stretches me a bit, spiritually and otherwise. It changes the status quo. If people have a good spiritual message, it helps them to be better Christians. After all, they come to be fed spiritually. In the Catholic Church, they [tend to] hang on that homily. People were very touched by the fact that I asked them to evaluate my preaching."

Father Carlino scored the highest on areas like understandability and the homily's relevance to the Mass readings. He fell short on helping people in the pews make connections to their own life.

"Most of the results were very positive," he told The Evangelist. "That was nice, but I wasn't looking for a pat on the back. I was very much appreciative of the affirmation - and even more appreciative of the constructive criticism."

Preaching has always been a priority for Father Carlino, who wrote a dissertation on the topic while serving as a chaplain at Albany Medical Center in the mid-1980s. At that time, he tested homilies on groups of doctors and nurses, hospital staff and patients in an attempt to discover how to assure people that God is with them even in the midst of human suffering.

He earned his Doctor of Ministry degree in 1987 and is among only a half-dozen priests in the Albany Diocese who hold such a degree.

Father Carlino hasn't heard of other priests doing homily evaluations, but he thinks it would be a good idea for all parishes "if guys are open to it." He doesn't want to fall into the category of a priest who's liked for his personality, but who gives lukewarm homilies.

The pastor's game plan now is to pray on the results of the survey, work on the suggestions and then survey parishioners again - this time, by having them fill out a questionnaire on the spot after Mass, instead of taking it home - to determine whether he made the requested changes.

"I don't feel that I should be the judge of my preachings," he said. This will "help me be a better priest, to hear what they're saying."

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