And why is it they just happen to set their watch so that their preaching lasts 15 min long so that the structure of the “Divine Liturgy” fits into the worship timeframe?
You’d have to know the purpose of Mass to understand.
Well, I've heard good homilies that lasted 5 minutes and good homilies that last 12-13 minutes.
Usually, Masses are scheduled 1-1/2 hours apart from each other. If the homily goes too long, that couldn't happen.
Also, the purpose of the homily is:
65. The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended, for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life. It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.
General Instruction of the Roman Missal
So the homily is supposed to be an explanation of the readings or about some other liturgical text used in the Mass for that day. It is NOT necessarily supposed to be a long exhortation. While the application to individual lives is necessarily part of it (therefore there is built in a call to conversion), the audience, remember, the purpose is to educate and exhort those who are already Catholics, not to evangelize those who are outside of the Church.
There are forums for that, but this isn't one of them.
The other point, in all candor, is that there are a WHOLE LOT FEWER Catholic priests who can belt out a good sermon than Protestant preachers. I've heard both, I know. And most of the ones I know have a hard enough time with 15 minutes...I'd hate to see them stumble all over themselves with a whole hour. There are priests who can do that. But not most.
That is not a reflection on the relative piety or sanctity of anybody...on either side, btw. I, honestly, wish we had a better forum for some good preaching (outside of Mass). Even street-corner preaching. But we don't. I think we are too comfortable and, in all honesty, need to undergo some chastisement from our Father in order to regain a lot of fire in our bellies and zeal for evangelizing like the early Catholics had.
I hesitate to reply to this, but 15 MINUTES?????????? Any more than seven and you lose the congregation. 7-10 is normal. Most priests can say what needs to be said in that amount of time. Some of the more outstanding sermons I've heard have been more like 2-3 minutes. Spare, to the point with a challenge. It helps us remember. Personally, I think they could extend the silence after the Communion Procession a little longer in exchange.