homily

n. sermon, moralizing discourse, lesson, exhortation

In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a homily is usually given during Mass (or Divine Liturgy for Orthodox) at the end of the Liturgy of the Word.
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Noun
1. a sermon on a moral or religious topic
(synonym) preachment
(hypernym) sermon, discourse, preaching

(n.)
A serious or tedious exhortation in private on some moral point, or on the conduct of life.
  

(n.)
A discourse or sermon read or pronounced to an audience; a serious discourse.
  

Synonyms and related words:
article, assignment, causerie, chalk talk, descant, discourse, discussion, disquisition, dissertation, essay, etude, examination, excursus, exercise, exposition, feature, first approach, harangue, homework, instruction, introductory study, lecture, lecture-demonstration, lesson, lucubration, memoir, monograph, moral, moral lesson, morality, moralization, morceau, note, object lesson, outline, pandect, paper, paragraph, piece, preachification, preaching, preachment, prelection, preliminary study, prolegomenon, recital, recitation, religious discourse, research paper, screed, sermon, sermonette, set task, sketch, skull session, special article, study, survey, talk, task, teaching, term paper, theme, thesis, tract, tractate, travelogue, treatise, treatment