Preach: The Catholic Homilies Podcast

“I really appreciate it when the truth is spoken very plainly,” says Tsh Oxenreider. Homilies that cut to the chase—and call us to conversion now. Host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks with writer and podcaster Tsh Oxenreider about what active waiting means during Advent; sitting with discomfort, resisting the rush to Christmas. They explore the traditional meanings of the liturgical weeks—joy in week three, love in week four—what penance looks like in this season, and the O Antiphons. Tsh speaks directly about what she needs from preaching: homilies that tell the truth plainly and call us, here and now, to confess our sins and get right with God. Support Preach—subscribe at⁠⁠ ⁠americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I’m thinking about the end of time in another way,” says Ann Garrido. “Because end can mean the conclusion, the finish, but it can also mean the purpose.” For 25 years, Ann has taught homiletics, pastoral theology and catechetics at Aquinas Institute of Theology, written 10 books and spoken at more than 350 gatherings. A longtime catechist in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd movement, Ann offers her reflection for a planned Advent reconciliation service at St. Thomas More Parish in Decatur, Ga. She begins with a conversation from the parish atrium about the end of time—children offering answers like “God will be all in all” and “there will be peace,” before one boy insists his paradise is “hamburgers.” From there, she moves into Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom and the real work of reconciliation: making peace with those closest to us—whoever our ‘X’ is, the sibling we fight with, the friend we’ve fallen out with, the neighbor who drives us crazy. Part of the “Preaching for the Sacraments” series, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks with Ann about what distinguishes Advent reconciliation from Lent. Ann looks to the ancient roots of confession, where the early “confessors” proclaimed faith rather than only naming sin: “What we’re really confessing is our belief in a God who can heal and work out things that we ourselves are not gonna be able to fix.” Ricardo echoes this reframing: “Perhaps it's helpful not to think of it only as a confession of sin, but really also a confession of faith that we go there to proclaim our faith in a God who heals the impossible.” Ann also reflects on a recent glioblastoma diagnosis and how it has sharpened her sense of call and taught her to preach from vulnerability—without making herself the hero of the story. Support Preach—subscribe at⁠⁠ americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Auxiliary Bishop Adam Parker of Baltimore has confirmed more than 10,000 young people—and he wants his brother bishops to know what a gift the sacrament can be. In this episode of “Preach,” he shares his confirmation homily built around Jesus’ question to Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” Then host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., asks him for a fervorino: If he were standing before his brother bishops, what brief, heartfelt exhortation would he offer about preaching for confirmation? His answer: Remember that confirmation is a unique opportunity. Many in the pews aren’t regularly connected to the church—so preach the invitation to relationship with Jesus Christ. Make the gifts of the Holy Spirit practical and real, drawing from your own life. And “make our own humanity as bishops visible to the candidates.” Let them see you’re not just presiding ceremonially, but walking with them as their shepherd. Support Preach—subscribe at americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The parable of the persistent widow. Again. Scholar, poet, and preacher Cameron Bellm has heard it a hundred times—so she turned to Russian literature for help. Drawing on Viktor Shklovsky’s ostranenie, the art of making the familiar strange, she reveals how to jolt ancient parables back to life. “It is the goal of art to make the stone stony again,” she says. She also urges preachers to learn from Russian Masters Tolstoy—”a master of the narration of human consciousness”—and Dostoevsky, who “takes us into the deepest, darkest, grittiest underbelly of humanity and lights a single match.” In her homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, she layers voices across generations—her Presbyterian grandfather’s 1964 sermons, Oscar Romero, Etty Hillesum—creating “a double-exposed photograph.” Her provocation: “We identify as the persistent widow, but like it or not, we are also the judge.” ___ Support Preach—subscribe at ⁠americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“This isn’t just about the baby, this isn’t just about the parents and godparents. This is about all of us and it is about our faith.” This is the realization that came to Con O’Mahony, Vicar for Education in the Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario, and pastor at St. Margaret Mary Parish, while attending a Baptism at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Standing in a filled cathedral before John Nava’s magnificent tapestries depicting the communion of saints, he suddenly understood: “We are not doing this alone. We’re not doing this in isolation. We are doing this with the whole church—there’s something bigger than ourselves.” Con explains that preaching doesn’t start at the ambo—it begins in personal encounters, especially when preparing for sacraments as personal as baptism. He connects with families before any paperwork is done, even if only for a few minutes before the ceremony, asking about the child’s name and listening to their stories. Often, his best homily material comes from these everyday conversations—like a second grader’s humorous definition of Baptism: “When the priest gives you a bath in church so that God will like you better.” Con sees truth in this—baptism is God washing us—but with one crucial correction: not to like us better, but to prove God’s unconditional love was there for us all along. Con and host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., connect this love to not only the person being baptized but to the whole community and to the faith. The conversation moves from the practical—how Con prepares, what makes a good baptismal homily—to a deeper shift in how we approach these moments. As Ricardo reflects, too often “we tend to preach for people that we don’t think we’ll ever see again.” What if instead we “preach as though you want to see them again and you are going to see them again? This is not a once and for all—this is a once and then.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Preach, we launch a new series: Preaching for the Sacraments—how homilists can bring depth and imagination to their preaching during some of the Catholic Church’s most meaningful rites. To set the stage, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks with Anthony Ruff, O.S.B., Benedictine monk and professor of liturgy at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Minnesota. Together they unpack what sacraments truly are—and how to preach them with both depth and imagination. “A sacrament is not a vending machine where we put the thing in our action and then the thing comes out automatically,” Anthony explains. “God acts through symbols such as water and oil and laying on hands and exchanging the peace with one another and singing together.” Grace is not dispensed mechanically, but unfolds through real human experience: “If I’m becoming more human and growing in community, I’m being divinized.” Preaching at sacramental celebrations must therefore begin with the lives of those gathered, not abstract theology. “I really try to say, what’s the word that will be Christ for them, that will resonate with their experience?” Anthony reflects. “We really have to think about the whole life of this community—and then our homily is a part of that.” In this episode: 00:00 – ‘A sacrament is not a vending machine’ 01:10 – Introduction 02:40 – Meet Anthony Ruff: monk and teacher 04:00 – About the Compelling Preaching Grant 08:10 – What is a sacrament? Encounter, not simply ritual 08:48 – What is the core purpose of the sacrament? 13:20 – A sacrament as a sign of peace 15:50 – Mystery, not magic 17:38 – Becoming aware of the God's presence in your life 19:48 – Sacraments vs. sacramentals: what’s the difference? 21:40 – Sacraments for community and the individual 24:05 – A final word on sacraments 27:05 – What preaching is for? 28:45 – Homilies at sacramental Masses: rite or readings? 33:10 – Symbols as stage directions 36:40 – Challenges and pitfalls of preaching the sacraments 38:50 – How long does it take to prepare for a sacrament 40:50 – Keeping the mystery of the sacraments alive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season two of “Preach” has wrapped. Before we pause until fall, please share what moved you this season, what you’d like more or less of, and any ideas for future episodes to shape next season's lineup. In this bonus episode, Ricardo and Maggi Van Dorn – his co-producer on “Preach” and producer of America Media’s newest podcast – introduce “The Spiritual Life with Father James Martin, S.J.” They discuss what preachers can gain from the show and share the first episode featuring Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe. Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe is a Dominican friar, former Master of the Dominican Order, and a widely respected author. Pope Francis chose him as retreat leader for the Synod on Synodality. In this episode, he shares insights on Dominican spirituality, friendship with God, and living with cancer. “The Spiritual Life” is hosted by Father James Martin, S.J., a Jesuit priest, bestselling author, editor-at-large at America Media, and founder of Outreach. The show explores how people pray and find God in daily life. Each episode features listener questions answered by Father Martin and his guests in a relatable “Dear Abby of the soul” style. Guests include Stephen Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Pete Buttigieg, and Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe. 🎧 Take the “Preach” listener survey and follow “The Spiritual Life with Father James Martin, S.J.” every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. “Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc. Get daily Scripture reflections and ⁠⁠⁠⁠support⁠⁠⁠ “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people hear “Holy Trinity” and think “mystery”—something abstract and hard to explain. But for Dianne Bergant, C.S.A., the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C, is a chance to root the doctrine in daily life. She invites us to see it instead as “the relationship that human beings have to the Creator.” God, she says, “literally serves us”—through creation, Christ, and the Spirit, who “does not go alone” but “works through us.” In this episode of Preach, Dianne reflects on preaching as an introvert, why she never writes her homilies, and her memories of teaching exegesis at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago—including to a quiet, thoughtful student now known as Pope Leo XIV. “He was a very good student,” she recalls. “I have kept every grade, a record of every grade. So when I say he was a good student, I have evidence.” Guest: Dianne Bergant, a Sister of St. Agnes and distinguished scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures, taught for over 40 years at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and served on the Pontifical Biblical Commission. ⁠⁠⁠⁠ “Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc. Get daily Scripture reflections and ⁠⁠support⁠⁠ “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices