“The idea of a preacher who sings as a part of their homily is part of many African American cultural traditions,” explains Kim Harris. “The songs carry so many of our stories, hopes, and beliefs, and what we’re thinking about and believing and preaching about.”
Preach
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
‘Beyond the edges of humanity’: A Good Friday homily from the frontlines of war
Right there at the cross, in Jesus, our humanity doesn’t fall beyond its edges. Even there, even then, he continues to love. And even in that dense darkness—or loneliness—that he experiences as a human being, he doesn’t let himself forget that he is loved too.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
When preparing to preach, treat your homily like music
Ed Foley, O.F.M. Cap., discusses how, when preparing one of his homilies, he meticulously annotates his manuscript, like a conductor’s score. “Where’s the crescendo? Where’s the pause? When do the trumpets come in?”
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Ukraine military chaplain: Preaching hope to a world at war on Good Friday
When reflecting on the life, death and resurrection of the Lord while living in a state of military invasion and active war, “everything becomes more authentic,” and “God ceases to be just a concept,” says Andriy Zelinskyy, S.J. “He really becomes a source of life and all hope for you and for those who are around you.”
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
A Preacher’s Guide to Holy Week: These are long liturgies. Be brief!
The “Preach” team sought the expertise of two esteemed liturgical scholars and practitioners, Kim Harris and John Baldovin, S.J., to give preachers a whistle-stop tour of the readings and liturgies for this sacred week.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Father Rob Galea’s preaching strategies for reaching disengaged youth
“Explain the resurrection to me in two minutes without using any church language.” This is the challenge that Father Rob Galea tells “Preach,” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., he sets for his staff to ensure they can easily relate to the young people they serve.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
How a deacon’s past as a taxi driver fuels his preaching
Deacon Steve Kramer preaches on the First Scrutiny for the Third Sunday in Lent, Year A, and reflects on how four summers shuttling people around gave him a crash-course in listening skills key to his development as a preacher.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Meet a woman who teaches priests to preach
Karla Bellinger teaches and coaches preachers—mostly ordained Catholic men—to give effective homilies. “Effective preaching is like good butter sinking into warm toast,” she says. “You’ve gotta give the Holy Spirit a little bit of time to do some work.”
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Try something new this Lent: Map out your homilies like an org chart
Russell Pollitt S.J., shares with “Preach” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., how he uses org charts for homily planning, and how his brother’s suicide and presiding over the funeral of a drowned toddler led him to rethink his preaching style and theological framework.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
The Vatican’s chief liturgist on why preachers need to take their homilies more seriously
When asked by host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., why he chose the message of “Welcome Home” and not to preach “in a heavier way,” to emphasize the penitential nature of the season, Cardinal Arthur Roche replies: “Well, because I think, really, that’s what Lent is all about.