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.
Preach
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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The star first leads the wise men to Jerusalem—where Old and New Testament meet—not Bethlehem
The star led the Magi to Jerusalem, “as we are always taken to Jerusalem—because we must encounter the Scriptures of Israel,” says David Neuhaus, S.J. “It is from the Scriptures of Israel that they will receive the precise destination to which they are going—Bethlehem.”
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A Syriac Catholic priest and father in Bethlehem preaches on the Feast of the Holy Family
On this week’s “Preach,” Yunan Frédéric shares with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., his approach to preaching. “It’s like walking with a friend and talking together;” he says, “I am very much listening as well.
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Keeping Christmas joy alive in our preaching—even amid war, violence and poverty
On the Christmas episode of “Preach,” Barbara Reid, O.P, joins host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to reflect on how she maintains Christmas joy in her preaching without shying away from the grim realities of the world.
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Preaching about joy starts with paying attention to life’s difficulties
This week on “Preach,” the script is flipped: Ricardo da Silva, S.J., the regular host, becomes a guest preacher, and Maggi Van Dorn, a usual producer, takes the mic as the host. Ricardo invites listeners to identify where they have experienced joy, even as he admits that we live in a world where joy is hard to come by.
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Preaching in Native American communities responding to generational trauma
On “Preach,” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and Victor Cancino, S.J., explore how preachers might respond to generational trauma, particularly in Native American communities. “I think doing the work of looking at your own life,” says Victor,“ allows you to be vulnerable, and you give the freedom to people listening to you to practice the same thing.”
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A reminder for preachers: ‘Words can hurt; words can also heal’
On this week’s “Preach,” Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J, shares with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., how thinking of the Gospels as stories can subvert hierarchical, monarchical, and even patriarchal readings of the Scriptures.