Catholic Women Preach

Preaching for the Fourth Sunday of Advent , Liz McCloskey offers a reflection inviting us to trust that God is doing something new:   "What are the signs in your own life that God is creating something new in you?  and who is it that helps you see the signs?   Fear not.  Say prophets.  Say angels.  Says God."   Liz McCloskey is a parishioner at Holy Trinity...

Preaching for the Third Sunday of Advent , Gaudete Sunday, Mary Jo Iozzio offers a reflection on realizing joy in this world through inclusion:  "Indeed, where anyone is absent or excluded from our assemblies, it is there that our joy will be incomplete: all are called to something different, that is, through the joy in the world as a whole that may only be realized when inclusion prevails."...

Preaching for the Second Sunday of Advent , Amy Woolam Echeverria offers a reflection on listening to prophets -- from all of creation -- today:   "In these days of Advent, let us prepare the way for the Incarnation by opening our hearts to the song of trees as prophets.  Let us hear the tree-prophets of today in a way that creates understanding and space for the ache of God’s love and t...

Jeannine Gramick, SL Preaches for the First Sunday of Advent , offering a reflection on where she finds hope -- particularly for the global LGBT community -- this advent: "But isn’t Advent a season of hope? Do I find hope despite this kind of discrimination against LGBT people in Poland and other parts of the world? Yes, I really DO have hope. Many things give me hope for a future of peace, justic...

Preaching for the Solemnity of Christ the King , Julia Walsh, FSPA offers a reflection on what it takes to see and live in the Kingdom of God here and now: "The criminal next to Christ shows us how the reign of God can be known and experienced if our gaze is totally on Christ, on the power of God--and not on one’s self.  From a cross, the criminal gained a new perspective and was able to see...

On the thirtieth anniversary of the martydom of six Jesuits, their cook, and her 15-year-old daughter in El Salvador, Katie Lacz preaches for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time , offering a reflection on unreasonable hope: "The deaths of martyrs can feel like total loss. Like victories for the powers that be. A reminder of our insignificance in the face of the wars, insurrection, earthquakes...

Preaching for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time , Elizabeth O'Donnell Gandolfo offers a reflection on resisting Empire in our own time and place: "We debase our God-given dignity by giving in to the demands of Empire. And we are therefore faced with the task of ejecting and rejecting that pork, of undoing all that which binds us to the ways and means of Empire and severs us from covenant w...

Preaching for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time , Yvonne Prowse offers a reflection on living as God's beloved: "As we grapple with climate change, as we look to the struggles throughout our world, as we hear of further violence in our schools and city streets, and carry many other concerns in society and in our personal lives, there is a great deal of anxiety and fear. And there are people...

Preaching for All Saints Day , Jessie Bazan offers a reflection which illuminates the Beatitudes today: "Holy people, past and present, bear witness to what WILL happen by living fully into what IS happening." Jessie Bazan is a theologian and writer. She edited and co-authored the book, Dear Joan Chittister: Conversations with Women in the Church, released in September 2019 with Twenty-Third Publi...

Preaching for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Verónica Rayas offers a reflection on how God responds to the cries of the poor: "Through our hands and feet, the steadfast mercy, love, and justice of God is experienced by those most in need today. Isn’t that amazing! God invites us to incarnate that love, mercy, and justice in the world." Verónica Rayas, Ph. D., is the director of the Office...

Preaching for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time -- World Mission Sunday -- Margaret Eletta Guider, OSF offers a reflection that brings World Mission Sunday; the witness of Dorothy Stang, SNDdeN; the Synod on the Pan Amazon Region; and today's readings into conversation:  "They  invite us to do more than see and judge; they require us to act, to make connections and to put into pra...

Preaching for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time , Shawnee M. Daniels-Skykes offers a reflection on the sanctity of all bodies: "For there is no difference between Jews and Samaritans, disabilities and abilities, men, women, and children, black, brown, and white bodies. Yes, we are all one in Christ Jesus." Shawnee M. Daniels Sykes, PhD is currently a Professor of Theology and Ethics at Mou...

Preaching for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time , Maryknoll Sister Sia Nyasari Temu offers a reflection on the power of faith:  "Jesus told his disciples if they had faith 'the size of a mustard seed' they could command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and moved to the sea. This is an image Jesus is using to illustrate the power of faith, no matter how small that faith is. He is aware...

Preaching for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time , Joan Rosenhauer offers a reflection on responding to the enormity of the need around us:  "Even though we know that we can’t all do everything, and we can’t all do the same thing, every one of us can – and must – do something. Christ’s teachings tell us clearly that we all need to identify the 'somethings' we can do to help the Lazaruse...

Preaching for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time , Marisa Vertrees offers a reflection on living the value of Sabbath: "When we focus too much on consumption and material wealth, we harm ourselves, we harm others, and we harm creation. We focus on the wrong things, letting it pull us away from our relationship with God, and forgetting to step back and set aside time for prayer and for God."...

Preaching for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time , Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy offers a reflection on restorative justice: "The story of the Prodigal Son reminds us that we are all called, in whatever ways reconciliation may be necessary in our lives -- whether we resemble the father, the elder brother, or the prodigal son himself. We are called to take one step, then another, on our journ...

Preaching for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time , Gina Messina offers a reflection on what it means to be "all in" as a disciple of Jesus: "When Jesus says..that we need to be 'all in,' what does this mean? First, I think we need to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that being 'all in' is rare - it is challenging and a great risk that many of us are not willing to take. That said, wh...

Preaching for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time , Marie Anne Mayeski offers a reflection on humility: "If we are to be humble after the pattern of Jesus, then, like Him, we must lay aside the garments that social status and worldly privilege dress us in and wash the feet of those who are like us, equal to us, made in the image and likeness of God. We must, in short, wash each other's feet....

Preaching for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time , Michelle Becka offers a reflection for a community living with disappointed expectations calling us to decisive action "Being a Christian is not simply a state of mind. It requires a decision – how we want to live as Christians...Whatever we are waiting for, will not happen by itself." Michelle Becka is professor of Christian Social Ethics a...

Preaching for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time, Michelle Becka offers a reflection for a community living with disappointed expectations calling us to decisive action "Being a Christian is not simply a state of mind. It requires a decision – how we want to live as Christians...Whatever we are waiting for, will not happen by itself." Michelle Becka is professor of Christian Social Ethics at...

Preaching for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ offers a reflection on the promise of the day as revealed in the readings:  "Mary too is caught up in this great process of realizing the effects of the resurrection. It’s not a promise of peace during the course of the process; rather, it’s a promise of tension and struggle. We live in time and we touch eternity. " Ca...

Preaching for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time , Michelle Pérez offers a reflection on global citizenship in light of gospel values of missionary discipleship and servant leadership: "As I continue to grapple with missionary discipleship and servant leadership in my every day ... I’m going to remember these words, 'and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.'" Michelle...

Preaching for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Meghan Clark offers a reflection on wealth and discipleship: "Luke’s parables about money are ultimately parables about discipleship... The Rich Fool helps us remember that private property is not absolute. The goods of the earth are never really just 'mine' to do with as I please." Meghan J. Clark, Ph. D., is an associate professor of mor...

Preaching for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sr. Judgette Gallares, RC offers a reflection on prayer:   "Jesus is teaching us that prayer is first and foremost a relationship between God and us, a relationship built on love and trust, not on fear."   Sr. Judette Gallares, RC, from the Philippines, is a member of the Religious of the Cenacle, Asia Region. She is currently m...

Preaching for the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala (St. Mary Magdalene), Elizabeth Berne DeGear offers a reflection which explores the meaning of the word "migdala," the subjectivity of Mary of Magdala, and our agency today: "Now is a time to celebrate. On this Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene  we can celebrate the power of her experience as good news. She is reminding us that we all have to claim o...