Catholic Women Preach

Preaching for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Bonnie LeMelle Abadie, M.Div, offers a reflection on opening ourselves to the Divine and the other: "To be in conversation is to be open to conversion. We can be changed by understanding the other person’s point of view. We can grow in compassion and empathy when we listen to the reality of another person’s life. We can see things differen...

Preaching for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sr. Abby Avelino, MM, offers a reflection on working together to end human trafficking: "The Spirit of God which calls us together in the work to end human trafficking is the same Spirit that has been present since the beginning of time working to bring forth life and free God’s people." Sister Abby Avelino, MM is International Coordi...

Preaching for the Twelfth Sunday, Teresa Thompson offers a reflection on entering into chaos - particularly the chaos of combating climate change - confident in God's presence: "Chaos gets a bad rap, and oftentimes when these large-scale proposals for climate changes solutions are made, they are dismissed as too messy, too disruptive, too difficult to implement, too extreme. What these di...

Preaching for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Kathleen O'Brien offers a reflection on basking in God's abundance: "Whether you are in the beginning stage, budding stage, or at the end, Jesus reminds us that God is always present along the journey and abundance is always before us– let us be surprised by abundance! It’s natural for us to want to be in control and cling tightly to...

Preaching for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Terresa M. Ford offers a reflection on God's unconditional love: "God is love and only love. God loves us with a faithful love and desires that we remain close to him. This is a love that defies reason and never gives up on us. God never changes God’s mind about loving us." Terresa M. Ford, M.Div., MFA is a hospice chaplain and an Igna...

Sr. Julia Walsh, FSPA preaches for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ: "In our culture and time, we honor the body and blood of Jesus Christ—we become united as Christ’s body—as we honor the sacrifice of Christ upon the altar. We are nourished and strengthened, and sent to share feasts with our friends and boost one another up. We celebrate communion at restaurants, at dining room...

Preaching for Trinity Sunday, Julia Erdlen offers a reflection on the many ways of relating to God: "God is always bigger than we can imagine, and the Trinity is a constant reminder of that. If I try too hard to nail down one metaphor, one perfect image to describe this mystery, I’ll hit up against the limit of my own human understanding. I can’t smush down God into a tiny box. God simply won...

Preaching for Pentecost Sunday, Maureen O'Connell offers a reflection on becoming a people: "A people are those who share a vision and a desire to work together toward it. A people decide to go through hard things together, confident they will be different on the other side." Maureen O'Connell is professor of Christian ethics at La Salle University in Philadelphia and director of...

Preaching for the Solemnity of the Ascension, Martha Ligas offers a reflection on proclaiming the Gospel by following the example of creation: "Our invitation, then, is not to tell others how they are to live. Instead, we are called to lean into our own becoming. The more we can learn to live boldly as ourselves, with integrity, with confidence, and with purpose, the more we will become the B...

Preaching for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Meghan Larsen-Reidy, offers a reflection sharing the expansiveness of God's love: "When we open our eyes to see the expansiveness of God’s love in the people that surround us, we draw into a deeper relationship with the Divine. We cannot always anticipate the impact that each new relationship will have on our lives and vice versa. God is calling u...

Preaching for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Lisa Mersereau offers a reflection on remaining in God's love from her perspective as a hospice chaplain: "The stories I hear about how a dying person has maintained a prayer life are as amazing as God is. Many reflect upon how God is with them and how they know God is with them in their final illness. There is an unwavering belief that there’s mu...

Preaching for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Sharon M.K. Kugler offers a reflection on what believing in a Good Shepherd God means for us: "If we believe in a Good Shepherd God then we are, each one of us, held as we navigate through the shadows of life, as we encounter illness of body or mind in ourselves or others, as we see despair and try to ease it, as we see the absence of justice and res...

Preaching for the Third Sunday of Easter, Mary Erika Bolaños offers a reflection on bringing our doubts and questions to faith: "Like the disciples, we often find ourselves troubled by doubts and questions. We may struggle to reconcile the complexities of life with our beliefs, or we may feel overwhelmed by the challenges we face. In these moments, Jesus’ words offer us both comfort and chall...

Preaching for the Second Sunday of Easter, Layla A. Karst reflects on our call to be credible witnesses to the Resurrection in today's world: "We are an Easter people, a community of missionary disciples, beloved of God and witnesses to the resurrection. Ours is a church that is called to be radically inclusive. Our Easter joy is abundant enough to share with all and still have more left...

Preaching for Easter Sunday, Dr. C. Vanessa White offers a reflection on the power of women's voices proclaiming the Good News then and now: "If women doubt their value, this telling and retelling of the resurrection story reaffirms the power of a women’s voice  - for it was Mary’s voice that first testified to the Resurrection and whose story continues today...On this day, can we, like M...

Preaching for Good Friday, Leslye Colvin offers a reflection on resisting systems of power and oppression: "History teaches that those who speak from the margins are targeted to suffer cruelties, and, quite often, to suffer death. Jesus was a man with a target on his back. He was born and lived on the margins of a powerful and oppressive system that placed no value on his life. He resisted th...

Preaching for Holy Thursday, Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns offers a reflection on living God's bold, fierce love for everyone: "In October, I will return to Rome to participate in the final assembly of this Synod. And although I will NOT be washing feet, I will follow the model of Jesus’ bold, fierce love as he cared for those he encountered. He was a healing presence to those he taught, liste...

Preaching for Palm Sunday, Sheila Leocádia Pires offers a reflection on entering into Holy Week as a Synodal Church: "May this Holy Week be a season of deep reflection on the Church we want, a season of more conversations in the Spirit, a season of prayer and listening, and a season of open dialogue with one another." Sheila Leocádia Pires is a Mozambican media practitioner  with over 19...

Preaching for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Susan Nchubiri, MM offers a reflection on the new covenant and a 'fresh start': "The new covenant that has been written in our hearts is a law of love and care, not hate and punishment. Looking at the world today, we see immense suffering, death and destruction through war and violence, great polarizations, nationalism, genocide and xenophobia,...

Preaching for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Ogechi Akalegbere offers a reflection on living as beacons of hope and justice: "As we reflect on this Gospel passage and the message of Sister Thea Bowman, let us recommit ourselves to the work of building a more just and compassionate society. Let us pray for the courage and the strength to stand up for what is right, even when it is difficult. And l...

Preaching for the Third Sunday of Lent, Vickey McBride offers a reflection on trusting in God's will for us and our world, especially when anger at injustice consumes us: "Anger is a natural, human response. It is healthy and often a helpful compass that directs us to urgent needs. But if you ever feel consumed by anger when things don’t go the way you think they should, it might be helpf...

Preaching for the Second Sunday of Lent, Salena Ibrahim offers a reflection on responding in freedom to God's invitations: "In this process of letting go of our attachments, knowing the cost of discipleship, and still choosing to be faithful, we can better hear God speak to us of our belovedness, of our common belonging in God. This Lenten season, let us examine our interior attachments s...

Preaching for the First Sunday of Lent, Diana Marin invites us to enter into the desert spaces of our lives with trust in God: "This past week we entered into Lent, a season of intentional desert traversing. I like to think of Lent as a skills building time. It’s a desert that is measurable and measured: we know when it begins and when it ends, we know the rules, we know to deepen our prayer,...

Preaching for Ash Wednesday, Clarissa V. Aljentera invites us to discern a Lenten journey that incorporates the universal elements of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but is uniquely ours to walk: "How do you believe God is inviting you into a Lenten journey that is uniquely beautiful and uniquely yours? What is God calling you back to? How will your heart make its way home?" Clarissa V....

Preaching for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Olivia Catherine Hastie offers a reflection on bringing our "messiness" to God: "Our messes never go away. We all carry anxiety, trauma, discomfort, family issues, identity crises, pain, and sorrow...How will you ask God to bless your mess? How will allow the spirit to move you to love others in the midst of their messes?" Olivia...