Catholic Women Preach

Preaching for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mary Anne Sladich-Lantz offers a reflection on healing: "Certainly, each one of us could use a dose of healing in our lives. You know where that is inside of yourself. Our whole world needs healing, too. Brokenness and division is everywhere. Can we take the very human interaction between Jesus and Simon’s mother-in-law as a model of how to be...

Preaching for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Colleen Gibson, SSJ offers a reflection on living our true calling: "Ultimately, the freedom we aspire to, and which Paul speaks of, comes when we embrace God’s call to be who we truly are, loving God as only we can and letting all other loves flow forth from that...Living our truest vocation draws us into relationship with God, in and through...

Preaching for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Marissa Papula offers a reflection on discerning God's call in our lives: "I wonder when in our lives we receive invitations that turn everything upside down, and we’re left with little else to do then pick up our nets and leave it all behind for God: the job layoff, the positive pregnancy test, the diagnosis, the love at first sight. God’s...

Preaching for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Laura Boysen-Aragón offers a reflection on living into our God-given potential: "God always sees our full potential. But living into our full-God-given potential can be perceived as a threat to some...Society won’t change unless we speak out and act out and live into God’s potential for us - even when we are scared." Laura Boysen-Aragón (...

Preaching for the Feast of the Epiphany, Dr. Nontando Hadebe offers a reflection on God's disruption of our notions of power: "As we celebrate Epiphany we need to look for the presence and sign of God in those places that will disrupt all our categories. And like the delegation of the East, let us have the courage to respond with faith to the disruptive messages around us from the poor, t...

Preaching for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God and the World Day of Prayer for Peace, Michelle Sherman offers a reflection on holding and living a message of peace: "So today, as we remember the message of the shepherds, and consider who the messengers of peace are in our own communities, perhaps we might choose a message of peace for this new year that we can both keep in our hearts and l...

Preaching for the Feast of the Holy Family, Lisa Fullam offers a reflection on nurturing our own holy family: "Family is a spiritual thing, a gift of God. As we live into those close relationships in our lives we should find ourselves growing in kindness, bending when people need bending with, forgiving when people need forgiving. We will be imperfect. We will make mistakes—we are still human...

Preaching for Christmas, Natalia Imperatori-Lee reflects on God's determination to "make room" and encourages us to do likewise: "In the incarnation, God, too, makes room. God is determined to make room. Room for light in the darkness. Room for joy in our sadness. Room for triumph in our defeats. Room for peace in our broken, war-torn world. God is determined to make space among...

Preaching for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Karen Sue Smith offers a reflection on our role - inspired by Mary - as bearers of God's promise: "We believe that the promise/fulfillment process continues. God lives among us and within us here and now. Like Mary, we are called to be God-bearers, to make God’s compassion and justice real and present in our world. How? Answering that question re...

Preaching for the Third Sunday of Advent, Bridget McDermott Flood offers a reflection on being present to one another: "Our faith and the presence of God within us takes our joy to another level, and also requires another level of generosity...This Advent, it is not enough to experience the joy of the Season embodied in Christmas trees and holiday lights. True joy comes from taking time with...

Preaching for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Melissa Cedillo offers a reflection on the transformative power of faith and hope: "On this feast day, and with today's readings, we see time and time again, average people being demanded to do the impossible sometimes with only their faith. But as we look around the world, we see that sometimes, it's people's faith that is the onl...

Preaching for the Second Sunday of Advent, Sarah Hansman offers a reflection on "preparing the way": "Yes, change takes time. The arc is long. We must be patient. But, being patient does not mean slowing down our efforts. Patience does not ask me to stay silent for fear of rocking the boat nor delaying until everyone is ready for change; for they may never be. Patience means do the...

Preaching for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Madison Chastain offers a reflection on modeling our discernment after Mary: "Our Blessed, Embodied Mother makes the biggest choice of her life from a place of utmost peace: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.” This peace is a direct result of how Mary models decision-making: She starts...

Preaching for the First Sunday of Advent, Ma. Marilou S. Ibita offers a reflection on the intertwined themes of return and watchfulness: "The readings assume that the Lord will come again which opens up a great future where our active participation is required both in discerning the visions of God’s reign and in making the visions come true. If we are asleep, literally, or figuratively, we ca...

Preaching for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Carol Zinn, SSJ invites us to reflect on the end of the liturgical year and commit to new beginnings: "Perhaps situating this feast in its context of origin can provide a lens to situate ourselves as we end this liturgical year and ready ourselves for beginning again. How have we lived? How have we treated others? All living beings? How is it th...

Preaching for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Rosemary Johnston offers the witness of Mother Antonia, who served in prison ministry, as an example of how we are called to share our gifts: "Mother Antonia once said, 'there is no one so ugly he does not have beauty within him; no one so weak he does not have great strength and no one so poor he is not endowed with richness. Each person is...

Preaching for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Paula Rush offers a reflection on knowing and being known: "And in that moment, we realize this parable is all about knowing... And this is exactly what Jesus needs us to realize. He needs us to get in touch with that desire. The desire to know and be known. We want to be wise. We want wisdom." Paula Rush is a catechist with the Catechesis...

Preaching for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Raynah Marise Braganza Passanha offers a reflection on living as inclusive, servant leaders: "Saying yes to a sacred call requires vulnerability, being conscious of and addressing the fears that deter one from living that 'yes' honestly and completely. Let us commit to help one another be effective leaders. May our lives witness our love...

Preaching for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Marielena Hincapié offers a reflection on immigration in light of the Gospel: "Let us advocate for just and compassionate immigration policies at the federal, state and local levels that respect the dignity of every human being. Our roles as educators, scholars, advocates, and followers of Christ call us to engage in thoughtful dialogue and acti...

Preaching for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Chanelle Robinson offers a reflection on the command to "Give to God what belongs to God" through an ecological lens: "But what happens when humanity confuses the things of God and the things of the emperor? If human greed interchanges the dignity of the planet with the pursuit of the coin, do we lose sight of what belongs to G...

Preaching for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Casey Stanton invites us to say "yes" to the invitation to the feast of synodality: "To say yes to walk the synodal way is be part of God’s work, reknitting the fabric of our belonging – to God, to one another, to creation – as Christ’s living body in the world." Casey Stanton is the co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project se...

Preaching for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Carmen Ramos offers a reflection on lifting up the sense of the faithful: "Jesus the Cornerstone says, 'Come, stand on me; let's build something new from what happened to you. Let's build something new out of your experience. You are part of the greater story, my story, called The Resurrection Story.' You have been given the gift...

Preaching for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Claire Jenkins offers a reflection on caring for all of God's creation and particularly for the most vulnerable and outcast among us: "Moreover, we have no choice as people of God: we must act collectively and individually to protect our common home, our planet. We must not ignore the messages in today’s readings if we are to save ourselves...

Preaching for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Darlene Jasso offers a reflection on living God's justice and mercy: "Let us all choose...to seek the good of others and to live for others. Whether that’s working with organizations that provide quality support to the marginalized, speaking up for those with no voice, or simply providing a helping hand to those in need." Darlene Jasso...

Read and Sign our Petition to Proclaim the Full Resurrection Story on Easter Sunday: https://futurechurch.org/petition Preaching for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Caitlin Morneau offers a reflection on reclaiming connectedness: "Forgiveness is fundamentally an individual act, but with social implications. Every harm has repercussions, rippling impacts through time and community. Really li...