Preach: The Catholic Homilies Podcast

Preachers can be tempted to ask themselves the wrong question when starting to prepare a homily. “The question is not ‘What do I want to say,’” but ‘God, what do people need to hear?’”, says Kayla August. “When we start there, the thing that’s ruminating in our hearts, I think, brings out a really good sermon.”  Kayla is a Black Catholic preacher. Born and raised in New Orleans, she is presently p...

”We will never solve the crisis of preaching in the Catholic Church, unless we emphasize that the preacher needs to be someone who is constantly learning about the Scriptures and what they mean in their context, but also that the preacher needs to be a person of prayer.” says Bryan Massingale. “Someone who stands in the pulpit as an authentic faith witness who wrestles with who God is.”  Bryan is...

When Isaac-el Fernandes, S.J., delivers a homily he “won’t necessarily remember to say everything that I've written,” he says. “But what I will remember is the stuff that is closest to my heart. It is much more about the conviction that I say a homily with than about the clever ideas that one might have.” Isaac is a Jesuit of the Southern Africa Province. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe but cur...

“I like what Pope Francis said in ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ when he talked about preaching and likened it to family conversation; I try and imagine that I’m at a coffee shop talking to someone and I just have a conversation with them,” Josh Whitfield says. “If I were to sit down with you and just talk about important stuff—share the Gospel with you—I would not lecture you. The homily is family talk.” Fa...

“I’m not trying to convey concepts. What I’m trying to convey is my own reliance on God and my own hope in God,” Sam Sawyer, S.J., says when asked to describe his approach to delivering a homily. “The best thing I have to offer someone else is the invitation to deeper love and trust in God.” Sam is a Jesuit of the U.S.A. East province of the Jesuits and the 15th editor in chief of America Media. I...

“I have discovered over the years that if you save your big point for the end, people have often tuned you out,” Deacon Fritz Bauerschmidt says, “You really have to give them something in that first minute.” Fritz is a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Baltimore assigned to the Cathedral of Mary, Our Queen. He is also a professor of theology at Loyola Maryland University, the Jesuit universit...

“The most important thing for me when I enter into preparing a homily is just being able to authentically give witness to who I am and where I am in my relationship with Christ,” says John Gribowich. “If I can’t do that, then not only is it inauthentic, but it also just doesn’t really grab anyone.” John Gribowich is a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Today, he lives in San Francisco, Calif., whe...

The best advice Greg Chisholm, S.J., received about preaching a homily was not taught in the seminary. “I was helped as a young priest by a woman in a church that I served in Detroit, Michigan,” he said. “She came to me and she said, ‘When I go to church, I want to hear about Jesus, and you didn’t have a lot about Jesus in that sermon.’ I have never forgotten that.” Greg Chisholm, S.J., the superi...

What makes a great Catholic homily? And what goes into the art of delivering it well? “Preach” is a new weekly podcast from America Media that features a diverse cast of the finest Catholic preachers. Each week, preachers open up their hearts and minds, sharing their spiritual lives, approaches to interpreting scripture and techniques for preparing the best homilies. Launching on the Solemnity of...