Preach: The Catholic Homilies Podcast

Every year we take out the nativity. We arrange it carefully. Mary. Joseph. A baby in a manger. It feels sacred—one of the last spaces in our world left untouched. But contemporary retellings challenge that calm. This year in Dedham, the Holy Family was removed and kept in the sanctuary for protection from ICE. In Evanston, the baby Jesus wrapped in emergency thermal blankets, his hands bound with zip ties. A few years ago in Bethlehem, a Lutheran pastor placed the Christ child on bomb rubble. We demand these displays be removed. But what if the real danger isn’t the frame we construct—traditional crib or contemporary protest? What if it’s that we’re so busy fixing on one perfect pageant or one protest image that we miss the actual context of Jesus’ birth? We assume Mary and Joseph were turned away. Luke doesn’t say that. The Holy Family is welcomed into a warm home, pressed shoulder to shoulder with people doing all they can to make space. The house owner says: this is all we have. And it’s accepted. God is born there. Ricardo tells us in this surprise Christmas Eve homily: God does not wait for us to clear space. He enters even when lives are full, when schedules are packed. Still, room is found. That’s the nativity we are living and called to live. This is Ricardo’s final episode before moving to Rome in January to join the Jesuits’ international communications team. He’ll continue hosting Preach from there. We’re taking a brief break and will return just before Ash Wednesday with a new Lenten series. Please fill out our listener survey—your feedback helps shape what comes next. Merry Christmas! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I really appreciate it when the truth is spoken very plainly,” says Tsh Oxenreider. Homilies that cut to the chase—and call us to conversion now. Host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks with writer and podcaster Tsh Oxenreider about what active waiting means during Advent; sitting with discomfort, resisting the rush to Christmas. They explore the traditional meanings of the liturgical weeks—joy in week three, love in week four—what penance looks like in this season, and the O Antiphons. Tsh speaks directly about what she needs from preaching: homilies that tell the truth plainly and call us, here and now, to confess our sins and get right with God. Support Preach—subscribe at⁠⁠ ⁠americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Preach, we’re offering an Advent treat. Host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., sits down with fellow producer Maggi Van Dorn for a rare on-mic conversation about the spiritual power of Christmas carols. Drawing on their work as producers of another America podcast, “Hark! The Stories Behind Our Favorite Christmas Carols,” they reflect on what these songs can teach preachers: that the liturgy is more than the homily. that beauty itself does theological work: it’s not just what is said, but how it’s delivered. The structure, rhythm, and form—whether in music or a homily—carry meaning and touch the heart. that good preaching must reach the heart before the mind. After their conversation, we bring you the second episode of “Hark!” Season 5: “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Support Preach—subscribe at⁠⁠ ⁠americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I’m thinking about the end of time in another way,” says Ann Garrido. “Because end can mean the conclusion, the finish, but it can also mean the purpose.” For 25 years, Ann has taught homiletics, pastoral theology and catechetics at Aquinas Institute of Theology, written 10 books and spoken at more than 350 gatherings. A longtime catechist in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd movement, Ann offers her reflection for a planned Advent reconciliation service at St. Thomas More Parish in Decatur, Ga. She begins with a conversation from the parish atrium about the end of time—children offering answers like “God will be all in all” and “there will be peace,” before one boy insists his paradise is “hamburgers.” From there, she moves into Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom and the real work of reconciliation: making peace with those closest to us—whoever our ‘X’ is, the sibling we fight with, the friend we’ve fallen out with, the neighbor who drives us crazy. Part of the “Preaching for the Sacraments” series, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks with Ann about what distinguishes Advent reconciliation from Lent. Ann looks to the ancient roots of confession, where the early “confessors” proclaimed faith rather than only naming sin: “What we’re really confessing is our belief in a God who can heal and work out things that we ourselves are not gonna be able to fix.” Ricardo echoes this reframing: “Perhaps it's helpful not to think of it only as a confession of sin, but really also a confession of faith that we go there to proclaim our faith in a God who heals the impossible.” Ann also reflects on a recent glioblastoma diagnosis and how it has sharpened her sense of call and taught her to preach from vulnerability—without making herself the hero of the story. Support Preach—subscribe at⁠⁠ americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome—a feast about a building—can intimidate preachers. The temptation? Mention it briefly and move on to the readings. But Sylvester Tan, S.J. says this feast is worth the work of preaching well. In this episode of “Preach,” Sylvester, a Jesuit theologian and local superior in Dallas shares his homily for one of the few feasts that actually replaces the regular Sunday liturgy when it falls on a Sunday. Then he joins host Ricardo da Silva, S.J. to reflect on three challenges: How can preachers use history without boring people? “Our faith is a historical faith,” he says, “and history is always messy. God doesn’t reject history; he works through history.” They also discuss why we shouldn’t skip difficult feasts—“Where we get uncomfortable, there’s always an invitation to go deeper”—and how to preach about divine anger without losing sight of divine love.  Support Preach—subscribe at⁠ americamagazine.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices