Catholic Women Preach

Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez preaches for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, offering a reflection on dreaming a new way into being: "Heed your dreams, like Joseph did. Be a prophetic dreamer. Trust the vision God plants in you, and dare to act on it, with courage, tenderness, and fire."Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez is a proud first-generation Mexican-American, originally from La Villita on Chicago’s South Side. She is a co-founder and cu...

Preaching for the Third Sunday of Advent, Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández offers a reflection on experiencing and embracing the in-breaking of God's mañana: "On that day, many years ago, in the company of thousands united by a desire for housing justice, en solidaridad with many made poor, vulnerable and homeless, the presence of God’s reign broke-in. Barriers to communication fell, obstacles to relationships collapsed. In a mom...

Preaching for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dr. Nichole M. Flores offers a poem reflecting on the presence and power of Our Lady: "She is everywhere. Speaking, guiding, prompting, praying. Advocating, organizing, redefining, reconciling. Calling, responding, giving, receiving. Bleeding, healing, crying, rising. She is everywhere."* Adapted from Nichole M. Flores, The Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalu...

Preaching for the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Yolanda Chávez offers a reflection on Mary's 'yes' and the migrant woman's courage: "Mary’s 'yes' did not end in Nazareth. It continues in every woman who dares to hope, in every man who learns to see with mercy, in every community that makes room for love."Yolanda Chavez, M.Div., is a member of the Ecumenical Association of Theologians of the Third ...

Preaching for the Second Sunday of Advent, Carmen Ramos invites us to reclaim our common divine ancestry by nurturing new blossoms of justice, kinship, and courageous hope:"Even as we lament, we organize hope. This is our Divine Ancestry, given to us by Jesus, blooming anew. When we reclaim our divine lineage, people from longstanding opposing views gather together as the wolf and lamb; the leopard and the sheep; the calf and ...

Preaching for the First Sunday of Advent, Dr. Angélica N. Quiñónez invites us to reframe Advent as a wake up call to awareness, compassion, and courageous action in the face of injustice: "Advent is not about waiting for God to act. Advent is about waking up to where God is already at work and joining God in that work. Staying awake means being prepared to say yes. Yes to justice. Yes to accompaniment. Yes to human dignity. Ye...

Preaching for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy offers a reflection on the character of God's Reign we are called to co-create: "In this final hour on Calvary, we see a radically different kind of kingship than the world elevates. God’s reign is not self-serving, or seeking retribution. Nor does it portend a death-dealing system intent on punishment. No. Instead, Jesus offers a paradise of merc...

Preaching for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sr. Judi Clemens reflects on how "“the sun of justice with its healing rays” shone through the life of Sr. Dorothy Stang and the people of Brazil's ecclesial base communities: "God was Dorothy’s friend and companion to the land and the landless too. Dorothy witnessed to the belief that all creation is interconnected and innately good…every human person, the rainforest an...

Preaching for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Joanna Williams offers a reflection on recognizing and building upon the Divine goodness within ourselves, others, and our communities: "At the core of our being, we are loved and made holy, created in God’s image and likeness. Our most natural orientation is towards goodness, a goodness that produces abundant fruit..."Joanna Williams is the Executive Dire...

Preaching for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls), Marie Philomène Péan, D.Min. invites us to trust that in God we are held, we are loved, and we are home: "As a nurse, a chaplain, and a pastoral associate, I have sat beside people as they took their final breath. I have held hands, whispered prayers, and witnessed something sacred: death is not the end. It is a passage. And Jesus walks with us through i...

Preaching for the Solemnity of All Saints, Elvira Ramirez offers a reflection on living our call to holiness through our own gifts and circumstances: "Today, let us reflect on the particular gifts we have received and on the circumstances of our daily lives that invite us to mercy, love, justice, peace, and to holiness."Elvira Ramirez is executive director of Maryknoll Lay Missioners. She previously served as the executiv...

Graceann F. Beckett preaches for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, inviting us to consider how humility, honesty, and trust in God’s love open the way to true justification:"God desires relationship, to be able to draw near, and this desire is certainly not dependent upon a grand presentation of one's most pious actions or traits."Graceann Beckett is a M.T.S. student at Boston College Clough School of Theology an...

Preaching for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sister Jessica Kerber offers a reflection on living resistant hope: "Hope indeed is something to live into, sometimes requiring persistence and that resistant hope. For as Scripture promises us: hope does not disappoint."Sister Jessica Kerber is a Handmaid of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, currently serving as both formator and United States Provincial. At Saint Louis Un...

Preaching for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Lynn Cooper offers a reflection on cultivating a spirit of gratitude and belonging: "I invite you to live into the spiritual gift of the grateful Samaritan—how might we embrace the internal transformation that comes from the spiritual practice of cultivating gratefulness, and how might we foster a culture of belonging..."Lynn Cooper is the Associate Director of the ...

Julia D'Agostino preaches for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, inviting us to encounter one another with compassion and reminding us that even the smallest faith can reveal God’s Reign breaking into our world: "I pray that we all may turn to our neighbor, encounter them, allow our hearts to break, and let the mercy of God work through us. Have faith, even if it be the size of a mustard seed. Because God’s Kingdo...

Alison Stone preaches for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, reminding us that everything is connected and there is room at God’s table for all: "We are not powerless here. We are connected. Furthermore, we are capable of creating a more just and compassionate world — one choice, one table, one shared meal at a time."Alison Stone is the Animator of Mission and Identity for Franciscan Schools Australia (FSA) and is ...

Preaching for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Julia Louise Morrow reflects on the struggles and questions that come with remaining in the Church while still daring to hope for its transformation: "I remain because Catholicism, at its best, is a call to solidarity, to mystery, to justice, and to hope. And I remain because I believe that transformation is possible—not only in the confines of my own heart, but in the Ch...

Preaching for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, Sara Ann Conneely invites us to look beyond suffering and punishment to see God’s love revealed in Christ, who transforms pain into hope and new life: "If we focus on the punishment, on the pain, on the poison, we might miss the miracle that is happening. When we read these two stories together, we become more aware of the sacrifice made by God to bring us into God’s visi...

Preaching for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - and the first Sunday in the Season of Creation - Annapatrice Johnson invites us to consider how discipleship—and our relationship with all of God’s creation—can reorder our lives and change everything: " Throughout the Gospels, Jesus points us to prioritize relationships: understanding the other helps us see the impacts of our society’s brokenness, and then invites us to...