Episodes
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Along the U.S.-Mexico border, Flavio Bravo, S.J., celebrates Mass in migrant shelters among people living in fear and uncertainty. Reflecting on John’s resurrection appearances in which Christ shows his wounds and breathes his Spirit, Flavio preaches the risen Christ, not as an idea, but as a presence encountered in woundedness. Flavio joins host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to speak about preaching resurrection and hope from within places in which migrants are suffering as part of this Easter series of the "Preach" podcast.
0:00 A Haitian girl blesses the priest
2:07 Meeting Fr. Flavio Bravo, S.J.
2:48 Crossing borders: arriving in the U.S. as a teenage refugee
5:00 Who comes to the border today
9:34 Inside Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries
11:35 Homily: The risen Lord is the crucified one
24:50 How preaching grows out of daily ministry
25:57 The Gospel stories we never wrote down
27:54 How his preaching has changed
28:39 Resurrection within suffering—not escape
30:25 Preaching on the move: new faces each week
32:00 Joy at Mass: children, bells, holy water
35:10 Sustaining the work: community and self-care
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How does one keep their belief in the resurrection in a war-scarred area of the world? In this third episode of Preach’s Easter series, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks to Brother Peter Iorlano, F.S.C., who has lived and ministered at Bethlehem University in the West Bank for over 20 years, accompanying Palestinian students and colleagues through occupation, conflict and loss. He is also the university’s vice president for human resources.
Together, they discuss how Brother Peter came to Bethlehem from New York after a meaningful encounter with a Muslim student. They also talk about how Brother Peter’s work at Bethlehem University has shaped his spirituality, emphasizing the power of daily resurrections.
0:00 Br. Peter Iorlano's journey to Bethlehem
4:55 Why Bethlehem University is special
9:23 An Easter reflection in a warzone
22:20 Preaching demands overcoming revenge
24:10 Being vulnerable when preaching
26:14 Preaching resurrection during a time of war
30:37 Making sure people do not feel alone
33:20 Tensions between despair and hope
35:15 Preaching as a lay brother
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Missing episodes?
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“You see the light in people's eyes come back and you see faces start to move instead of being frozen," says Tom Weston, S.J., speaking about his experience ministering to people in addiction recovery. “The humanity is reborn [...] it's resurrection.”
In this episode we continue our Easter series on preaching the hope of the resurrection in a broken world. Our guest Tom Weston, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, counsellor, and man in long-term recovery, who has devoted most of his priestly life to working alongside people battling addiction — leading 12-step based retreats, offering counseling and spiritual accompaniment, and lecturing internationally.
Together with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., they discuss how we can all be witnesses to the resurrection and recipients of God’s grace, no matter how dark our lives may seem.
Timecodes:
0:00 We can see the resurrection clearly in those in recovery
7:00 Tom Weston’s homily
17:07 God’s grace is greater than our human will power
21:45 How much should a preacher reveal about themselves in a homily?
25:00 Grace isn’t only for those in recovery
26:40 What does the resurrection look like?
28:47 Preaching hope in darkness
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What does it mean to preach resurrection into a broken world? In this first episode of our 2026 Easter series, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., welcomes Alberto Solano, a New Testament scholar at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. Together, they open up the post-resurrection appearances in John’s Gospel—Mary in the garden, Thomas in the upper room, Peter by the charcoal fire—and ask why the risen Christ keeps showing up not to the powerful, but to the grieving, the fearful, and the lost.
Timecodes:
0:00 The risen Christ first meets the outcast, the fearful, the rejected
1:25 What do the resurrection appearances in John have to offer preachers today?
2:50 Alberto Solano brings scripture scholarship to Preach
4:26 Why does Jesus call Mary Magdalene by name?
8:50 What did “resurrection from the dead” mean to a Jewish people?
18:46 “Doubting Thomas”—or the most faithful disciple?
22:20 Your worst moment isn't your whole story
27:04 Why does the Church turn to John at Easter more than the other Gospels?
34:40 Acts — how the early Church learned to love its enemies as neighbours
38:45 What does Easter call preachers to say?
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What is fasting for? What biblical precedent do we have for the practices of fasting and abstinence? And how can preachers steer between the two extremes of self-punishment and loophole hunting? “Preach” concludes its Lent 2026 series on the three classical pillars of the season with a conversation on fasting. Host Ricardo da Silva, S.J. is joined by James Keane — senior editor at America and a writer who has spent some time reflecting and writing on what fasting is and what it’s for.
Timecodes:
0:00 What’s fasting for?
2:00 The Brazilian loophole to abstinence during Lent: capibara
3:55 What does the church teach on fasting and abstinence?
6:53 Fasting is meant to bring you closer to God
8:35 Biblical citations of fasting
11:05 Fasting evolved alongside seasons of food scarcity and abundance
14:10 St. Ignatius’ fervour for fasting
16:10 Avoiding the two extremes of self-punishment vs. loophole hunting
18:58 Pope Leo XIV’s message this Lent
James Keane’s articles on fasting:
On fasting: The difference between our preaching and our practice
7 things you never knew about fasting
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What is almsgiving — and why does the Church teach that it is more about justice and right relationship than simply personal charity or philanthropy? As “Preach” continues its Lent 2026 series on the three classical pillars of the season—prayer, fasting and almsgiving—we turn to almsgiving, perhaps the most confronting of the three. In this conversation, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. is joined by Kerry Robinson, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA., and author of Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy, and a Spiritual Call to Service, a book that reflects on generosity as a spiritual practice rooted in faith.
Timecodes:
0:00 Generosity is at the heart of almsgiving
2:30 Our cognitive dissonance with money and faith
5:43 How Kerry became a steward of her family’s 80-year-old foundation
8:20 About Catholic Charities U.S.A.
11:50 Biblical teachings on giving alms
16:36 Mother Teresa: “never take away the right of another to be generous”
21:30 We need both charity and justice
26:24 New insights from Pope Leo and ‘Dilexi Te’
28:08 Preach almsgiving with thanksgiving
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What is prayer? And maybe more importantly for preachers—what are we inviting people into when we stand in the pulpit and speak about it? As “Preach” continues its Lent 2026 series, we turn to the three classical pillars that shape the season: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In this first conversation, focused on prayer, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. is joined by Amy Ekeh, Director of Mission Advancement for the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, retreat leader, author and adjunct instructor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Sacred Heart University. Amy is the author of several books, including:
Stretch Out Your Hand: Reflections on the Healing Ministry of Jesus
Come to Me, All of You: Stations of the Cross in the Voice of Christ
Lent: Season of Transformation
Timecodes:
0:00 We can’t be afraid to ask for God’s help
1:25 Who is Amy Ekeh?
2:50 Prayer is relational
7:57 Prayer is nurtured in community
14:30 Good preaching requires you to know your congregation
16:53 Ask for healing! The people in the Gospels did.
21:38 Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer
26:16 Carving out space for silence
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As “Preach” begins its Lent 2026 series, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. sits down with liturgical theologian Anne McGowan to ask a foundational question: what is Lent for — and how do these practices reshape our faith, not just our habits for six weeks? Together, they trace its history from a two-day fast in the early Church to the 40-day season we know today, and explore its theological arc in the Sunday lectionary—from temptation and transfiguration to water, light and life, and finally the passion that leads into Easter, where new Christians are baptised and the faithful renew their baptismal promises.
0:00 Introducing the Lent 2026 series
2:30 Meet Anne McGowan: why she loves the liturgical year
6:20 You can’t understand Lent without Easter
8:10 The history of Lent: from two days to 40 days before Easter
10:40 Lent: a season of challenge and joy
15:05 Compunction and joy: do we have to choose?
20:55 The Sundays of Lent explained: from temptation to the passion
31:13 Preaching the whole journey of Lent
34:49 Preaching more than just the Sunday readings this Lent
36:22 How to come alive this Lent
A Preacher’s Guide to Holy Week: These are long liturgies. Be brief!
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“Things are happening [in Minnesota] that my friends and family elsewhere are really having trouble understanding,” Laura Kelly Fanucci says, “because the media is saying one thing, and all these partisan politicians are saying another thing.”
“But sometimes I think what Jesus [is saying in the gospel], is that when you are close to the center, sometimes you will know things about the mystery of God that are going to be difficult for other people to understand.”
Award-winning author, Laura Kelly Fanucci, joins host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to share what she has been preaching on her Instagram account @thismessygrace since U.S. federal immigration agents fatal shooting of Renee Good, and later, Alex Pretti. After attending Mass the Sunday following the killing of Renée Good and hearing no mention of it from the pulpit at her parish, Laura began offering three-minute homilies on Instagram.
In this conversation with Ricardo da Silva, S.J., Laura offers practical advice for preaching in this historical moment marked by violence, terror and community upheaval. In her daily Scripture reflections on Instagram Laura models how to thread the needle of preaching the gospel and responding to surrounding events, without slipping into partisan rhetoric.
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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!
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“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.
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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.”
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“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.
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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.
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Auxiliary Bishop Adam Parker of Baltimore has confirmed more than 10,000 young people—and he wants his brother bishops to know what a gift the sacrament can be. In this episode of “Preach,” he shares his confirmation homily built around Jesus’ question to Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” Then host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., asks him for a fervorino: If he were standing before his brother bishops, what brief, heartfelt exhortation would he offer about preaching for confirmation?
His answer: Remember that confirmation is a unique opportunity. Many in the pews aren’t regularly connected to the church—so preach the invitation to relationship with Jesus Christ. Make the gifts of the Holy Spirit practical and real, drawing from your own life. And “make our own humanity as bishops visible to the candidates.” Let them see you’re not just presiding ceremonially, but walking with them as their shepherd.
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“You are loved, warts and all.” Bishop Emeritus Patrick J. McGrath of San Jose said it at every confirmation—and liturgist Diana Macalintal never tired of hearing it. In this episode of “Preach,” she recalls a bishop’s confirmation homily that “quickly devolved into an exploration of sin and evil,” complete with exorcisms and damnation. Like composing music, this preacher “did not emphasize the right notes—the right message,” she says. “Confirmation is all about strengthening the goodness that is in there, giving us the grace to do the hard things, to do the beautiful things in the world.”
But don’t avoid reality either. “For those who are being confirmed, these are oftentimes teenagers where real life is life and death. Whether it is or not, it is drama all the time.” Name those struggles, she urges, “in the context of this gift of the Spirit and how they can do their part in the mission of Christ.”
Diana also challenges a common assumption: there's no obligation to choose a saint's name at confirmation. Church teaching honors our given names as "icons of a person." At St. Columba in Oakland, Calif., her historically Black parish, "for so many, their ancestors' names were taken away" during enslavement. "Honor the names that are given," she says, "because somebody loved that child enough to give them that gift."
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The parable of the persistent widow. Again. Scholar, poet, and preacher Cameron Bellm has heard it a hundred times—so she turned to Russian literature for help. Drawing on Viktor Shklovsky’s ostranenie, the art of making the familiar strange, she reveals how to jolt ancient parables back to life. “It is the goal of art to make the stone stony again,” she says. She also urges preachers to learn from Russian Masters Tolstoy—”a master of the narration of human consciousness”—and Dostoevsky, who “takes us into the deepest, darkest, grittiest underbelly of humanity and lights a single match.”
In her homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, she layers voices across generations—her Presbyterian grandfather’s 1964 sermons, Oscar Romero, Etty Hillesum—creating “a double-exposed photograph.” Her provocation: “We identify as the persistent widow, but like it or not, we are also the judge.”
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“What does it mean to receive Jesus in Holy Communion? It’s like Jesus is giving us a big hug, saying, ‘I love you so much. I want you to be close to me always,’” says Russell Pollitt, S.J., pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Johannesburg and chaplain to Catholic elementary and middle schools, to the children preparing for their First Communion.
Russell uses vivid, everyday examples—birthdays, friends, hugs and gifts—to help children grasp God’s particular love for them. His First Communion homily avoids the often abstract sacramental and Eucharistic theology, inviting all in the parish community—children, parents, guardians and catechists—to “imagine Jesus giving you a big hug today” and encounter God’s love in the Eucharist.
Part of the Preaching for the Sacraments series, in this episode “Preach” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., talks with Russell about how this accessible approach helps the entire community experience Jesus as a friend. By engaging the congregation as a whole in deepening their faith alongside the children, “we can together form future disciples whose hearts are on fire with the love of Jesus.”
00:00 Why First Communion is Really About God’s Love
01:30 Meet Father Russell Pollitt, Jesuit Priest in Johannesburg
03:39 Helping Kids Understand God’s Love for Them
07:12 Sacraments Are About Community, Not Checking Boxes
08:37 Preaching: Sacrament, Scripture, or Feast?
11:11 A First Communion Homily That Connects with Kids and Adults
19:53 Talking Directly to Kids: Why It Matters
25:21 Do We Celebrate Sacraments or Receive Them? Why It Matters
31:54 Preaching Sacraments in Schools vs. Parishes
35:00 A Message for Life: “You Are Special, God Loves You”
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“This isn’t just about the baby, this isn’t just about the parents and godparents. This is about all of us and it is about our faith.” This is the realization that came to Con O’Mahony, Vicar for Education in the Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario, and pastor at St. Margaret Mary Parish, while attending a Baptism at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Standing in a filled cathedral before John Nava’s magnificent tapestries depicting the communion of saints, he suddenly understood: “We are not doing this alone. We’re not doing this in isolation. We are doing this with the whole church—there’s something bigger than ourselves.”
Con explains that preaching doesn’t start at the ambo—it begins in personal encounters, especially when preparing for sacraments as personal as baptism. He connects with families before any paperwork is done, even if only for a few minutes before the ceremony, asking about the child’s name and listening to their stories. Often, his best homily material comes from these everyday conversations—like a second grader’s humorous definition of Baptism: “When the priest gives you a bath in church so that God will like you better.” Con sees truth in this—baptism is God washing us—but with one crucial correction: not to like us better, but to prove God’s unconditional love was there for us all along.
Con and host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., connect this love to not only the person being baptized but to the whole community and to the faith. The conversation moves from the practical—how Con prepares, what makes a good baptismal homily—to a deeper shift in how we approach these moments. As Ricardo reflects, too often “we tend to preach for people that we don’t think we’ll ever see again.” What if instead we “preach as though you want to see them again and you are going to see them again? This is not a once and for all—this is a once and then.”
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That question, quietly planted at the start of the rite, can be the seed the homily helps take root and flourish in the hearts of the faithful. In this episode of "Preach," Christina Mines and Ricardo da Silva, S.J., explore how preaching at baptisms offers a unique opportunity—and challenge—to engage millennial parents, practice radical hospitality, and invite families into the full life of the parish and an experience of God's love that is inclusive and without judgment.
0:00 - “What Do You Ask?”: A Profound Baptismal Moment
2:30 - Embracing the Beloved Child: A Mother’s Perspective
8:01 - Connecting with Millennial Parents: A Search for Love
13:56 - New Approaches to Baptismal Formation and Encounter
19:37 - The Community’s Role in Radical Baptismal Hospitality
27:39 - Healing and Hope: Stories of Baptismal Welcome
35:28 - Practical Tips for a Welcoming Baptism Homily
41:48 - Proclaiming Hope and Humanity in Baptismal Preaching
48:19 - Fostering Ongoing Conversion After Baptism
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