Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Deacon's Bench

Home
Catholic
Religion News

Preaching

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism education Education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution politics Politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized Vatican VATICAN vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

July 2019

July 26, 2019

On women preaching: ‘The pulpit is not our platform’

Here's one perspective on the recent discussion on this from Catherine Hadro: It is only...

September 2018

September 28, 2018

How should clergy talk about the Kavanaugh story?

It's a question I've been asking myself this week — and I was heartened to...

July 2018

July 16, 2018

Is this a homily? Or a stage production?

My friend Fr. Matthew Schneider opines: I want to go a little deeper than matters...

May 2018

May 19, 2018

What does the royal wedding have to do with Pentecost? Everything.

From the sensational sermon by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the first African American to...

April 2018

April 30, 2018

Should a priest use the word ‘badass’ in a homily?

Taylor Marshall on Facebook described something he heard at Mass this weekend: I heard in...

January 2014

January 07, 2014

“The best preacher I ever had…”

He's described by Pat Archbold: As I thought about it, I kept coming back to...

November 2013

November 09, 2013

On the homily: “God’s voice coming through you”

From the Virginian-Pilot, photographer The'N. Pham has produced this brief glimpse at the world of...

October 2013

October 25, 2013

RIP Bill Graham, drama professor and teacher of preachers

From the Washington Post: William H. Graham, an acting director and teacher who led the...

August 2013

August 24, 2013

Should you use an iPad in church?

Priests have been known to use them for celebrating Mass and for preaching. But the...

August 22, 2013

How long should homilies be?

We talked about this a little at the Redemptorists' conference in New Jersey this week....

August 02, 2013

The problem of instant canonizations at Catholic funerals

This is a common problem in the preaching at Catholic funerals, and something every priest...

July 2013

July 30, 2013

Calling All Preachers!

The following email arrived this afternoon: I'm writing with an item that might be of...

July 03, 2013

Priests and Deacons: Try This in the Pulpit Sunday and Let Me Know What Happens

This is a minister by the name of Jim Standridge preaching at Immanuel Baptist Church...

June 2013

June 21, 2013

How Important is the Homily?

Here's one writer who thinks its importance is being overestimated—and we have Vatican II to...

June 14, 2013

View from the Pew: What Makes a Good Sermon

This advice comes from Kathleen T. Choi who writes “In Little Ways” for The Hawaii Catholic...

May 2013

May 30, 2013

Will We Ever Get Complete Texts of the Pope’s Daily Homilies?

Today, the Vatican seemed to indicate no. Here's the statement from Fr. Federico Lombardi: The...

May 11, 2013

Homiletics: “There’s an elephant in the living room…”

How one priest does it: A local minister once likened writing a Sunday sermon to...

April 2013

April 18, 2013

Priest’s accused killer blames it on “bad homilies”

Yikes: An unemployed man, who said he was only trying to teach his elderly priest...

January 2013

January 25, 2013

Want to bring vitality to your homilies?

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston has some pointers. He delivered the annual Carl Peter Lecture...

January 07, 2013

Try this in the pulpit. Let me know what happens.

From the review of new books about St. Francis of Assisi: “Why you?” a man...

January 07, 2013

“Hungry” gets a little buzz

A few weeks back, I posted on the collection of homilies to which I contributed,...

January 01, 2013

Secrets the preacher can’t share from the pulpit

From Connecticut comes this candid bit of spleen-venting from a Protestant pastor: Eleven in the...

December 2012

December 24, 2012

“Come, then, let us observe the Feast”: the first known Christmas sermon

It comes to us from the great St. John Chrysostom, from 386. (Source). Stuck for...

December 13, 2012

Do microphones muffle good preaching?

Writer Leroy Huizenga thinks so. From First Things: I think microphones might very well injure...

November 2012

November 26, 2012

The Catholic Church’s push to make better preachers

From Religion News Service: As Drew Burkemper got up to preach, the weight of his...

November 23, 2012

A deacon who preached his wife’s words

Bob Keeler in Long Island's Newsday writes about an unusual deacon-and-wife combo: There is the...

November 14, 2012

Here it is: final draft of bishops’ document on preaching

H/T to my blogging comrade and neighbor Fr. Michael Duffy for finding this. Read it...

November 13, 2012

Bishops approve document on preaching

From CNS: The U.S. bishops approved their first new document in 30 years on preaching...

October 2012

October 24, 2012

“Preachers should be aware of what their people are watching on television…”

Details, from CNS via the Catholic Review: "My dad used to say, 'I know what...

October 12, 2012

“The homilist should strive to live a life of holiness…

A topic of which there is no shortage of opinions -- preaching -- will be...