Catholic Women Preach

Preaching for Good Friday, María Teresa (MT) Dávila reflects on Christ, crucified and risen, reconciling our own individual and communal suffering:  

"Surely the news of over 500,000 dead, the utterance of the words 'I Can’t Breath' by our African American brothers and sisters, the death of a Capitol guard during the insurrection in January, the death and suffering of our loved ones, our mothers, our aunts, our brothers, our friends, our lovers – these moments that center our histories, these too bring us to our knees. On Good Friday our being brought to our knees for what seems like every day of our existence finally begins to make sense, as the one who reconciles all in all also dies our death and breaths his last. May the entire story of creation, and all of our unique stories be reconciled in Jesus the Christ, crucified and risen."  

María Teresa (MT) Dávila, visiting associate professor of practice at Merrimack College, is a scholar focusing on racial and migrant justice, public theology, and the ethics of the use of force. With Agnes Brazal, she is co-editor of Living With(out) Border: Theological Ethics and Peoples on the Move (Orbis Press, 2016). She is a regular contributor to “Theology en la Plaza”, National Catholic Reporter, the first Latin@ column in a national Catholic newspaper.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/04022021 to learn more about María Teresa (MT) Dávila, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for Holy Thursday, Marilyn Santos offers a reflection on missionary discipleship: 

"If God loves us in this way, serving us, to the point of giving his life, in the same way we must love others. And by this example, God tells us what it means to “love each other as I loved you.”  We must serve, not stand above or apart. Not pontificate but be there in the trenches with others. "  

Marilyn Santos is the Associate Director of the Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  She previously served as the Director of Mission Education in the National Office of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/04012021 to learn more about Marilyn, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for Palm Sunday, Dr. Nichole Flores offers a reflection which names the words and feelings of woe and abandonment, but calls us to focus on words and actions of healiing and mercy:  

"As we approach this Holy Week, May we find comfort in the words of mercy poured out Even in the midst of trial. May we pour our mercy to those around us, Especially as we all continue to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death of this pandemic. And may we pour out mercy to those most in need, Doing all that we can to defend the lives and dignity of the children of God Crying out for God’s mercy."  

Dr. Nichol M. Flores is assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia. She speaks, writes and teaches about the significance of Catholic ethics in plural social, political, and ecclesial contexts. Her first book, The Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalupe and American Democracy will be available from Georgetown University Press in July 2021. In 2015, Dr. Flores was honored with the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for best academic essay in Catholic theology from the Catholic Theological Society of America. Dr. Flores earned an A.B. in government from Smith College, an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in theological ethics from Boston College.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03282021 to learn more about Dr. Flores, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Solemnity of the Annunciation, Pat McDonough offers a reflection on learning from the mysticism of Mary:

"On the Feast of the Annunciation, we are reminded that Mary becomes conscious of God within her...Mary, like any mystic, trusts her own experience of the Divine within, and surrenders to it.  Do we?"

Pat McDonough has enjoyed a thirty-five year career as a Catholic educator and school psychologist in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Her experience in pastoral ministry spans years as a Director of Religious Education, Director of Youth Ministry, Coordinator of Programs in the Diocesan Office of Family Ministry, and professor of psychology and theology in Catholic high schools and colleges on Long Island. She holds a P.D. in Psychology, M.S. in Education, M.A. in Theology and a B.S. in Criminal Justice. She completed the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius over the course of an unforgettable thirty days as a graduate student.

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03252021 to learn more about Pat, to read her preaching text or watch her video, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Grace Salceanu reflects on living God's invitation to relationship - with God, and with one another:

 "God calls us to be so full of life, we give our whole selves away in love...This Lent, we are asked to take the long view with Jesus. Who would we become if we were at home in God’s generous and reckless love? How would we use our time? Our lives?"  

Grace Salceanu is the Director of the Ignatian Spiritual Life Center in San Francisco. She holds degrees in Theology and Anthropology from Fordham University and her Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Education from Santa Clara University.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03212021 to learn more about Grace, to view her vido or read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Fourth Sunday of Lent,  Alyssa Perez offers a reflection on living out the ubiquitous John 3:16:  

"These days can bring up the 'dark' parts of us and we can get trapped in the cycle of shame and judgment of ourselves, feeling like we will never be worthy of God’s love.  That is the power of today’s gospel, the truth in today’s gospel.  It shakes us out of this cycle and reminds us that it’s not true!  God does love us, not because we deserve it, as the second reading reminds us, but because it is gifted to us freely.  God comes into our lives and journeys with us during this dark season of Lent, and sees our goodness and potential.  That is the good news!"    

Alyssa Perez works as a Resident Minister and the Assistant Director of Alternative Breaks and Advocacy at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, CA.  She received her Master of Nonprofit Administration degree at the University of San Francisco, and her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Political Science at LMU.

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03142021 to learn more about Alyssa, to view her video or read her text, and for more preaching for Catholic women. 

Preaching for the Third Sunday of Lent, Olga Segura offers a reflection on the making meaning of Christ's crucifixion in today's context of racist violence and suffering:     

"We believe in the power of the crucifixion, and this belief must help us to understand more deeply the systemic violence enacted upon Black, indigenous, people of color, and all marginalized groups. As Catholics, this means we are called to fight for a better, more liberated world. We are called to go to the margins and center the experiences of society’s most vulnerable communities."   

Olga Marina Segura is the opinion and culture editor at the National Catholic Reporter and the author of Birth of A Movement: Black Lives Matter and the Catholic Church. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, ZORA Magazine, Shondaland, The Revealer, Refinery29, and Sojourners.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03072021 to learn more about Olga, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Second Sunday of Lent, Vickey McBride reflects on everything that changed last Lent and offers a reflection on allowing God to reveal Herself to us:  

"You don’t need to be good. You just need to try your best to be receptive, to recognize that God might be trying to reach out to you right where you are. Settle in. Say to God, 'Here I am.' Sit and BE with God and God will let you glimpse Her power."  

Vickey McBride is the Director of Campus Ministry at Saint Martin de Porres High School (Cristo Rey) in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to working at Saint Martin, she lived and worked in Brownsville, Texas as a teacher in the Alliance for Catholic Education, earning her Master of Education degree from the University of Notre Dame.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/02282021 to learn more about Vickey, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the First Sunday of Lent, Tia Noelle Pratt, PhD offers a reflection on the Lenten Year we have all experienced:  

"It feels like we’ve had more suffering than one year can hold.  It has truly been a Lenten year. Yet, Lent brings with it the promise of Easter rebirth and renewal.  We truly have gotten this far by faith.  It is a faith that has been sustained by prayer and the promise of God’s covenant with Noah and the promise that God’s ways are love and truth. As we reflect on this first Sunday of Lent and in the days and weeks to come, we must not forget the sacrifice and suffering we have borne and witnessed in the last year.  Doing so would dishonor all of that pain and all of that loss.  Instead, we must prayerfully embrace it because that will allow us to see the rebirth and renewal that comes with the light of Easter."   

Tia Noelle Pratt, PhD is a sociologist of religion specializing in systemic racism in the Catholic Church.  She received her PhD in Sociology from Fordham University in 2010.  For more than twenty years, Dr. Pratt has researched and written about how systemic racism impacts African-American Catholic identity.  She is the President and Director of Research at TNPratt & Associates, LLC an Inclusion and Diversity consulting firm in Philadelphia, PA and the curator of the #BlackCatholicsSyllabus.    

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/02212021 to learn more about Dr. Pratt, to view her video or read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for Ash Wednesday, Teresa Marie Cariño offers a reflection on refusing to return to the status quo through our Lenten practices:  

"So as we enter into this season of Lent, let us turn our whole hearts to God and place in God our trust. Let us give alms not just by giving money to the poor but by working for economic security of all. Let us pray not just by reciting rote prayers but by opening our hearts to listen to the Spirit. Let us fast, not just from food and drink but from the privileges we have been given to stand in solidarity with the oppressed. Let us work together to repair relationships and co-create systems of economic and social justice. Let us be brave enough to be the light as we free a new dawn."  

Teresa Marie Cariño serves as the Director of Faith Formation at St. Ignatius Parish in San Francisco, CA and is studying for her Masters of Theological Studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA. A native of the San Francisco – Bay Area, Teresa received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Francisco. Teresa is an extended member of the Benincasa community. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Catholic Reporter and on the National Advising Committee for the Ignatian Solidarity Network.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/02172020 to learn more about Teresa, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.