Catholic Women Preach

Preaching for Holy Thursday, Virginia Saldanha offers a reflection on responding to God's call to serve God's people:  

"Jesus handed his disciples a challenging servanthood. It involves humility in service and sacrifice even to the extent of breaking one’s body and shedding one’s blood. Holy Thursday places before us the challenges involved in following Jesus’ model of service among the People of God."  

Virginia Saldanha Virginia is a theologian based in Mumbai, India and has long represented laity, family and women's issues in organizations of Asian and Indian bishops. She is currently involved in advocating for women survivors of sex abuse in the Church in India, as well as advocating for recognition of the rights and dignity of LGBTI+ persons.  She is also associated with various Church Reform groups.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/04092020 to learn more about Virginia, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for Palm Sunday, Jessica Coblentz reflects on resurrrection means in the face of suffering and injustice today:   

"Resurrection does not erase the pain of our shattered plans and life’s difficult unknowing. Resurrection does not undo what has been done...Christ’s resurrection reveals that a transformation of our suffering and uncertainty awaits us. And like Jesus’s first followers, it is a transformation far beyond what we can fathom—whether at our best or at our most undone."  

Jessica Coblentz is a Catholic theologian. She is assistant professor of religious studies at Saint Mary’s College (Notre Dame, IN), where her teaching and research focuses on systematic theology and issues of mental health, feminism, and the relationship of the theology and the psychological sciences. She earned a PhD from Boston College, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and a BA from Santa Clara University.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/04052020 to learn more about Jessica, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Krista Chinchilla offers a reflection on  accompanying each other out of our tombs:  

"What do we need to do to untie ourselves? What is it that keeps us bound? Maybe it’s a fear of the unknown or maybe the thought of leaving our comfort zone; maybe something else entirely. Once we liberate ourselves, we can then ask ourselves how we will accompany and advocate for those who are tied up in suffering."  

Krista Chinchilla serves as the Campus Minister for Catholic Social Concerns and Service at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala and raised in Southern California, Krista earned an MA in Theology and Ministry from the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College and a BA in Theology and Psychology from Loyola Marymount University.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03292020 to learn more about Krista, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Dr. Rachel Bundang offers a reflection on walking in the light:  

"If we can bring light to others, shouldn’t we do that without delay? If we can bring life and help each other flourish and live in fullness, shouldn’t we do that without hesitation? We can be light for one another now. God is light for us now. Live now. Walk in the light"  

Dr. Rachel Bundang is a Catholic feminist ethicist. Presently based in the Bay Area, she teaches on the Religious Studies faculty at Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Francisco and the Graduate Program for Pastoral Ministries faculty at Santa Clara University. She has written multiple articles and book chapters and additionally serves on the editorial team for the journal Theological Studies and is a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Religious Research Initiative (APARRI).  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03222020 to learn more about Dr. Bundang, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Third Sunday of Lent, Jennifer Delvaux offers a reflection on pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones and into encounters:  

"The story reminds us that we have to, as Jesus did, intentionally go out of ourselves. Go out of our parishes. Out of the comfort what is our normal – to find the ostracized and to talk with them. To ask them questions and to listen to their answers. To acknowledge and celebrate their joys. To acknowledge and grieve the tragedies in their lives. To invite them into our communities and to walk with them, so they recognize that they truly belong as God wills it."  

Jennifer Delvaux is Senior Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, where she supports parishes in the efforts to develop a culture of evangelization and missionary disciples. She enjoys these opportunities to enter in to conversation with others about faith, social justice, science fiction, the experience of the feminine in the Church, and especially breaking open the scriptures.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03152020 to learn more about Jennifer, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Second Sunday of Lent, Lauren M. Schwer offers a reflection on embracing and living our belovedness:  

"May we seek to live our belovedness, relax with knowing we cannot control it, and seek to deepen a genuine relationship of response with the God that loved us into existence."  

Lauren serves as the Associate Director of Campus Ministry at Loyola University Chicago. Lauren earned both her Masters of Arts in Pastoral Ministry and her Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. While at Boston College, she was a four-year varsity volleyball player. Her passions include running, traveling, and gathering her loved ones in her home.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03082020 to learn more about Lauren, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the First Sunday of Lent, Marcia Chatelain offers a reflection on joining Jesus in rejecting the empty promises of injustice:  

"The temptations are all around us; the rhetoric is all around us. But if we imagine ourselves atop the great mountain, and we see ourselves as people able to reject the empty promises of the Devil, then we were able to reject the empty promises of a society that tells us that that there are only winners and that we don’t have to think about losers."  

Marcia Chatelain is a Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University. She is the author of South Side Girls: Growing up in the Great Migration (Duke University Press, 2015) and Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America (Liveright Publishing Co./ W.W. Norton, January 2020). She is a current co-host of the Slate podcast, “The Waves,” which covers feminism, gender, and current events. At Georgetown, she has won several teaching awards and served on the University’s Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/03012020 to learn more about Marcia, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for Ash Wednesday, Karon VanAntwerp offers a reflection on accepting Lent's invitation to transformation:  

"May this Lent be a time of recommitment for us, as we say 'Yes' again to our baptismal call to be priests – and leaders of faith; to be prophets – ones who listen to God’s Word and announce it in our communities, our families and our world; and to be kings – ones who willingly and lovingly pour out our lives in service to those who are in need."  

Karon VanAntwerp Latham has worked in ministry for the Catholic Church for the past twenty years, serving as a campus minister, hospital and hospice chaplain, parish minister, retreat leader and currently as a high school theology teacher. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in Pastoral Ministry from the Franciscan School of Theology.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/02262020 to learn more about Karon, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Emily Cortina offers a reflection on seeking restorative justice:   

"Jesus is calling us to a higher level of justice--one that goes deeper than reason, one that lights our hearts on fire with a love that allows us to look at an enemy and see instead a brother or sister."  

Emily Cortina  is Coordinator of Outreach and Formation with Kolbe House Jail Ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In this role, Emily is responsible for parish outreach and education, ministry to families affected by incarceration, and formation of volunteers participating in faith-based accompaniment ministry in Cook County jail. She entered this ministry after being introduced to restorative justice through a practicum accompanying youth in juvenile detention with Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation and learning from her husband’s incarceration experience as a Mexican immigrant. She earned an MA in Intercultural Ministry from Catholic Theological Union and a BA in Economics and Journalism from Creighton University.  

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/02232020 to learn more about Emily, to read her text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.

Preaching for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Kate Ott offers a reflection on following Jesus in fulfilling the Law and the Prophets:  

"We must remember: ethics – rules and commandments – are not lived in a philosophical abstraction. Jesus reminds us that following the law and the prophets is difficult work, in need of discernment, open to the Spirit, and guided by integrity."  

Dr. Kate Ott is a feminist, Catholic scholar addressing the formation of moral communities with specializations in technology, youth and young adults, sexuality, pedagogy and professional ethics.  Her newest book is Christian Ethics for a Digital Society. She is Associate Professor of Christian Social Ethics at Drew University Theological School in Madison, NJ and a Lecturer in Practical Theology at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT.   

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/02162020 to learn more about Kate, to read her preaching text, view her video, and for more preaching from Catholic women.