Catholic Women Preach

Trena Yonkers-Talz preaches for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, offering a reflection on readings by sharing the lived example of one of her friends from El Salvador.

Trena Yonkers-Talz has lived in Central American for over 20 years working in Jesuit higher education. She and her husband, Kevin, co-directed Santa Clara University’s study aboard program, Casa de la Solidaridad. Currently, Trena and Kevin are launching Centro Ignacio Ellacuría (CIE) with the Jesuit university in El Salvador, Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA). CIE develops academic and formation programs that integrate the exploration of faith and the promote of justice through a praxis-based, liberationist pedagogy.

Trena has a master’s degree in Theology from Boston College and a master’s degree in College Student Development from Miami University. She is a very proud mom of four daughters (Sophia 18, Grace 16, Hannah 13 and Emma 8). She is originally from Hastings, Michigan.

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/10142018 for more information about Trena, to view her video, and to read her text.

Susan Ross, Ph.D. preaches for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary time, offering a reflection on our need to be loved and to love.

Dr. Susan A. Ross is Professor of Theology and a Faculty Scholar at Loyola University Chicago. She is Past President of the Catholic Theological Society of America (2012-13) and served as Vice President and member of the editorial board of Concilium: International Theological Journal.From 2008-2016 she served as chair of the Theology Department at Loyola. Most recently, she has taught courses on Beauty and Ethics, Theological Anthropology, Conscience, and Religion and Gender.

Susan first preached as a graduate student at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where she came to appreciate its Protestant heritage and emphasis on the Word. Since then, she has preached at Loyola, professional society liturgies, workshops and conferences.

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/10072018 to learn more about Dr. Ross, view her preaching video, and read her text.

Lorna Gold preaches for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time in light Pope Francis' visit to Ireland which was overshadowed by the latest revelations and developments regarding clergy sex abuse and cover-up.

Lorna works for Trócaire, the Irish Catholic Development Agency. She is a specialist in International Development who has worked in an academic and NGO context for almost two decades. Currently, she is leading a project on how the Irish Church can implement Pope Francis’ message on integral ecology, articulated in Laudato Sí. She writes and speaks extensively on Pope Francis’ vision and was responsible for chairing an all-female panel at the launch of this encyclical in the Vatican with world-renowned author, Naomi Klein in 2015. She holds a PhD in Economic Geography from Glasgow University and as well as working for Trócaire, lectures in Applied Social Studies in Maynooth University

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/09302018 to view Lorna's full bio, video and text

Mar Muñoz-Visoso preaches for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, offering a reflection how we might grow in discipleship.

María del Mar Muñoz-Visoso is executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In that capacity, she supervises the and directs the work of the staff serving the Bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church and its five Subcommittees (for African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, Native Americans, and the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers). This includes the current efforts on the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry.

Mar holds a B.A. in Communications with a major in Journalism from C.E.U. San Pablo in Valencia, Spain, and a master of theological studies (M.T.S) from the Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/09232018 for more information about Mar, text, and video,.

Cecilia González-Andrieu is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. She holds a doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union, where she combined the study of systematic theology with religion and the arts, working jointly with the department of Peninsular Studies at UC Berkeley. Her work explores systematic theology and theological aesthetics from the particularity of the Latinx and Iberian perspectives. A scholar-activist, she is a contributing writer for America Magazine and an active member of the board of directors of the Ignatian Solidarity Network. She is a member of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the U.S., the Catholic Theological Society of America and an alumna and supporter of the Hispanic Theological Initiative.

Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/09162018 to learn more about Cecilia, view her preaching video, and read the text of this reflection.

Maryann Cusimano Love preaches for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, offering a reflection on the difference between our laws and God's Law.

Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love is a tenured Associate Professor of International Relations in the Politics Department of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. She serves on the U.S. Catholic Bishops' International Justice and Peace Committee, and the Advisory Board of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. An alumna of the Johns Hopkins University (PhD), the University of Texas at Austin (MA), and St. Joseph's University in Philadelpha (BA), Dr. Cusimano Love is a frequent speaker on international affairs issues, is a columnist for America magazine, and supports the Holy See Mission at the United Nations.

To learn more about Maryann, read her text, and view her preaching video visit http://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/09022018.

Heidi Kallen Preaches for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, offering a reflection on how we might grow in faith and conviction through friendship and accompaniment.

Having spent 9 out of the last 12 years living and working in Latin America and Asia in collaboration with the Jesuits in higher education, Heidi is currently working in San Francisco at St. Anthony’s Foundation’s Medical Clinic as a therapist. She graduated from Santa Clara University with degrees in psychology and religious studies.

To learn more about Heidi, view her preaching video, and read her text, visit http://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/08262018.

Anita Houck preaches for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, reflecting on Woman Wisdom's daily invitation to her feast.

Anita Houck is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, where she has served as department chair and director of the Writing Proficiency Program. Anita received her B.A. in Religious Studies from Wesleyan University, an Ed.M. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion and Literature from the University of Chicago Divinity School. She is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and former Vice President of the College Theology Society, which awarded her the Monika Hellwig Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2017. She is co-editor, with Mary Doak, of Translating Religion(Orbis, 2013).

Visit http://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/08192018 to learn more about Anita, read her text, and view her preaching.

Kochurani Abraham preaches for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, offering a reflection on the "liberative significance" of the feast day for women today.

Kochurani Abraham is a feminist theologian, gender researcher and trainer from Kerala, India. She has a Masters in Child Development from Kerala University, Licentiate in Systematic Theology from Pontifical University of Comillas, Madrid and PhD in Feminist Theology from University of Madras, India. She was the former coordinator of Ecclesia of Women in Asia, an association of Asian level feminist theologians and has been the board member representing Asia for International Network of Societies in Catholic Theology (INSeCT). At present she is the Regional Coordinator of the Indian Christian Women’s Movement for Kerala and the Vice-President of the Indian Theological Association.

Visit http://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/08152018 for more information and to view the preaching text and video.

Mary Lou Bozza preaches for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, offering a reflection on the recognizing the daily bread that God sets before us and calls us to share with one another.

Mary Lou is currently the Director of Development at Haley House, a feisty Boston non-profit founded in the Catholic Worker Tradition which includes a soup kitchen, affordable housing, an urban farm, and a social enterprise cafe employing people returning from incarceration. She is also a founding member of FACES (Faith in Action with El Salvador), a U.S. non-profit established to support community organizations in El Salvador. Mary Lou's writing has been published by Liguori Press, various Catholic newspapers, and in a collection of essays about feminism and faith.

Visit http://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/08122018 to learn more about Mary Lou, see her preaching video, and read her preaching text.