The Word is proud to share the latest podcast in the America Media family: Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols.
Even though “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” was never meant to be a Christmas carol, it has proven one of the most popular in history. We’re exploring its soaring descants and hallmark harmonizations with conductor/composer Colin Britt. And we’re unpacking its many scriptural allusions with Laurie Brink, a Dominican sister and New Testament scholar. 
Subscribe to the entire Hark! podcast series online, on apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Special thanks to the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, the Ignatian Schola 
and One Hope Project, for allowing us to play parts of their recordings of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
To support the production of “Hark!” and to access other great Advent reflections from America Magazine staff, please subscribe at americamagazine.org/subscribe.
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Introducing: Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols

What makes a great Catholic homily, and what goes into the art of delivering it well? 
“Preach” is a new weekly podcast from America Media that features a diverse cast of the finest Catholic preachers. Each week, preachers open up their hearts and minds, sharing their spiritual lives, approaches to interpreting scripture and techniques for preparing the best homilies. 
On each episode, listeners will meet Catholic preachers, learn about their communities and hear their Sunday homilies, delivered with a podcast audience in mind. In the second part of the show, preachers will unpack the making of their homily with the show’s host, Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to offer a privileged peek into their lives as ministers of God’s Word, to enable all preachers to keep preaching the Good News.
Read the homilies featured on the podcast and get daily Scripture reflections from America Media by becoming a subscriber: www.americamagazine.org/subscribe
“Preach” is made possible through a generous grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc, as a contribution to its Compelling Preaching Initiative, funding the development of preachers across the United States.

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While most parishes struggle to attract young members, Saint Clement Parish in Chicago stands out with a mostly young adult congregation. 
This week on “Preach,” the Rev. Peter Wojcik, the pastor of Saint Clement Parish in Chicago, Ill., preaches for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B. In his homily, he reflects on the depth of Jesus’ committed love for us and our Christian duty—and challenge—to share that transformative love with others.
In the conversation after the homily, Peter and host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., talk about strategies for preaching to a parish of mostly young adults and connecting with the community’s struggle with mental well-being. They also discuss strategies of welcoming newcomers to the parish, including on social media. Peter shares about how when he preps his homily, he focuses on how congregants will feel. He uses his homilies to bring them to a “place of freedom” where they can recognize God’s love and explore their faith. 
Read Peter's homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Read the Scripture readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Get daily Scripture reflections and support “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine
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What young adults most need to hear in a homily

Gemma Simmonds, C.J., a theologian and sister at the Cambridge Theological Federation in Cambridge, England, preaches for the Fifth Sunday in Easter, Year B:

In her homily, she reflects on her experience of poverty in Brazil, giving significance to Christ’s words: “Make your home in me as I make mine in you.”

Then, in the conversation with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., they discuss the importance of humility in preaching, her role as an ecumenical chaplain in the Church of England, preaching for the BBC and finding God’s presence in unexpected places—like poop.


Read Gemma’s homily.
Read the Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Get daily Scripture reflections and support “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine
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A preacher should offer the congregation a challenge—not cheap grace

“I think there's a major concern for living more in harmony with creation, which is a result of conversion,” says Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., “But I think Pope Francis is also, as our good shepherd, calling us to greater urgency to act because time is slipping away and we haven't done much.” 
Bishop John Stowe is a Conventual Franciscan, the third bishop of Lexington, Kentucky and the bishop president of Pax Christi.
Listen to Bishop Stowe's homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B, on this week’s episode of “Preach.” After the homily, he shares with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., how he connects the image of the Good Shepherd from the gospels to the climate crisis.
Read Bishop Stowe’s homily 
Read the Scripture readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Get daily Scripture reflections and support “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine
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Bishop Stowe preaches on the climate crisis for Good Shepherd Sunday

Good preaching requires mastery of rhetoric, in particular the tools of repetition and organization. “Otherwise, they’re not gonna remember,” says John Baldovin, S.J. “This is a no-brainer, but beginning, middle and end, and not trying to make too many points” are key to a compelling homily. He also adds with hyperbolic emphasis, “If you want to be a good preacher, you have to read, read, read, read, read and pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.”
John, a Jesuit priest and professor of historical and liturgical theology at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, instructs candidates for the priesthood. He is in his 86th semester as a teacher, and specifically dedicates much of his time to helping future ordained ministers cultivate and refine their presiding and preaching styles and be good confessors. “I’ve preached a lot in my lifetime,” he shares with “Preach” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J. 
Listen to John’s homily for the Third Sunday of Easter to hear him share the wisdom of his years as a preacher and teacher, and why even in the season of Easter, it is important to hold the wounds of Jesus’ passion, together with the joy of resurrection.
Read the Scripture readings for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year B
Get daily Scripture reflections and support “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine
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To be a good preacher, pray more and read widely

“Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!” This is how Kim Harris starts her homily for the Second Sunday of Easter—in joyous song. “When Thomas first the tidings heard / How they had seen the risen Lord / He doubted the disciples’ word. Alleluia!...”

Such daring from the ambo has long struck a controversial chord with preachers and liturgists alike, prompting “Preach” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to ask Kim about her choice to start her homily in song. Kim, an assistant professor of African American Religious Thought and Practice at Loyola Marymount University, swiftly responds.

“Not only am I a singer,” explains Kim, who is also a cantor, composer, recording artist and liturgical consultant for the Office of Black Ministry in the Archdiocese of New York. “But also, the idea of a preacher who sings as a part of their homily is part of many African American cultural traditions,” she adds. “The songs carry so many of our stories, hopes, and beliefs, and what we’re thinking about and believing and preaching about.” 

Listen to “Preach” as Kim shares her strategies for approaching well-known biblical narratives, such as Doubting Thomas in today’s Scriptures, in a fresh and insightful manner. She also offers guidance on interpreting Scripture with reverence for its historical context while remaining sensitive to contemporary challenges, like ableism, that confront congregations today.

Read the Scripture readings for the Mass of the Day on Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of our Lord
Get daily Scripture reflections and support “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine
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Introducing: Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols

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