Season two of “Preach” has wrapped. Before we pause until fall, please share what moved you this season, what you’d like more or less of, and any ideas for future episodes to shape next season's lineup.

In this bonus episode, Ricardo and Maggi Van Dorn – his co-producer on “Preach” and producer of America Media’s newest podcast – introduce “The Spiritual Life with Father James Martin, S.J.” They discuss what preachers can gain from the show and share the first episode featuring Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe.

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe is a Dominican friar, former Master of the Dominican Order, and a widely respected author. Pope Francis chose him as retreat leader for the Synod on Synodality. In this episode, he shares insights on Dominican spirituality, friendship with God, and living with cancer.

“The Spiritual Life” is hosted by Father James Martin, S.J., a Jesuit priest, bestselling author, editor-at-large at America Media, and founder of Outreach. The show explores how people pray and find God in daily life. Each episode features listener questions answered by Father Martin and his guests in a relatable “Dear Abby of the soul” style. Guests include Stephen Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Pete Buttigieg, and Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe.

🎧 Take the “Preach” listener survey and follow “The Spiritual Life with Father James Martin, S.J.” every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts.

“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc. Get daily Scripture reflections and ⁠⁠⁠⁠support⁠⁠⁠ “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine

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“We become like the things we contemplate,” the Rev. Hank Hilton says. In this homily for Corpus Christi, Year C, Hank draws on ancient philosophy, childhood boat rides on the Jersey Shore, and his mother’s wisdom to reflect on the transforming power of Christ’s kindness—to friends, enemies and strangers.

In this episode of “Preach,” Hank shares the three-step preaching method he’s used for decades: concept, exegesis, application. He explains why he usually starts with a story instead of a quote, and how conversations at the church door shape his message. He also introduces Holy Chow, his parish’s food-truck ministry serving not only meals but the peace of Christ.

Guest: Hank Hilton is pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Hillsborough, N.J. A former Jesuit, he holds advanced degrees in theology, philosophy, psychology and economics, including a Ph.D. in land resources.

“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc. Get daily Scripture reflections and ⁠⁠⁠support⁠⁠⁠ “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine

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Most people hear “Holy Trinity” and think “mystery”—something abstract and hard to explain. But for Dianne Bergant, C.S.A., the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C, is a chance to root the doctrine in daily life. She invites us to see it instead as “the relationship that human beings have to the Creator.” God, she says, “literally serves us”—through creation, Christ, and the Spirit, who “does not go alone” but “works through us.”

In this episode of Preach, Dianne reflects on preaching as an introvert, why she never writes her homilies, and her memories of teaching exegesis at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago—including to a quiet, thoughtful student now known as Pope Leo XIV. “He was a very good student,” she recalls. “I have kept every grade, a record of every grade. So when I say he was a good student, I have evidence.”

Guest: Dianne Bergant, a Sister of St. Agnes and distinguished scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures, taught for over 40 years at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and served on the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

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“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc. Get daily Scripture reflections and ⁠⁠support⁠⁠ “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine

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Say “Holy Spirit” and most picture a dove or gentle fire. But Anthony SooHoo, S.J., turns to a wilder Celtic image: a honking goose in flight—untamed and impossible to ignore. It’s how he preaches Pentecost: the Spirit who startles us into new life and calls the church to fly together—rather than just waddle along. For the Solemnity of Pentecost, Year C, Anthony draws on the physics of flight and a Kierkegaardian parable about ducks. In conversation with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., he explores imagination in preaching and the art of going off-script—especially when the Spirit honks.

Guest: Anthony SooHoo, S.J., professor of ancient Near Eastern studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and pastoral staff member at Caravita, an international English-language Catholic community.

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“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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Seventeen years ago, Ricardo da Silva, the host of this podcast, heard a homily that has stayed with him ever since. It was preached by his novice master, British Jesuit priest Paul Nicholson, and began with a simple but unforgettable image drawn from medieval art: Jesus’ feet dangling in the air, his body swallowed by clouds.

Preaching for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Year A, Paul returns to that homily, reflecting on how visual art and imagination can lead those who receive a homily beyond scriptural explanation or catechesis and into prayer. Together, he and Ricardo explore how this feast—so often understood as a moment of departure—can also reveal God’s nearness and how that insight might shape preaching at funerals and help preachers speak to grief, absence and hope.

Guest: Paul Nicholson, S.J., director of the Jesuit Institute in the United Kingdom.

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“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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Shortly after Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, Bill Gabriel, O.S.A., received an unexpected email from a student at Malvern Prep in Pennsylvania. The student asked, “Is this your boy?” alongside a photo of the new pope. Bill replied, “I wouldn’t say he’s my boy, but he is our brother,” referencing their shared Augustinian bond. The student responded, “Well, I guess that makes him my brother too.” 

Preaching for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C, Bill finds resonance in his homily between the risen Christ’s parting words—“Peace be with you”—and Pope Leo XIV’s call for “an unarmed and disarming peace.”

Guest: Bill Gabriel, O.S.A., Head of Mission and Ministry at Malvern Prep.

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“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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“Every time I proclaim one of Francis’ homilies, my heart is filled with joy,” says Greg Heille, O.P. “It’s heart speaking to heart.” Recorded just hours before Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV—while the cardinals were still in conclave—Greg joins “Preach” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to reflect on the homiletic legacy of Pope Francis: always on message, spoken from the heart, simple without losing depth. He proclaims a homily by Francis for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C, in 2022, where those qualities shine through. Grounded in a single verse from John’s Gospel—As I have loved you, so you also should love one another—the homily weaves together themes of holiness, simplicity and love in action.

Guest: Greg Heille, Dominican friar, preaching professor at Aquinas Institute of Theology and author of The Preaching of Pope Francis.

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“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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At 3 a.m. in the lambing shed on his farm in the Irish midlands, John Connell speaks gently to a ewe in labor. “The wave of willful force doesn’t work,” he says. “It’s about calm and serene and speaking gently, and that’s generally how the thing gets accomplished, certainly on our farm.” An award-winning author, investigative journalist, and organic farmer, John has spent over a decade working with sheep. “They’re very caring, look after each other, and are more intelligent than we think,” he says. “But they can be vulnerable. If they get sick, they don’t have as big of a fight in them as, say, a cow would.” And yet, John has come to admire their quiet bravery. “I think if people would spend a little time getting to know sheep, they'd realize there’s more to them than they might first comprehend.”

For the Fourth Sunday of Easter in Year C, John reflects on the Gospel’s message of Jesus as a shepherd, who knows his sheep intimately and cares for them with great love. We invited him to Preach as part of our Culture of Encounter series, inspired by Pope Francis’ call to engage with people today—the real people we hear about in the Scriptures—rather than simply engaging with ideas. “He was the pope that spoke to me most directly,” John says. “And I feel lucky that I got to become aware of his work while learning about farming.”

Ricardo asks John what he hears Jesus saying to him when he reads, “My sheep hear my voice.” For John, Jesus is saying: “I totally understand who you are, and I want you in this flock.” That intimacy shapes his writing—and how he invites preachers to write: with heart, clarity, and “one true sentence” at a time.

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“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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When fishermen set sail, Deacon Marlowe Sabater says, they place one foot on the deck—and the other, unknowingly, “in the watery grave, because you just won’t know what’s gonna happen out there.” Born and raised in Metro Manila, Marlowe now ministers to seafarers and port workers—many of them migrant workers from his native Philippines—through the Diocese of Honolulu’s Apostleship of the Sea ministry. Facing unpredictable storms and countless dangers at sea, every safe return to shore, he says, is “an everyday miracle.”

Marlowe is our guest on “Preach” for the Third Sunday of Easter. In his homily, he reflects on the Gospel story of the risen Christ meeting his disciples on the shore and connects it to the faith of those who work and live at sea today. In conversation with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., Marlowe draws even further from his ministry—meeting workers at the docks to pray with them, to minister to them and to share the trust that sustains us all amid life’s storms: “When Jesus is in our boat, he has the capability of calming the storm of our lives.”

When he’s not at the ambo, on the docks or behind a desk, Marlowe finds his anchor in family life with his wife, Maggie, and their two sons. He credits Maggie as his “editor in chief,” offering the honest feedback every preacher needs. “Sometimes she’ll read my homily and say, ‘I don’t feel it,’” he says. “And it’s back to the drawing board—and she’s always right.”

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“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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The emboldened disciples in Acts 5:12-16 perform signs and wonders of the risen Christ to a crowd gathered at Solomon’s portico in Jerusalem. Witnessing the good news of the Resurrection for the first time, astonished onlookers bring the sick and wounded for the apostles to heal through the power of God. “I just hope people feel some desire to get together with other people in their community and do a little Bible study on the Acts of the Apostles,” says Casey Stanton, co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project helping the Church listen more deeply as it discerns the role of women in the diaconate. “The church has given us this gift of a text that offers us a way to recover something that feels lost right now: a common life together.”

Joining host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., on this episode of “Preach” ahead of the Second Sunday of Easter, Casey connects the first reading to the current situation facing many immigrant and migrant Christians in the U.S., who live in fear of deportation and detention. “What will our testimony be in this generation in our time?” she asks. “We are called to be in community, especially with and as those who are called criminals. Those who are deemed unworthy, those who think they do not have a right to speak, those whose land is being stolen, whose waters are polluted, whose lives are under siege, who struggle for life and dignity.”

Casey Stanton has spent over a decade in ministry working on social concerns in parish settings, as well as engaging with broader faith-based networks focused on justice and inclusion. She lives in Durham with her husband Felipe and their three children—Micaela, Teddy and Oscar. Her work is rooted in Pope Francis’ call to a synodal Church—a Church that listens, walks together, and follows the lead of the Holy Spirit. 

Get daily Scripture reflections and support “Preach” by becoming a digital subscriber to America Magazine

“Preach” is made possible through the generous support of the Compelling Preaching Initiative, a project of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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