Along the U.S.-Mexico border, Flavio Bravo, S.J., celebrates Mass in migrant shelters among people living in fear and uncertainty. Reflecting on John’s resurrection appearances in which Christ shows his wounds and breathes his Spirit, Flavio preaches the risen Christ, not as an idea, but as a presence encountered in woundedness. Flavio joins host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to speak about preaching resurrection and hope from within places in which migrants are suffering as part of this Easter series of the "Preach" podcast.

0:00 A Haitian girl blesses the priest

2:07 Meeting Fr. Flavio Bravo, S.J.

2:48 Crossing borders: arriving in the U.S. as a teenage refugee

5:00 Who comes to the border today

9:34 Inside Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries

11:35 Homily: The risen Lord is the crucified one

24:50 How preaching grows out of daily ministry

25:57 The Gospel stories we never wrote down

27:54 How his preaching has changed

28:39 Resurrection within suffering—not escape

30:25 Preaching on the move: new faces each week

32:00 Joy at Mass: children, bells, holy water

35:10 Sustaining the work: community and self-care

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How does one keep their belief in the resurrection in a war-scarred area of the world? In this third episode of Preach’s Easter series, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks to Brother Peter Iorlano, F.S.C., who has lived and ministered at Bethlehem University in the West Bank for over 20 years, accompanying Palestinian students and colleagues through occupation, conflict and loss. He is also the university’s vice president for human resources.

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“You see the light in people's eyes come back and you see faces start to move instead of being frozen," says Tom Weston, S.J.,  speaking about his experience ministering to people in addiction recovery. “The humanity is reborn [...] it's resurrection.”

 In this episode we continue our Easter series on preaching the hope of the resurrection in a broken world. Our guest Tom Weston, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, counsellor, and man in long-term recovery, who has devoted most of his priestly life to working alongside people battling addiction — leading 12-step based retreats, offering counseling and spiritual accompaniment, and lecturing internationally. 

Together with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., they discuss how we can all be witnesses to the resurrection and recipients of God’s grace, no matter how dark our lives may seem. 

Timecodes:

0:00 We can see the resurrection clearly in those in recovery

7:00 Tom Weston’s homily

17:07 God’s grace is greater than our human will power

21:45 How much should a preacher reveal about themselves in a homily?

25:00 Grace isn’t only for those in recovery

26:40 What does the resurrection look like?

28:47 Preaching hope in darkness

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What does it mean to preach resurrection into a broken world? In this first episode of our 2026 Easter series, host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., welcomes Alberto Solano, a New Testament scholar at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. Together, they open up the post-resurrection appearances in John’s Gospel—Mary in the garden, Thomas in the upper room, Peter by the charcoal fire—and ask why the risen Christ keeps showing up not to the powerful, but to the grieving, the fearful, and the lost. 

Timecodes:

0:00 The risen Christ first meets the outcast, the fearful, the rejected

1:25 What do the resurrection appearances in John have to offer preachers today?

2:50 Alberto Solano brings scripture scholarship to Preach

4:26 Why does Jesus call Mary Magdalene by name?

8:50 What did “resurrection from the dead” mean to a Jewish people?

18:46 “Doubting Thomas”—or the most faithful disciple?

22:20 Your worst moment isn't your whole story

27:04 Why does the Church turn to John at Easter more than the other Gospels?

34:40 Acts — how the early Church learned to love its enemies as neighbours

38:45 What does Easter call preachers to say?

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What is fasting for? What biblical precedent do we have for the practices of fasting and abstinence? And how can preachers steer between the two extremes of self-punishment and loophole hunting? “Preach” concludes its Lent 2026 series on the three classical pillars of the season with a conversation on fasting.  Host Ricardo da Silva, S.J. is joined by James Keane — senior editor at America and a writer who has spent some time reflecting and writing on what fasting is and what it’s for.

Timecodes:

0:00 What’s fasting for?

2:00 The Brazilian loophole to abstinence during Lent: capibara 

3:55 What does the church teach on fasting and abstinence?

6:53 Fasting is meant to bring you closer to God

8:35 Biblical citations of fasting

11:05 Fasting evolved alongside seasons of food scarcity and abundance

14:10 St. Ignatius’ fervour for fasting

16:10 Avoiding the two extremes of self-punishment vs.  loophole hunting 

18:58 Pope Leo XIV’s message this Lent

James Keane’s articles on fasting:

On fasting: The difference between our preaching and our practice

7 things you never knew about fasting

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What is almsgiving — and why does the Church teach that it is more about justice and right relationship than simply personal charity or philanthropy? As “Preach” continues its Lent 2026 series on the three classical pillars of the season—prayer, fasting and almsgiving—we turn to almsgiving, perhaps the most confronting of the three. In this conversation, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. is joined by Kerry Robinson, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA., and author of Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy, and a Spiritual Call to Service, a book that reflects on generosity as a spiritual practice rooted in faith.

Timecodes:

0:00 Generosity is at the heart of almsgiving

2:30 Our cognitive dissonance with money and faith

5:43 How Kerry became a steward of her family’s 80-year-old foundation 

8:20 About Catholic Charities U.S.A.

11:50 Biblical teachings on giving alms 

16:36 Mother Teresa: “never take away the right of another to be generous”

21:30 We need both charity and justice

26:24 New insights from Pope Leo and ‘Dilexi Te’

28:08 Preach almsgiving with thanksgiving

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What is prayer? And maybe more importantly for preachers—what are we inviting people into when we stand in the pulpit and speak about it? As “Preach” continues its Lent 2026 series, we turn to the three classical pillars that shape the season: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In this first conversation, focused on prayer, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. is joined by Amy Ekeh, Director of Mission Advancement for the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, retreat leader, author and adjunct instructor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Sacred Heart University. Amy is the author of several books, including:

 Stretch Out Your Hand: Reflections on the Healing Ministry of Jesus

Come to Me, All of You: Stations of the Cross in the Voice of Christ

 Lent: Season of Transformation

Timecodes:

0:00 We can’t be afraid to ask for God’s help

1:25 Who is Amy Ekeh?

2:50 Prayer is relational

7:57 Prayer is nurtured in community

14:30 Good preaching requires you to know your congregation

16:53 Ask for healing! The people in the Gospels did.

21:38 Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer

26:16 Carving out space for silence

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As “Preach” begins its Lent 2026 series, Ricardo da Silva, S.J. sits down with liturgical theologian Anne McGowan to ask a foundational question: what is Lent for — and how do these practices reshape our faith, not just our habits for six weeks? Together, they trace its history from a two-day fast in the early Church to the 40-day season we know today, and explore its theological arc in the Sunday lectionary—from temptation and transfiguration to water, light and life, and finally the passion that leads into Easter, where new Christians are baptised and the faithful renew their baptismal promises.

0:00 Introducing the Lent 2026 series

2:30 Meet Anne McGowan: why she loves the liturgical year

6:20 You can’t understand Lent without Easter

8:10 The history of Lent: from two days to 40 days before Easter

10:40 Lent: a season of challenge and joy

15:05 Compunction and joy: do we have to choose?

20:55 The Sundays of Lent explained: from temptation to the passion

31:13 Preaching the whole journey of Lent

34:49 Preaching more than just the Sunday readings this Lent

36:22 How to come alive this Lent

A Preacher’s Guide to Holy Week: These are long liturgies. Be brief!

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“Things are happening [in Minnesota]  that my friends and family elsewhere are really having trouble understanding,” Laura Kelly Fanucci says,  “because the media is saying one thing, and all these partisan politicians are saying another thing.”

“But sometimes I think what Jesus [is saying in the gospel], is that when you are close to the center, sometimes you will know things about the mystery of God that are going to be difficult for other people to understand.”

Award-winning author, Laura Kelly Fanucci, joins host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to share what she has been preaching on her Instagram account @thismessygrace since U.S. federal immigration agents fatal shooting of  Renee Good, and later, Alex Pretti. After attending Mass the Sunday following the killing of Renée Good and hearing no mention of it from the pulpit at her parish, Laura began offering three-minute homilies on Instagram.

In this conversation with Ricardo da Silva, S.J., Laura offers practical advice for preaching in this historical moment marked by violence, terror and community upheaval. In her daily Scripture reflections on Instagram Laura models how to thread the needle of preaching the gospel and responding to surrounding events, without slipping into partisan rhetoric.

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Every year we take out the nativity. We arrange it carefully. Mary. Joseph. A baby in a manger. It feels sacred—one of the last spaces in our world left untouched.

But contemporary retellings challenge that calm. This year in Dedham, the Holy Family was removed and kept in the sanctuary for protection from ICE. In Evanston, the baby Jesus wrapped in emergency thermal blankets, his hands bound with zip ties. A few years ago in Bethlehem, a Lutheran pastor placed the Christ child on bomb rubble. We demand these displays be removed.

But what if the real danger isn’t the frame we construct—traditional crib or contemporary protest? What if it’s that we’re so busy fixing on one perfect pageant or one protest image that we miss the actual context of Jesus’ birth? We assume Mary and Joseph were turned away. Luke doesn’t say that. The Holy Family is welcomed into a warm home, pressed shoulder to shoulder with people doing all they can to make space. The house owner says: this is all we have. And it’s accepted. God is born there.

Ricardo tells us in this surprise Christmas Eve homily: God does not wait for us to clear space. He enters even when lives are full, when schedules are packed. Still, room is found. That’s the nativity we are living and called to live.

This is Ricardo’s final episode before moving to Rome in January to join the Jesuits’ international communications team. He’ll continue hosting Preach from there. We’re taking a brief break and will return just before Ash Wednesday with a new Lenten series. Please fill out our listener survey—your feedback helps shape what comes next. Merry Christmas!

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