December 6, 2020
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
from Katherine A. Greiner, Ph.D.
Preaching for the Second Sunday of Advent, Katherine Greiner offers a reflection on proclaiming God's promise of salvation especially in this fraught Advent of 2020:
"This Advent, more than ever, we are called to be both listeners and proclaimers, to be contemplatives and prophets, to let the silence prepare us to speak truth to oppressive power and to speak tenderness to the oppressed. As we continue to wait in joyful hope for an end to this pandemic, may this time of bewildering silence become a holy silence, one in which we hear God speak words of comfort and tenderness. There, in that silence, God will transform our cries of anguish into a chorus of Advent hope so we may proclaim: Maranatha. Come! Lord Jesus Come!”
Katherine A. Greiner is associate professor of theology at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She holds a Ph.D. in Theology and Education from Boston College. Her research interests include Christian spirituality, lay ministry in the Catholic Church, and feminist and contextual theologies. She currently serves on the College Theology Society Board. She has been regular contributor to the blog Daily Theology and is a regular contributor to Liturgical Press’s Loose Leaf Lectionary.
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December 8, 2020
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
from Angela Howard McParland
Preaching for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Angela Howard McParland offers a reflection on honoring the sacredness of each and every body:
"What is clear is that to be a Catholic is to proclaim that bodies matter. We are not simply concerned for the state of a soul, but for the whole person, even as the world tells us that women’s bodies in particular are fragile and disposable. Yet, a first-century pregnant teenager teaches us otherwise."
Angie McParland serves as Campus Minister and Religion teacher at La Salle Academy in Providence where she lives with her husband and three young children. A Kentucky native who has called New England home for over a decade, she earned a B.A. in English and Religion from Centre College and and served for a year with Americorps*VISTA before earning a Master of Divinity at Vanderbilt Divinity School as well as a certificate in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality in 2007. She has worked in ministry for more than fifteen years in parish and campus settings from Nashville to Boston.
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December 12, 2020
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
from Pearl Maria Barros, Th.D.
Preaching for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dr. Pearl Maria Barros offers a reflection on the "dangerous memory of Mary":
"Recalling the 'dangerous memory of Mary' challenges depictions of Mary’s life that attempt to neutralize its radical implications for pushing against injustice and its call to stand in compassionate solidarity with all who suffer....It is this dangerous memory of La Virgen of Guadalupe that empowers nos/otrx to push against all that keeps us from recognizing the presence of God in ourselves, and each other."
Dr. Pearl Maria Barros is assistant professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University. She holds a Th.D. in Religion, Gender, and Culture from Harvard, an M.T.S. from Harvard, and a B.A. from Santa Clara University. She is a Catholic feminist theologian whose work engages Latinx cultural studies and decolonial theory. In particular, her research focuses on the relationships between sexuality, subjectivity, and spirituality in Latinx women’s writings, especially in Anzaldúan thought.
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December 13, 2020
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
from Stella Baltazar, FMM
Preaching for the Third Sunday of Advent, Stella Baltazar, fmm offers a reflection on living our prophetic call:
"Today, we are challenged to prophesy to the dead bones: Rise up with new life and power. Do not wait for another to raise you. You have the power within you. With right motivation and clear purpose stand up to acclaim ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon me…’ God is on our side to denounce forms of political domination, economic subversion, suppression of descent, pushing the poor to the periphery, and the dismantling of democracy."
Stella Baltazar, fmm currently serves as provincial of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Ootacamund Province, Tamil Nadu, India. She holds a master's degree in sociology and theeology from the University of Mysore and is passionate about educating and empowering women, especially widows, for collective action for change.
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