The three stories every homily should tell

Preach: The Catholic Homilies Podcast

When Jude Siciliano, OP, sits down to write his homily, he always has a Venn diagram in mind. “It is one of the theories of preaching that there should be three stories,” Jude says, “The story of God, the story of the preacher, and the story of the listeners, the congregation.” And it is in the overlap of these three stories that Jude preaches.

Jude Siciliano, OP, is a member of the Southern Dominican Province, USA. For fourteen years he taught Homiletics at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California and is past president of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics. Jude has has given retreats and preaching workshops to ordained and lay preachers alongside Sr. Catherine Hilkert, OP, and Sr. Patricia Bruno, OP. You can read Jude’s weekly email reflections on the Sunday scriptures called "First Impressions" by visiting PreacherExchange.com.

Listen to Jude's homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time on this week’s episode of “Preach.” After the homily, he shares with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J.—a Jesuit priest from South Africa, associate editor at America and associate pastor at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan—his top tips for preaching and what women preachers have taught him about the craft.

Read the full text of this week’s homily and Scripture readings.

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