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We’re delighted to introduce you to Fr. Jude Siciliano, O.P., who lives just around the corner from our offices at the University of Dallas, at the Dominican Priory. Fr. Jude has dedicated his ministry to preaching and teaching, and he has also served as president of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics.

In addition to his many ministries, Fr. Jude operates the preaching website  preacherexchange.com, where you’ll find valuable reflections and insights to support your own homiletic preparation.

We hope you enjoy getting to know Fr. Jude and learning from his wisdom. The team at the Institute for Homiletics will continue to bring you more resources and opportunities for growth in the art of preaching.

We have started receiving names of the priests for our 2026 cohort that starts with its first retreat in June at Mundelein, Illinois. While other dioceses continue to send their lists, we will have room for a hybrid group of priests who may live anywhere in the U.S. The only difference for hybrid group priests is that their peer group will meet online rather than in person.

The Diocese of Victoria has had several priests participate in the Institute for Homiletics’ Preaching for Encounter cohort that completed their program in 2024, and more are invited to begin in 2026. Because of the Institute for Homiletics, with its mission to renew Catholic preachers and their preaching, priests and deacons are realizing that homilies matter more than they knew. Preaching for Encounter gives them the help of homiletics coaches, a group of peers, and input from a trained group of laity. With all this, preachers can go deeply into the Word and their own prayer life, allowing the Holy Spirit to help them create more encounters with Christ for their flock. “Father Gabriel Bentil, our pastor at Holy Family, asked me to lead a group to partner with him during his Preaching for Encounter program,” said Heather Kallus, the parish’s Director of Faith Formation.

See full article here: Parishioner and peer input…  

Dr. Karla Bellinger (DMin ’12) will be the first person in the lecture series for the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching (DMin) program, which begins on November 20 at 7 p.m. The title of Dr. Bellinger’s presentation is: “Who says? Why Research Matters in the Field of Homiletics.”

Dr. Bellinger is a seminal figure in the world of preaching. A founding executive director of the Institute for Homiletics at the University of Dallas, she had previously served as the associate director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics and Liturgics at the University of Notre Dame.

A past president of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics (CATH), Dr. Bellinger was featured on America magazine’s “Preach” podcast, its preface titled “Meet a woman who teaches priests to preach.”  

Regarding the lecture series, Dr. Bellinger discusses the impetus for it, stating, “Catholic preaching needs to be improved.” The popes say it. The people in the pew say it. Preachers themselves say it. But what does “improved” mean? What does effectiveness look like? Everyone, from the learned to the unlearned, seems to have an opinion – make homilies shorter, tell a joke, give more doctrine/catechetics, eliminate the homily, move away from the ambo, structure it better… But… Who says? Anecdotes abound. Solid research does not. It is an exciting thing to part of the beginnings of any field, when there is so much to learn and so much is yet unknown. The field of Catholic homiletics research is still in its infancy. We need curious and eager minds to join in this adventure.

This webinar will give a brief introduction to what we know and what we do not know about Catholic preaching, probing, “what questions do we need to be asking?” For example, why does God touch this person and not that one through this particular homily? How can a homilist grow more compelling in speaking to the lives of his/her congregation? What does an encounter with God through the Sunday homily look like? Come and join in the conversation; set your feet onto a path of vital homiletics inquiry. The kingdom of God is at stake!”

Deacon Victor Puscas is the director of diaconate formation for the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. He holds a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Albert King was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. Nicknamed “The Velvet Bulldozer,” King once wrote a song called “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (But Nobody Wants to Die).” Now you may be thinking, “This is mildly interesting, but why is he telling me this?”

Here’s why: It dawned on me that every clergyman wants to be a better preacher, but (almost) nobody wants to put in the work that’s required. I admit that’s a tortured analogy, but the fact remains that getting better at anything requires work. Where does one even begin to become a better preacher?

Well, here’s a thought: Consider the two-year formation program offered by the Institute for Homiletics at the University of Dallas, which has been strengthening the preaching of bishops, priests and deacons since it opened in 2021.

The Institute was established after a 2018 survey found that more than 85% of parishioners in the Diocese of Dallas viewed quality preaching from the pulpit as either very or extremely important — and the collective grade they gave to the preaching they received was a C+.

Those findings spurred a collaboration among the diocese, the University of Dallas and the Catholic Foundation to help priests and deacons “enhance their preaching in ways that will positively transform lives and create deep-rooted encounters with God,” as Bishop Edward J. Burns explained in the Texas Catholic in 2022.

Dr. Karla Bellinger, formerly of the John S. Marten Program for Homiletics and Liturgics at the University of Notre Dame, was hired as the institute’s founding executive director. “The purpose of the program is to renew the preachers in order to renew preaching,” Bellinger told Texas Catholic.

“The purpose of preaching is to encounter God; preaching that raises their hearts, minds and souls to God.”

An OSV publication: Click for full article