Our Mission and Vision
Three Core Initiatives
We believe that the liturgical homily matters to the faith of the Church. Within the context of the Eucharistic celebration, we come together, encounter the Living God and then go out from the Mass to make a difference in the world in which we live. The liturgical homily is called to be a component of that encounter. The opportunity is great. The execution sometimes falls short. We have seen that incremental improvement in the homily can result in exponential growth, for a preacher, for a parish and for the renewal of the Church. Preaching matters.
The Institute for Homiletics is a collaboration between the University of Dallas and The Catholic Foundation of Dallas. Our focus is to help good preachers become great ones. Great preaching contains good delivery and structure and focus and we do teach that “science of homiletics.” But to be truly effective, the spiritual life of the homilist also comes together in the pastoral discernment of “Lord, how would you have me speak to these people at this time through these scriptures on this particular day in history?”
We offer ongoing formation to both preachers and lay people. We desire that the moment of the homily would resonate in the hearts of the homilist and the hearers, and lead the faith community to the Table with open hands, hearts and minds. Our mission comes to life through these three core initiatives:
1. The Preaching for Encounter Program --This program for Catholic clergy addresses all four pillars of ongoing formation
through the lens of homiletics: human formation,
pastoral formation, intellectual formation and spiritual formation. It gives preachers the time, tools and spiritual space to grow, so that their words
from the ambo reach the
hearts of their people and build faith within their communities.
2. The St. Joseph’s Preachers Program – This program for lay people equips them to listen more deeply and pray more intentionally.
They also learn how to be homiletically-
trained conversation partners so that they can support their preacher. We have seen
this lay program renew both preaching ministry and parish life.
3. Resource for Research & Content - We are in the process of building a hub for homiletics resources. We have the only
Catholic preaching resource search engine
that can help preachers in homily preparation, using carefully curated Catholic websites.
We have a lectionary resource for the Sunday readings featuring Sr. Dianne
Bergant, Dr. Karla Bellinger, Fr. James Wallace and Br. John Barker. Other homiletic resources are in the development stage and soon to come.
Upcoming Events
The National Homiletics Coaching Training
Join us for our in-person workshop
Oct. 15-17, 2026
at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake
Mundelein, Illinois
+ five weekly online course sessions
Who is eligible? Seminary homiletics professors, teachers of preaching, deacon formators, doctoral students and graduates, and more. Learn more.
The 2027 Permanent Deacon Cohort of the Preaching for Encounter Program
Due to the demand for diaconal training in homiletics, we have opened a whole new cohort just for deacons. We seek for 6-8 dioceses to each provide a peer group of deacons for the cohort, which begins with the introductory retreat on April 22-24, 2027.
If you are the leader of deacons in your diocese and you would like to be a part of
this new opportunity, please get in touch with us.
If you are a deacon who would like to be part of this, please encourage your diaconal
leaders to get in touch with us.
See the testimonials and video.
Please let us know your interest by Aug. 31 so we can have all applications in November, 2026.
Application form will be available soon.
Pictured left to right: Chizoaba Onuoha (IT Consultant), Anna Liza Denny, Jane Koenecke,
Elda Campos (Student Worker), Dr. Karla Bellinger, Deacon James Baird and Emily Lugo.
