A Catholic seminarian building technology in service of preaching.
Giuseppe Njualem is a Catholic seminarian for the Diocese of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. By the grace of God, and with inspiration from priest friends and professors, he built HomilyWriterAI as a practical tool for priests who want stronger Catholic homily preparation without losing the human, prayerful heart of preaching.
His work sits at the meeting point of faith, pastoral care, and technology: not technology for its own sake, but technology shaped by the real demands of priestly ministry.
The Story Behind HomilyWriterAI
During his seminary studies in Canada, Giuseppe was commissioned as part of his parish practice to write Sunday homilies for his pastor, who was himself an excellent homilist. Giuseppe loved the task, but he quickly saw how demanding faithful preparation can be.
A single homily could require more than three hours of reading Scripture, biblical commentaries, magisterial documents, and the writings of the Church Fathers. That experience led to a simple but serious question: could a tool help priests handle the research phase more efficiently while preserving theological depth and pastoral responsibility?
A Providential Combination
Giuseppe had coding experience before entering seminary. As AI tools became more accessible, he used seminary vacation time to build a system that could reduce preparation time, especially research time, while keeping Catholic sources and pastoral judgment at the center.
The Vision: Co-Creator, Not Replacement
From the beginning, Giuseppe's primary concern was that HomilyWriterAI should never replace the priest's insight, prayer, or personal voice. The platform is designed to make room for those things by saving time that can be given back to prayer, reflection, parish life, and other essential parts of ministry.
That is why the homily creation process is structured around what a priest would naturally consider: the readings, liturgical context, Catholic teaching, audience, tone, occasion, and pastoral purpose. HomilyWriterAI is meant to be a faithful assistant in the work of preparation, not a substitute for the preacher.
Pope Leo XIV, AI, and the heart of preaching
Giuseppe has written a full, respectful response to Pope Leo XIV's warning about AI sermons, explaining why HomilyWriterAI is designed as a research and co-creation assistant rather than a replacement for the priest's prayer, faith, or pastoral voice. Read the full article on Pope Leo XIV and AI sermons.
"This project is dear to my heart because I know I will be needing a tool like this in my own future ministry, at least on those days when other aspects of priestly ministry leave no time for homily preparation. I guess we could content ourselves with saying the Spirit will guide on such occasions, but it is probably negligence on our part if a few clicks could help us be more ready and potentially even more receptive to the Spirit's promptings."
A Tool Built with Priestly Feedback
Since launching HomilyWriterAI, Giuseppe has heard from priests across North America who use the tool in the pressure of ordinary ministry. Their feedback has helped shape improvements to the platform and has reinforced the original goal: serve priests by making careful preparation more manageable.
Giuseppe remains committed to improving HomilyWriterAI around priests' real needs and suggestions, so the platform can continue to support the Church's mission of preaching the Gospel clearly, faithfully, and powerfully.
An Invitation
If you have suggestions for how HomilyWriterAI can better serve your ministry, Giuseppe personally invites you to reach out. Your feedback helps shape a tool that serves the wider priestly community.