The 2026 Best Homiletics Book Award Goes to ETCOR’s “Preaching with My Scars”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐓𝐂𝐎𝐑’𝐬 “𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬”: 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐯. 𝐅𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐆. 𝐕𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐃. 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐳 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐒𝐌𝐗 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲

𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐋𝐀, 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 — 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 - Preaching with My Scars: Homilies from a Wounded but Graced Life, written by Rev. Fr. Norman G. Vitug and published by ETCOR Educational Research Center, has been named the 2026 Best Homiletics Book during the 20th Cardinal Sin Catholic Book Awards, held on September 10 at the SMX Convention Center Manila in Pasay City as part of the Manila International Book Fair. The prestigious recognition was received by Fr. Vitug, the book’s author, together with Dr. Richard D. Sanchez, President of ETCOR, marking a significant achievement for both the author and the Philippine educational and Catholic publishing community.

The award-winning book brings together homilies shaped by Fr. Vitug’s years of priesthood, parish ministry, encounters with people, experiences of pain and loss, and reflections on God’s grace. Rather than presenting preaching as something detached from the realities of human life, Preaching with My Scars draws from woundedness, healing, faith, and lived experience, offering reflections that seek to make the proclamation of God’s Word deeply human and spiritually meaningful.

The work’s recognition in the Homiletics category affirms its contribution to Catholic preaching and its capacity to connect the Gospel with the joys, struggles, wounds, and hopes of ordinary people.

In a Facebook post following the awarding ceremony, Fr. Vitug expressed gratitude for the recognition, saying that he never wrote the book expecting it to win an award but simply wanted to gather homilies that emerged from years of priesthood, parish life, people, pain, loss, and grace. He gave special thanks to ETCOR and Dr. Richard D. Sanchez, editor Atty. Maria Imelda Q. Tuazon, Patrick Figueroa, his mentor in preaching Fr. Eduardo T. De Leon, his friends and family, and the many people who became part of the stories and experiences behind the homilies. He also dedicated the award to the late Terry Medina, whom he credited for continually encouraging him to make the book, saying, “Kong Terry, this one is for you.

For ETCOR Educational Research Center, the recognition is both an honor and a celebration of its continuing commitment to publishing works that contribute to education, faith, scholarship, and human formation. The Cardinal Sin Catholic Book Awards, organized by the Asian Catholic Communicators, Inc. (ACCI), traces its roots to the Catholic Authors’ Awards initiated in 1989 by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila. The 20th edition brought together Catholic books across various categories, with Preaching with My Scars emerging as the Best Book in Homiletics. As Fr. Vitug poignantly concluded after receiving the award: “The scars are mine, but the preaching has always been Yours.”