Life on the Chrism Trail

Homily for Midnight Mass

December 25, 2025
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Isaiah 9:1-6
Psalm 96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” What is this darkness into which streams such brilliant light? What is this gloom prophesied by Isaiah? This darkness and gloom is the experience of a newborn child being born in a filthy stable and resting in a trough because he and his parents are not wanted so that there is no other room for them within a human society; valued only for enumeration in the census ordered by Caesar. The gloom of rejection that will shadow this child’s life through His Passion and Death is present even tonight.

December 25, 2025

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

December 21, 2025
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-24

At this Eucharist on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church provides us with a set of readings from Scripture that present us with two different paths on which we are free to travel but on which only one leads us to God-with us-Emmanuel. There is the way of Ahaz and there is the way of Saint Joseph, the righteous man. The way of fantasy and cunning or the way of dreams and grace.

December 22, 2025

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent

Mass of Dedication and Blessing of New Altar

November 29, 2025
St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church
Roanoke, Texas

Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

This present moment is most precious in the life of your parish, in the life of the Diocese of Fort Worth, and in the life of the entire Church. This present moment marks the blessing of this new space and dedication of the altar for your liturgical worship as a parish and for your catechetical and fellowship needs as a parish and community of faith. This present moment begins the new liturgical year on this first Sunday of Advent, when begin our preparation for the coming of Christ.

November 29, 2025

Homily for All Souls Day

November 2, 2025
Casa Santa Maria
Rome, Italy

Wisdom 3:1-9
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Romans 5:5-11
John 6:37-40

Last weekend here in Rome you set your clocks back one hour. This weekend in most of the United States we turn our clocks back one hour to try and rescue some of the daylight that quickly disappears this time of year. We love the daylight because it helps us to use our time better for work and to enjoy our time together. In a certain sense, the setting of our clocks back one hour as part of Daylight Savings Time is an attempt by us to stave off the darkness that inevitably comes with winter. It is as if we compromise with time to negotiate with the darkness instead of simply accepting the light as it is given.

November 2, 2025

Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

World Mission Sunday

October 19, 2025
St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church
Prosper, Texas

Exodus 17:8-13
Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Luke 18:1-8

In 1926 Pope Pius XI decreed that each year on the penultimate Sunday of October, the Church would keep a day dedicated to World Missions to remind all Catholics of our shared responsibility to promote the spread of the authentic Gospel in every conceivable way. We can and should support missionary work with our financial gifts, but even more we must seek to live as faithful disciples and loving friends of the Lord Jesus and so bear witness to everyone we meet that Jesus Christ is Lord.

October 19, 2025

Homily for the 2025 Red Mass for the Diocese of Fort Worth

September 25, 2025
St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church
Fort Worth, Texas

Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Psalm 104:1-2, 24, 35, 27-28, 29, 30
Romans 13:1-7
Luke 7:1-10

The passage from the Gospel of Luke which we have just proclaimed describes a story of the Roman centurion who sends some of the local religious leaders to Jesus to ask Him if He will come to the centurion’s home to heal his slave who is suffering and near death. When the religious leaders approach Jesus, they put their own spin on matters. They strongly recommend that Jesus do this for the centurion as they emphasize that he deserves this miracle from Jesus because, unlike a lot of the Roman military force of occupation, this centurion likes them so much that he has paid for the building of their synagogue. It is in their interest that Jesus heal the centurion’s servant.

September 26, 2025

Homily for the Mass of Christian Burial for Reverend Cruz Manuel Holguin Ogaz

September 25, 2025
St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church
White Settlement, Texas

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Psalm 23
Philippians 3:7-14
John 17:1-11

Bishop’s homily in English begins at paragraph 5.

Yo no tengo las palabras de quitar su tristeza sobre la muerte del Padre Manuel. Si las tuviera, las proclamaría. Pero tantas palabras no existen. En lugar de estas, tenemos las palabras del evangelio y de la esperanza en la resurrección de Cristo. Las que proclaman que nuestro hogar verdadero es en el cielo.

September 25, 2025

Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebration of the 130th anniversary of St. Joseph Parish

August 31, 2025
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Rhineland, Texas

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a
Luke 14:1, 7-14

“God in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.” Our responsorial psalm for today’s Mass, taken from Psalm 68, describes the essence of the prayer life of Father Reisdorf’s vision and labor in the foundation of this parish and the community of Rhineland that this parish has served for one hundred and thirty years.

August 31, 2025