Life on the Chrism Trail

Homily for Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper

April 2, 2026
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

“You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him (her) in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him (her) up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?” These words are part of the Church’s Rite of Baptism for One Child. They are addressed by the priest, or in his absence, the deacon, to the parents of the child who is to be baptized. In responding to this question, parents accept their responsibility to set an example for and to teach their children how to keep the Commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor.

April 3, 2026

Homily for Chrism Mass

March 31, 2026
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Isaiah 61:1-3, 6a,8-9
Psalm 89:21-22, 25, 27
Revelation 1:5-8
Luke 4:16-21

Bishop’s homily in English begins at paragraph 7.

Las lecturas de esta Misa Crismal nos hablan, con una profunda unidad, del misterio de ver. El profeta Isaías anuncia un pueblo que será visto y reconocido como bendecido por el Señor. Ya no oculto ni desfigurado, sino revelado en su verdadera identidad.

March 31, 2026

Homily for the Rite of Imposition of the Habit of the Discalced Nuns of the Order of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel upon Sister Veronica of the Holy Trinity

March 28, 2026
Carmel of Jesus Crucified
Muenster, Texas

Ezekiel 37:21-28
Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
John 11:45-56

We are now on the cusp of Holy Week. Juxtaposed with the figure of the innocent and generous Lord Jesus, the Gospel presents the figure of Caiaphas, the politically pragmatic and cunning High Priest of the Temple who clearly states his strategy in dealing with Jesus, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” Thereafter, the plan to kill Jesus is put into effect.

March 30, 2026

Homily for Palm Sunday

March 29, 2026
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew 26:14 – 27:66

Saint Augustine and other early fathers of the Church held that people stand at an intersection between two diametrically opposed forces, almost like the force of gravity. There is the force of evil that pulls us away from God, down beneath our true and unique human dignity inherent in our nature. Then there is the force of God’s unconditional love, that pulls us up towards Him and draws from us the desire to love God in return.

March 29, 2026

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

March 22, 2026
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Romans 8:8-11
John 11:1-45

We are faced with a question that surfaces when reflecting upon this Gospel reading especially considering the circumstances of today. That question is, “What if when Jesus commanded Lazarus to come out, Lazarus had not bothered to respond and simply remained in the tomb?” This seems like a question that is ludicrous for us to consider. Which one of us would not respond to the command of Christ and instead prefer the darkness of the tomb bound up by the trappings of death? Which one of us would be indifferent to another opportunity to live life?

March 22, 2026

Homily for the Ordination to the Transitional Diaconate of Trent Barton, Paul Trinh, and Jeffrey Ambreit Jr.

Vigil of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary

March 18, 2026
Saint Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church
Fort Worth, Texas

Numbers 3:5-9
Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
Acts 6:1-7b
Luke 2:41-51

Tonight, we pray for these men who are to be ordained to the transitional diaconate for God’s blessing and mercy to come upon them because in this liturgy of ordination God calls them to service of others, especially the poor; God entrusts to them the responsibility of preaching the Gospel of Christ; and God appoints them as stewards and ministers of His mysteries. God calls. God entrusts. God appoints.

March 19, 2026

Homily for the Institution of Lectors and Acolytes

March 14, 2026
St. Mary’s Seminary
Baltimore, Maryland

Nehemiah 8:1-4, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18
Hebrews 9:11-15
Luke 24:44-48

The Word Proclaimed, the Word Made Present in Sacrifice, and the Word Entrusted to Witnesses for Mission. It is truly appropriate that we carry out the institution of both lectors and acolytes in the celebration of this Mass. Each of these ministries that mark your formation in the configuration stage of seminary formation can only be fully pondered and received in relation to each other as part of the Eucharistic mystery. There is an inherent unity in the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist that together give life to the Church as intended by Christ. Pope Benedict XVI once taught, “The liturgy of the word and the Eucharistic liturgy, with the rites of introduction and conclusion, ‘are so closely interconnected that they form but one single act of worship.’ There is an intrinsic bond between the word of God and the Eucharist. From listening to the word of God, faith is born or strengthened (cf. Rom 10:17); in the Eucharist the Word made flesh gives Himself to us as our spiritual food.”

March 17, 2026

Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent

March 8, 2026
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Washington, D.C.

Exodus 17:3-7
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
John 4:5-42

The woman whom Christ meets at the well is herself thirsty. If she is not physically thirsty, she is at the very least existentially unsatisfied and thirsting for meaning and for love. She has come to the well at the middle of the day, at a time when the women of the town would not have been at the well to draw water. They would have drawn water at the break of the day. Perhaps she has come to the well at that time so as to avoid the shame she would suffer from other women because of her sinful life. Perhaps, she came to the well at midday because she was sleeping at the earlier hour. Perhaps, she has come to the well to seek yet another husband — repeating the same behavior but expecting a different result. Yet, the point is that she has come to the well and she meets Christ, who asks her, a Samaritan, for a drink — because He Himself thirsts. He thirsts for her faith and for her repentance.