Homily for the Solemnity of the Holy Family
December 27, 2020
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Colossians 3:12-21
Luke 2:22-40
Some of you have heard me tell of my past experiences as a priest-ethicist serving as a consultant in the field of health care. One of my responsibilities was to assist people in preparing their durable powers of attorney for health care especially regarding the Catholic tradition of ordinary and extraordinary means of treatment. In giving my presentation to a group of people, someone would inevitably make the statement, “Father, I just do not want to spend my elderly years as a burden to my children.” I would respond, “I understand, but it is too late. You already are a burden to your children and have been so for their entire lives, and they to you.”
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Homily for the Nativity of the Lord – At the Midnight Mass
December 25, 2020
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
“In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.” The intention of Caesar was to count and to number those under his power as the Emperor of Rome. This census was a common experience for every person from every ethnic group throughout the Roman Empire. In so doing, Caesar imposed himself upon the people universally. In being forced to be enrolled, the people were reminded through the common experience of oppression and fear that they were to adhere to Caesar’s power as the universal emperor.
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Homily for the Nativity of the Lord – At the Vigil Mass
December 24, 2020
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
1 Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29
Titus 3:4-7
Matthew 1:18-25
For this celebration of the Vigil of Christmas, the Church offers for our reflection the annunciation of Saint Joseph as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. One of the noteworthy aspects of this reading is the silence of Saint Joseph. He responds to the announcement by the angel of the first Christmas with silence. The silence of Saint Joseph is not born of confusion regarding what this news means for Mary and for him.
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Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 20, 2020
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8B-12, 14a-16
Psalm 89: 2-5, 27, 29
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
Yesterday at Mass, we proclaimed the section of Luke’s Gospel that immediately precedes the Gospel reading that we proclaim today, the Annunciation to Zachariah that his wife Elizabeth is to conceive in her advanced age and bear a son, John the Baptist.
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Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent
December 13, 2020
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11
Psalm Luke 1:46-54
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Isaiah’s beautiful prophecy of glad tidings to the poor, healing for the broken-hearted, and liberty for captives is a promise to the Israelites of freedom from exile and a return home. We hear it on this Third Sunday of Advent, a day we call Gaudete Sunday. The word gaudete means “rejoice;” it is taken from Saint Paul who advises the Thessalonians, and us, to rejoice always.
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Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
December 8, 2020
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Psalm 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Luke 1:26-38
The first reading from Genesis articulates the cunning of the devil that becomes the cunning of human beings brought about by the original sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Man and woman reject God in favor of a false sense of freedom. They become preoccupied with themselves. Man and woman, each of them, values the other only for uses like physical pleasure and emotional security at the expense of the other’s dignity.
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Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent
Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders of David P. LaPointe
December 6, 2020
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 85
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8
To talk about a beginning is to convey that one has an end in mind with some degree of detail. That is the case with the beginning of the Gospel of Mark that we read today. That is the case with the season of Advent. That is the case with the Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 