July 2021 – Life on the Chrism Trail

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Mass for the Saint John Paul II Shepherd’s Guild

July 31, 2021
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

1^st Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11
Luke 14:25-33

To mark the pages in my breviary I use memorial prayer cards from the lives of family and friends that serve as a reminder to pray for the dead and that I hope to one day go where my Christian faith offers me the confidence that they have arrived. Among those cards is one that recalls the life of Father William Eddy, a priest who taught me in high school and fostered my vocation as a diocesan priest through his own life, vocation, and priestly ministry. It reads:

Homily for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

July 25, 2021
St. Benedict Parish
Fort Worth, Texas

1 Corinthians 10:6-13
Luke 19:41-47

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. The account of the weeping over Jerusalem is unique to the Gospel of Luke. Luke utilizes it to lead into the account of the cleansing of the temple by Jesus. It also occurs after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So, we read that Jesus experiences several very different emotions in rapid succession: from joy, praise and celebration (19:37-40) to weeping and sadness over what awaits the City and her people (19:41-44), to righteous anger in the cleansing of the Temple (19:45-46).

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 4, 2021
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Ezekiel 2:2-5
Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6

In the first reading, God sends Ezekiel to prophesy to a rebellious people to announce God’s displeasure with the Israelites who rejected Him and His desires for them and instead follow their own desires and designs of selfishness. Pride is their downfall, yet Paul, in the second reading, recognizes his own pride as a weakness that opens him to God. Because of this recognition, he can let go of his pride so that the power of God can work through him.