Homily for the Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Mass and Visit to Sacred Heart Catholic School
August 31, 2022
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Muenster, TX
1 Corinthians 23:1-9
Psalm 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21
Luke 4:38-44
No one is born alone. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. No one achieves important things alone. No one should die alone. These are important lessons that you learn in your time here at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Muenster, Texas. They are also lessons about which you remind your parents and families by your sharing these lessons with them at home.
Read more…
Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 28, 2022
Saint Thomas Becket Catholic Church
Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter
Fort Worth, 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
“Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not.” This wisdom revealed to us in our first reading from the Book of Sirach offers us much needed counsel and direction for matters of the spiritual and moral life. Too often we attempt with futility to live a good life and to pray dutifully – yet we too frequently attempt to accomplish each of these activities without first turning to God for His grace. Too often we fall into the trap of attempting to live an ethical life as a matter of self-help or will power. Likewise, without grace, our prayer life neglects the essential dimension of listening first for God’s voice and immediately proceeds to selfish petition without worship or adoration.
Read more…
Homily for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sacrament of Confirmation
August 21, 2022
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church
Hillsboro, TX
Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b
Psalm 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21
Ephesians 5:21-32
John 6:60-69
When someone asked Jesus if only a few people would be saved, His answer was not immediately very comforting. “Try to come in through the narrow gate; many will try but few will be strong enough.” He says the master of the household doesn’t seem to recognize those who stand outside knocking, even though they had been his companions. And the wailing and grinding of teeth that awaits those outside the door is not a pretty thought. Their love for sin has made them to become unrecognizable to God because they have become what they love: sin.
Read more…
Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sacrament of Confirmation
August 14, 2022
Holy Trinity Catholic Church
Fort Worth, Texas
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18
Hebrews 12:1-4
Luke 12:49-53
At the end of this Sunday, by the grace of God I will have administered the sacrament of Confirmation to 2185 young adults since November of last year. It is by God’s grace alone that I have become familiar but not complacent with the rite and catechesis of this vital sacrament of Initiation. One of the practices that I have noticed with more attention is the choice of a patron saint and accompanying Confirmation name. What I have noticed is that in this custom I can learn a little about the interests of the candidate for Confirmation simply by the name of the saint that they have chosen.
Read more…
Homily for the Ordination of Permanent Deacons
Feast of Saint Lawrence
August 10, 2022
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church
Keller, TX
Jeremiah 1:4-9
Psalm 100: 1b-2, 3, 4, 5
Acts 6:1-7
John 12:24-26
En el Evangelio de esta Misa, Jesús nos dice, “El que se ama a sí mismo, se pierde; el que se aborrece a sí mismo en este mundo, se asegura para la vida eterna. El que quiera servirme que me siga, para que donde yo esté, también esté mi servidor. El que me sirve será honrado por mi Padre”. Estas palabras revelan la primera característica del sagrado ministerio y la vocación del diaconado permanente. Así que es más apropiado que nos unamos hoy como la Iglesia local de Fort Worth para la ordenación de diez diáconos permanentes en esta Fiesta de San Lorenzo, el diácono y mártir.
Read more…
Homily for the Memorial of Saint Dominic – Mass for the Convocation of Teachers of the Schools of the Diocese of Fort Worth
August 8, 2022
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church
Keller, Texas
1 Corinthians 2:1-10a
Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a,10
Luke 9:57-62
In our first reading today, Saint Paul writes to the Church in Corinth, “Yet we do speak a wisdom to those who are mature, but not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.” In a recent editorial published in the Los Angeles Times, the author puts forth the position that there “is an inverse relationship between a society’s religiosity and its measurable well-being.” The author continued, “Places like Japan (with no history of Christianity) and Scandinavia (historically Christian but predominantly nonreligious today) take better care of their elderly and have lower murder and poverty rates than the United States of America.”
Read more…
Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 7, 2022
St. Peter Catholic Church
Lindsay, TX
Wisdom 18:6-9
Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Matthew 12:32-48
The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that faith is confident assurance that our hopes will be answered and conviction about the things we do not see. We do not hope for what we see; faith is a not a matter of mathematical certainty nor is it a command for us to become gullible or naive. We have hope because God, who can do all things and who knows and loves us completely, has promised to be with us always in His love. Faith is believing God and in God’s promise, but we need someone to tell us about the promise.
Read more…
Life on the Chrism Trail 