Homily for Red Mass for the Diocese of Fort Worth
September 28, 2023
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62
Psalm 104:1-2, 24, 35, 27-28, 29, 30
Romans 5:5-11
John 14:15-21
Our first reading today presents a story from the Book of Daniel that seems very worthy for our reflection as we come together both as the Church and as the legal community to invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon all lawyers, judges, and government officials entrusted with the administration of justice among individuals for the sake of both the particular and the common good. The story involves the corruption of two judges who harass the beautiful Susanna and threaten her with false allegation if she does not give in to their harassment. The story continues with the integrity of Susanna upheld in the face of their calumny and slander by the advocacy and argumentation of the young Daniel. It concludes with the demise of the unjust and disordered corrupt officials and the vindication of Susanna.
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Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 24, 2023
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a
Matthew 20:1-16a
In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus teaches with a parable that underlines the overwhelming generosity and mercy of God announced by Isaiah in our first reading. The workers who arrive late at the vineyard refer to the outcasts separated from the fullness of the religious life of Israel, while those who work all day can be taken as those dutiful to the Law of God in their lives.
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Homily for the Funeral Mass for Reverend Monsignor John F. Wippel
September 20, 2023
Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Washington, D.C.
Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 119:9, 10, 11, 12, 13
2nd Timothy 4:1-8
John 1:1-18
Each of us grieves the death of Monsignor John F. Wippel differently as each of us knew him differently: family member, friend, or colleague; priest, scholar, or teacher. So many of us knew him as Monsignor Wippel or Professor Wippel; but his family and very close friends knew him as “Father John.” Our prayers for consolation are especially offered on behalf of his sister-in-law, Mary Wippel; his nephew Fran and his wife Karen; his nieces Kathie Wippel and Rita Schmidt with her husband Gary; his cousin John Andrews and his wife Jill; as well as his dear friends Jim and Ann McCrery and their children. Many of Monsignor’s family have traveled a great distance to honor and to pray for “Father John” and to seek solace from their faith.
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Homily for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Mass for Young Adults
September 14, 2023
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Arlington, Texas
Numbers 21:4b-9
Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Philippians 2: 6-11
John 3:13-17
We have just listened to the following words from our second reading from Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, “Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” These words of Saint Paul have come to be understood as exemplifying what theologians call “kenosis.”
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Homily for Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Mass for the Theological College
September 11, 2023
Theological College
Washington, D.C.
Colossians 1:24-2:3
Psalm 62:6-7, 9
Luke 6:6-11
We listen to the Word of God proclaimed in our midst, the Word whose completion we are entrusted like Saint Paul to bring about, the mystery hidden from ages and generations past. In listening, we hear questions asked and answered, we hear questions curdled into suspicions, we hear answers given and rejected; and we see indifference and denial overcome by charity and the Truth.
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Homily for the Memorial of Saint Peter Claver
Mass for Saint Andrew Breakfast
September 9, 2023
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 58:6-11
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6
Matthew 25:31-40
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who suffered imprisonment in the unjust Soviet system, wrote in his book entitled The Gulag Archipelago, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart…even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained.” That small bridgehead is our free will and our hope, but only if free will and hope are reborn, redeemed, and nurtured by prayer.
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Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 3, 2023
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Jeremiah 20:7-9
Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-27
“My soul is thirsting for you, Oh Lord, my God.” Each human being has an innate desire to know God and to love God, to be known by God, and to be loved by God. Nothing else but God will satisfy that deep desire. This desire is a type of spiritual thirst unique to human beings. This desire is part of God’s design of His creation of us in His image and likeness. God loves us unconditionally. God desires us to belong to Him and for us to love Him in return in the same way that He loves us, without conditions.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 