December 17, 2023 – Life on the Chrism Trail

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent

December 17, 2023
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Isaiah 61:1-2A, 10-11
(Resp) Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
First Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

On this Third Sunday of Advent called Gaudete Sunday, the prayers and readings of the Church’s Liturgy invite us to embrace the virtue of Hope, the Holy Spirit’s gift of the Fear of the Lord, and the Fruit of the Holy Spirit known as Joy. The word “Gaudete” is a command to rejoice. The word is taken from today’s reading from Saint Paul’s Epistle in which he commands the Thessalonians to rejoice always. We enter ever more deeply into the mystery of Advent when we remember that Saint Paul wrote these words while he was suffering imprisonment in a dark jail for witnessing to the light of the Truth of Christ. Saint Paul reveals to us that the joy we experience is beyond a sense of happiness confined by the terms of this world. Saint Paul continues to testify to the Eternal Light within the darkness of imprisonment. He testifies freely in both word and example while he is powerless to change his situation.

Homily for the Second Saturday of Advent

St. John Paul II Shepherds Guild

December 16, 2023
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11
Psalm 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16, 18-19
Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

“Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.” “O Shepherd of Israel, hearken, From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth. Rouse your power.” We have just prayed these words from Psalm 80 seeking the Lord’s pastoral guidance and direction for us to pay attention, for us to turn our face towards Him, to see Him and to save us from all that distracts us from Him, the only path to our salvation.