Homily for the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Confirmation
May 25, 2024
Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
Pilot Point, Texas
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Psalm 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
Romans 8:14-17
Matthew 28:16-20
Walker Percy, a doctor turned novelist and a Catholic convert, wrote what he called the last self-help book, and entitled it Lost in the Cosmos. In it he muses about us who spend vast amounts of money attempting to communicate with animals and who spend even more money on equipment to attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial beings. Meanwhile, we spend little or no time communicating with God or with each other, even if we consider ourselves faithful believers. We might even ask if we have anything meaningful to say to one another. Our relationships with each other, not to mention God, are impoverished.
Read more…
Homily for Pentecost Sunday
May 19, 2024
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Acts 2:1-118
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
Galatians 5:16-25
John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles begins with the words: “When the time of Pentecost was fulfilled.” Pentecost was the second of three major feasts in Israel. The first was Passover or the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” recalling God’s rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and the third was the “Feast of Tents and Booths” on the occasion of the harvesting of grapes and olives. Pentecost, or the “Feast of Weeks,” celebrated the first cutting of the grain harvest, thanking God for his abundant generosity in providing food for his people.
Read more…
Homily for Priestly Ordination of Rev. Benjamin Grothouse and Rev. Eric Flores
May 18, 2024
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Jeremiah 1:4-9
Psalm 116:12-13, 17-18
1 Timothy 4:12-16
Luke 10:1-9
Bishop Michael Olson’s homily in English begins at paragraph 3.
El evento real de la ordenación sacerdotal ocurre en silencio en la imposición de las manos. Es un gesto sencillo pero lleno de significado. Por medio de este gesto silencioso, una comunión ocurre entre el Señor y el que va a ser ordenado por medio del obispo, el presbiterado y toda la iglesia. Es decir que el Señor los agarra a ustedes; acepta su disponibilidad que acaban de expresar. Es como si esté diciendo, “Tú eres mío. Y tus caminos deben llegar a ser mis caminos. Esta comunión se expresa tan radicalmente que la persona de Cristo—su “Yo”—se identifica por medio de la persona del sacerdote: “Este es mi cuerpo.” “Yo te absuelvo de tus pecados.”
Read more…
Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter
Pastoral Visit to the Dominican Sisters
May 5, 2024
Blessed Imelda Convent
Fort Worth, Texas
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4
I John 4:7-10
John 15:9-17
The readings that the Church offers us in today’s liturgy center on authentic love and friendship. It is unconditional love that is the way that “the Lord has revealed to the nations His saving power” as we prayed in the 98th Psalm as our responsorial psalm. In our second reading and our Gospel for today’s liturgy the word love appears eighteen times. The type of love that is mentioned is known as agape or charity. It is not mere human love or affection. It is stronger than marital or familial love. It is the type of love that only God can instill because it is the very life of the Holy Trinity. It is this type of love that the Incarnation of Christ makes a capacity of human love and that which the Holy Spirit imbues in us as the theological virtue of charity at our Baptism and Confirmation.
Read more…
Life on the Chrism Trail 