Homily for the Red Mass for the Diocese of Fort Worth
September 26, 2024
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28
Psalm 104:1-2, 24, 35, 27-28, 29, 30
Romans 8:14-17
Luke 10:25-37
Our first reading taken from the Book of Daniel begins by describing an elite banquet hosted by the Babylonian King Belshazzar for one thousand of his nobles. As the banquet deteriorates into the haze of inebriation, the king orders brought to him the holy vessels that they had plundered from the Temple in Jerusalem when they vanquished God’s Chosen People. As the Babylonian king, his nobles, and their concubines enter further into debauchery, guzzling from the precious chalices that had been reserved for the sacredness of Temple sacrifice in honor of the one true God, they begin to mock the God of Israel and to praise their material idols of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
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Homily for the Vigil of the Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 21, 2024
Mass for Young Adults
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Psalm 54:3-4, 5, 6, 8
James 3:16-4:3
Mark 9:30-37
Paragraphs 4-5 are in Spanish; English resumes in paragraph 6.
The reading from the Book of Wisdom today lets us hear the thoughts of the wicked. They devise ways to attack and persecute the just person for opposing them and bringing to light their wickedness; so, they torture and condemn the just to see if God will protect them. “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.” The just one is a cause for their own insecurity and fear and they resent him as an adversary.
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Homily for the Mass for the Installation of the Relic of Saint Padre Pio
September 18, 2024
Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic Church
Fort Worth, Texas
Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 126:1b-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6
Galatians 6:14-18
Matthew 11:25-30
Bishop’s homily in English begins at paragraph 5.
Hoy celebramos este ocaso importante en nuestra vida como la Iglesia particular en la diócesis de Fort Worth. Aceptamos la reliquia, primer grado, del Santo Pio de Pietrelcina, Padre Pio. Pero, más importante celebramos el sacrificio de la Misa, la que nos envuelve en el misterio de la Cruz que consumió la vida y el ministerio del Padre Pio.
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Homily for the Vigil of the Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 14, 2024
Society of Former Special Agents of the F.B.I.
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 50:5-9a
Psalm 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
James 2:14-18
Mark 8:27-35
The readings for today’s Liturgy on this twenty fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time direct two clear questions to us. Jesus asks the first question, “Who do you say that I am?” Secondly, paraphrasing the Letter of Saint James, “Is your faith demonstrated in good works, or not?”
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Homily for the Memorial of Saint Peter Claver
September 9, 2024
Theological College of the Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.
Isaiah 58:6-11
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6
Matthew 25:31-40
Saint Peter Claver was born in Spain and began life with a very shy disposition. One day, while he was praying, Peter Claver had a spiritual experience of being called by Christ, a vocation. At the encouragement of Saint Alfonso Rodriguez, he joined the Jesuits and received his assignment to serve in the missions of the Spanish colony of Colombia where he was ordained a priest in 1615. In that sense he was very much part of a system of colonization by a European power that included human trafficking and slavery.
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