Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Celebration of the 130th anniversary of St. Joseph Parish
August 31, 2025
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Rhineland, 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
“God in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.” Our responsorial psalm for today’s Mass, taken from Psalm 68, describes the essence of the prayer life of Father Reisdorf’s vision and labor in the foundation of this parish and the community of Rhineland that this parish has served for one hundred and thirty years.
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Reflection for Vespers for Thursday of the Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Oath of Fidelity for Candidates for Diaconate Ordination
August 7, 2025
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Psalm 72
Psalm 72
Revelation 11:17-18; 12:10b-12a:3-4
1 Peter 1:22-23
Every time we pray vespers, we pray the Magnificat, the song of praise sung by Our Lady at the Visitation of her cousin Elizabeth. Her song is a song of hope in God’s triumphant intervention into human history, and it reveals her to be filled with God’s Grace, her trusting dependence and complete communion with God and calls us to our own reliance on His grace in our own vocations. Like so many other graces from God, we can take for granted the message of the Magnificat that we pray every day.
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Homily for the Mass for the Convocation of Teachers of the Schools of the Diocese of Fort Worth
Memorial of Saint John Vianney
August 4, 2025
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church
Keller, Texas
Numbers 11:4b-15
Psalm 81:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Matthew 14:13-21
Sing with joy to God our help!
In our Gospel reading, we see the disciples come to Jesus with what they surmise to be a problem. The disciples tell Jesus, “This is a deserted place, and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
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Homily for the Ordination of Permanent Deacons
Feast of Saint Dominic
August 8, 2025
St. Mark Catholic Church
Argyle, Texas
Jeremiah 1:4-9
Psalm 100:1b-2, 3,4, 5
Acts 6:1-7b
John 12:24-26
Today, the Church gathers us together to celebrate the ordination of these seven men, whom with the support and encouragement of their wives and families, have presented themselves and been called by the Church to serve as permanent deacons. We do so today on the Feast of Saint Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers, who is honored and recognized by the Church as a saint who dedicated his entire life as a mendicant priest to charity and to preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. He is certainly an example and friend for our new deacons who today are ordained as ministers of the Word, ministers of the Altar, and ministers of Charity.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 