Homily for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
January 18, 2025
Saint Joseph Catholic Church
Arlington, Texas
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
I Corinthians 12:4-11
John 2:1-11
The wedding at Cana in Galilee probably involved a friend or relative of Mary and Jesus since they were invited. Either the details of this event were not well planned, or perhaps there were unexpected guests. In any event, it doesn’t surprise us to find out that Mary was the kind of person who paid attention to details, who thought of others with compassion, and who wanted to prevent embarrassing situations, especially the type of embarrassment of not having enough wine at a wedding that culturally would have harmed this couple, their children, and their children’s children for generations.
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Homily for the Solemnity of the Holy Family
December 29, 2024
Saint Mark Catholic Church
Argyle, Texas
1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28
Psalm 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10
Colossians 3:12-21
Luke 2:41-52
The Church offers us in today’s liturgy of the Solemnity of the Holy Family the Gospel story that recounts the event that we reflect upon when praying the fifth joyful mystery of the Rosary: Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. The 12-year-old Jesus who stays behind in the Temple in Jerusalem unbeknown to Joseph and Mary who, surprised and anxious, discover Him three days later conversing with the teachers in the Temple. Jesus answers His mother who asks for an explanation that He must “be in his Father’s house,” that is God’s house. The Gospel relates that Mary and Joseph do not understand the meaning of Jesus’ response and then adds that Jesus returned with them in obedience and “advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God.”
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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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The Eucharist is the ‘source and summit’ of Christian life. What does that really mean?
This essay was originally published on March 4, 2024, on Americamagazine.org.
This essay is a Cover Story selection, a weekly feature highlighting the top picks from the editors of America Media.
The call for Eucharistic revival we have heard in the church is particularly important to priests. Why? Because we are responsible for presiding and offering the Mass, which priests do in persona Christi. This configuration to Christ as head and shepherd of the church that takes place at our ordination as priests comes to its full expression gradually through our devoted pastoral ministry and care for God’s people. This expression is centered upon Christ present in the sacrifice and offering of the Eucharist that then is extended through the other sacraments and apostolic works that we celebrate and administer to the faithful.
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Homily for the Mass of Confirmation
August 5, 2023
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church
Morgan, TX
Please view the video to hear Bishop Michael Olson’s homily to the 33 candidates he confirmed from the parishes of Holy Angels in Clifton and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Morgan.
Homily for the Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mass for the Diocese of Fort Worth Seminarian Convocation
July 26, 2023
Montserrat Jesuit Retreat House
Lake Dallas, TX
Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15
Psalm 78: 18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28
Matthew 13:1-9
Please view the video to hear Bishop Michael Olson’s homily to seminarians of the Diocese of Fort Worth during their 2023 Convocation.
Homily for the Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
February 10, 2023
Prabodhana Theologate and Major Seminary for the Pallottine Fathers
Mysore, India
Genesis 2:3, 3:12-13
Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
Mark 7:31-37
Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus open the deaf man’s ears so that he can listen. The Gospel tells us plainly that the deaf man began immediately to speak plainly. To speak plainly is to speak clearly, honestly, without impediment. The man’s impediment to speak clearly is removed by the loving touch of Christ. The malady removed is not simply a physical defect; it is also a spiritual malady of sin and its effects. Its effects include deceit and estrangement from God, from other people, from himself, ending with isolation behind the walls of ignorance, error, and dishonesty. Jesus removes this malady by forgiveness and redeems its effects, he does not merely cover it up.
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Homily for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
The Midnight Mass
December 25, 2022
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, TX
Isaiah 49:2, 8-10
Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” Into this land of gloom, a gloom which so many eyes have grown accustomed to mistaking for light, the gloom of selfishness and sin, the gloom of indifference and ignorance, the gloom of violence and vengeance, the true Light of the World is born and lay in a manger in Bethlehem and shines among the poor shepherds and between the ox and the donkey.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 
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