Homily for the First Sunday of Advent
Mass of Dedication and Blessing of New Altar
November 29, 2025
St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church
Roanoke, Texas
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44
This present moment is most precious in the life of your parish, in the life of the Diocese of Fort Worth, and in the life of the entire Church. This present moment marks the blessing of this new space and dedication of the altar for your liturgical worship as a parish and for your catechetical and fellowship needs as a parish and community of faith. This present moment begins the new liturgical year on this first Sunday of Advent, when begin our preparation for the coming of Christ.
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Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 22, 2024
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Micah 5:1-4a
Psalm 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45
Today, we conclude with the final Sunday of Advent in which we reflect upon the first coming of Christ as we listen to the words of the Gospel that proclaim that immediately after receiving the message of the Holy Spirit through the Archangel Gabriel and having offered her free and obedient consent to accept God’s Will to become the Mother of His Son, the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Son of God alive in her womb, urgently travels to visit her older cousin Saint Elizabeth.
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Commemoration of Saint Peter Canisius
Mass for the Saint John Paul II Shepherds Guild
December 21, 2024
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
II Timothy 4:1-5
Psalm 40:2 and 4, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11
Matthew 5:13-19
“Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.” We have just prayed this responsorial psalm together in union with the whole Church for our own lives as disciples and for our priests and for those in discernment and formation for a priestly vocation. To do the Lord’s will is the summation of any vocation rooted in Baptism but in a particular way the priestly vocation which is so intrinsic to fostering the fidelity of all of the baptized to the call of the Lord, that each may fulfill their response to God’s call with accountability to their promise, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”
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Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 24, 2023
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a-16
Psalm 89:2-3 4-5, 27, 29
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
The background to the first reading today is that King David has conquered his enemies and earned a reputation as a clever and courageous warrior. He was enjoying a rest in his comfortable palace when he suddenly realized that the Ark of the Covenant was housed in a simple tent. He intended to correct that situation and announced his plan to the prophet Nathan not to live more simply but to treat the Ark of the Covenant in the opulent style to which David had become accustomed. The prophet Nathan initially approved his intentions, but after discerning a revelation from God, he withdrew his approval.
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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.
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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.
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Homily for the First Sunday of Advent
December 3, 2023
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 63:16b-17,19b; 64:2-7
Psalm 80
First Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:33-37
The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday with ashes placed on our foreheads with the admonition to each of us to “turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” The season of Advent begins, not with our initiative in turning away from sin, but rather with our attention directed to watching for God’s turning toward us “to come and to save us.” Advent is about our paying attention to God’s initiative and our being alert to His grace offered to us in seeking to save and to redeem us.
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Homily for the Third Saturday of Advent
St. John Paul II Shepherd’s Guild
December 17, 2022
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church
Keller, TX
Genesis 49:2, 8-10
Psalm 72:1-2, 3, 4ab, 7-8, 17
Matthew 1:1-17
“Justice shall flourish in His time, and fullness of peace forever.” When we look closely at the character and the behavior of the individuals listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David and the son of Abraham, we can see that this Psalm is not prayed because of the human excellence of an historical dynasty. In fact, each of these figures, especially the kings, committed sins, injustices, and failures that brought suffering and misery on their children and their children’s children.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 
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