Homily for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
January 12, 2025
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
As Catholics we believe that the Sacrament of Baptism washes away all sin including the stain of original sin inherited from our first parents in the Garden of Eden. If Jesus was God, why was He baptized? This has always been a perplexing question frequently asked in catechism class. If John’s baptism was one of repentance, this seems to imply falsely that Jesus was a sinner. In fact, John the Baptist tries to prevent Jesus’ being baptized, but Jesus insists. Instead, the Baptism of Jesus is an essential part of His work of the Redemption of each human person. Jesus enters into solidarity with all men and women; He becomes one with each of us to share all the aspects of our lives. He even takes upon Himself the condition of our sinfulness, even though He Himself never sinned.
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Homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
January 5, 2025
SEEK 2025 Conference
Salt Lake City, Utah
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12
The Christmas season is a time for dreams. We know this when we listen to the Gospel readings surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.
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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 Feast of Saint Stephen, First Martyr
December 26, 2024
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59
Psalm 31:3cd-4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17
Matthew 10:17-22
Christmas, the liturgical season of the birth of Emmanuel as an Infant in a Manger, is a liturgical season that is filled with the commemoration of significant martyrs: the Holy Innocents slaughtered by Herod; Saint Thomas Becket murdered in his cathedral; and today the Church gives us this Feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr and among the first deacons in the life and history of the Church. This first day of the Christmas season, the Church celebrates the feast of the first martyr of the Faith, Stephen, whose murder reveals his complete configuration to Christ including his passion, death, and forgiveness of his murderers. It seems that the Church snaps us away from the sweet image of the Infant in the Manger with Mary and Joseph, and the angels and shepherds, to the jarringly violent murder of Stephen. The Christ Child truly is a sign of contradiction.
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Homily for Christmas Mass During the Day
December 25, 2024
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18
It is exceedingly difficult to see in the darkness. We can stumble over things and get hurt in the darkness. We can become agitated by our imagination when we are in the dark. The darkness can make us feel isolated and lonely, not seeing and not being seen. Yet, our eyes can soon grow accustomed to the darkness and we can become satisfied with stumbling around a room in the dark. We can soon numb our imagination’s turbulence simply by imagining that “there’s no need to be afraid of the dark.” The darkness can begin as our acquaintance, soon become our companion, and end up serving as a friend of our convenience.
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Homily for Midnight Mass
December 25, 2024
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 9:1-6
Psalm 96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14
“Today is born our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.” The message of Christmas is that because God became fully human through the freely given “yes” of the Blessed Virgin Mary, born amidst the darkness in Bethlehem, and given the name Jesus, human beings no longer have to be defined according to their sins. Since the time that our first parents gave into the temptation of the devil and disobeyed God, the devil’s lie had its sway over human beings resulting in our being terrified by God. Venerable Fulton Sheen wisely taught that when the devil tempts us, he convinces us that our sins are no big deal and of little consequence, but immediately after we sin, he tells us that our sin is so horrible that even God cannot forgive it and there is no hope. The lie of the devil is that our sin defines us, the truth revealed tonight in the tender Infant of Bethlehem is that humanity belongs to God and that our relationship with God through Baptism in Christ is what defines us.
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Vigil Mass of the Nativity
December 24, 2024
FMC-Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29
Titus 3:4-7
Matthew 1:18-25
For this celebration of the Vigil of Christmas, the Church offers for our reflection the annunciation of Saint Joseph as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. One of the noteworthy aspects of this reading is the silence of Saint Joseph. He responds to the announcement by the angel of the first Christmas with silence. The silence of Saint Joseph is not born of confusion regarding what this news means for Mary and for him.
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Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
January 1, 2024
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6-8
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:16-21
Christmas is a time for giving gifts. There are diverse ways in which we approach gift-giving depending on how well we know the person to whom we are offering the gift. Husbands and wives exchange gifts appropriate to their relationship, just as fathers and mothers give gifts to each of their different children in accord with each child’s unique personality, interests, and needs. The same holds true for children’s gifts to their mothers and fathers. A “gift” is an item that is given without any expectation of payment. It is given for love and for joy.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 
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