Holy Thursday – Life on the Chrism Trail

Homily for Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper

April 6, 2023
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

One of the bitter fruits of the sin of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, was the rejection of the capacity of human beings to trust God. Closely following this loss was the loss of a trusting relationship between man and woman and among human beings in general. Eve, taken by God from the side of the sleeping Adam, listens to the evil one and convinces Adam to disobey God and to eat the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This original sin produced in man and woman a destructive suspicion of God as an adversary towards human freedom instead of humble recognition of God’s sovereignty as the source of human freedom.

Homily for Holy Thursday

Mass of the Lord’s Supper

April 14, 2022
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, TX

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

Jesus chose to take our sins upon Himself, and to do this He was not condemned but freely handed Himself over to death. In dying, Christ freed us from sin and manifested how absolutely God loves us. That love is made present in the sacrifice and sacrament we share tonight.

Homily for Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper

April 1, 2021
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

In the liturgical life of the Church, the usual practice is for the priests of a diocese to assemble with the bishop and to concelebrate Mass on the morning of Holy Thursday, to bless and consecrate the Holy Oils that will be used at the Easter Vigil and throughout the year, and to renew their promises made at ordination. Because of the geographical expanse of our diocese, we do that as priests and bishop on Tuesday of Holy Week. The Lord has blessed me as your bishop because He gives me the opportunity to renew the promises of my priestly and episcopal ordinations here in this Cathedral where I made my initial promises, where I was ordained a priest, and where I have ordained priests who have made those same promises. Holy Thursday is about promises.