Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Confirmation Mass
August 11, 2024
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church
Hillsboro, Texas
1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Ephesians 4:30-5:2
John 6:41-51
In today’s second reading, Saint Paul addresses an urgent invitation to us: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). How does one cause the Holy Spirit to become sad? You will receive the Holy Spirit today in Confirmation and you have received Him in Baptism. Thus, in order not to grieve the Holy Spirit into sadness, it is necessary to live in a manner consistent with the promises of Baptism that you are going to renew in Confirmation in a few moments. The grace of the Holy Spirit enables you to live in a morally consistent manner with what you promise today. The promises of Baptism that you will make in accord with your own freedom at Confirmation have two aspects: rejecting evil and embracing good.
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Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sacrament of Confirmation
June 23, 2024
Saint Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church
Roanoke, Texas
Job 38:1, 8-11
Psalm 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31
2nd Corinthians 5:14-17
Mark 4:35-41
Our first reading from the Book of Job presents a dialogue between Job and the Lord God in which the Lord conveys to Job that He, the Lord God, has power over the elements of the sea. The sea carries with it the symbolism of chaos and disorder that randomly disturb human beings. The Lord conveys to Job that He, the Lord, says to the chaos of the sea, “Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled.” In our Gospel, Jesus manifests His Divinity to His disciples by exercising such power over the sea. Yet, Jesus reveals more concerning the nature of the Father’s sovereignty over creation, a sovereignty that belongs also to Jesus as the Son of God.
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Homily for the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Confirmation
May 25, 2024
Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
Pilot Point, Texas
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Psalm 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
Romans 8:14-17
Matthew 28:16-20
Walker Percy, a doctor turned novelist and a Catholic convert, wrote what he called the last self-help book, and entitled it Lost in the Cosmos. In it he muses about us who spend vast amounts of money attempting to communicate with animals and who spend even more money on equipment to attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial beings. Meanwhile, we spend little or no time communicating with God or with each other, even if we consider ourselves faithful believers. We might even ask if we have anything meaningful to say to one another. Our relationships with each other, not to mention God, are impoverished.
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Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sacrament of Confirmation
April 28, 2024
St. Mary’s Catholic Church
Windthorst, Texas
Acts 9:26-31
Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
I John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8
The Acts of the Apostles tells us today about Saint Paul’s entry into the Church. Three years after the Lord had appeared to him on the road to Damascus, Paul presented himself to the disciples in Jerusalem. But his reputation as Saul the enemy of the Church had preceded him, and the leaders had trouble believing that he had changed from persecuting the Church to being its defender.
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Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter
Sacrament of Confirmation
April 14, 2024
Holy Family Catholic Church
Fort Worth, Texas
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9
I John 2:1-5a
Luke 24:35-48
The disciples had returned to the Apostles after encountering Jesus while they were on the road to Emmaus. They were describing to the Apostles how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, when Jesus suddenly appears among them and speaks to them the words, “Peace be with you.” The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus showed them His wounds and told them to touch Him to prove He was not a ghost. He even asked them for something to eat.
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Homily for the Sacrament of Confirmation
May 17, 2022
Good Shepherd Catholic Church
Colleyville, TX
Isaiah 11:1-4ab
Psalm 22:23-24ab, 26-27, 28, 31-32
1 Corinthians 12:4-13
John 14:15-17
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.”
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Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter
Confirmation at St. Joseph Parish
May 1, 2022
St. Joseph Parish
Rhineland, TX
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
John’s Gospel today reports the appearance of Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias. The disciples, who were confused and overcome by the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection, decide to return to more comfortable surroundings. Peter and a half-dozen others go back to what they know how to do best, in a sense, they try to return to their former way of life … they return to their boats and nets to go fishing. They fish all night long but come up empty. Their experience of Jesus and His love for them is so intense that they cannot return to the way things were before.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 