Homily for the Easter Vigil
April 19, 2025
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Genesis 1:1-2:2
Psalm 33:4-5, 6-7, 12-13, 20 and 22
Exodus 14:15-15:1
Resp. Psalm-Exodus 15:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 17-18
Isaiah 55:1-11
Resp. Psalm-Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6
Romans 6:3-11
Alleluia with Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Luke 24:1-12
Since death entered the world through the disobedience of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, human beings have always struggled against death — seeking ways to prolong indefinitely duration of life if not completely cure death. An ancient Jewish legend tells the story that, in his final illness, Adam sent his son Seth together with Eve into the region that was formerly paradise to bring back the oil of mercy from the tree of life, so that he could be anointed with it and be healed. The myth continues that Seth and Eve went in search of the tree of life, and after an unsuccessful quest on their part, the Archangel Michael appeared to them and told them they would not obtain the oil of the tree of mercy and that Adam would have to die.
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Homily for Palm Sunday
March 24, 2024
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 21-22
Philippians 2:6-11
Mark 14:1-15:47
Death on its own terms is an annihilation. It is a total and violent obliteration of every part of life that leads up to it. It ends friendships, it makes widows and widowers, it makes orphans, it closes the future, it bluntly ends life. Many nonbelievers, even those who enjoy life, in their more honest moments will speak out loud the unmentionable: death mocks our every action and achievement; it mocks all our hopes; it casts a shadow on everything we do and enjoy in life. Death haunts and terrifies us.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 