Holy Spirit – Life on the Chrism Trail

Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

June 27, 2021
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Seymour, Texas

Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15
Mark 5:21-43

Today’s Gospel records two miracles. While Jesus is in route to visit the dying daughter of a synagogue official, a woman touches His cloak. She had suffered for twelve years, exhausting all her money on doctors who were unable to help her. She is in the same category as a leper, an outcast from the community, and in her desperation, she will try anything that offers her hope. Her physical illness is also symbolic of the effect of evil and sin on the entire human person — body and soul.

Homily for Pentecost Sunday

May 23, 2021
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Acts 2:1-11
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13
John 20:19-23

Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles begins with the words, “When the time of Pentecost was fulfilled.” Pentecost was the second of three major feasts in Israel. The first was Passover or the feast of Unleavened Bread, recalling God’s rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt; and the third was the feast of tents and booths on the occasion of the harvesting of grapes and olives. Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, celebrated the first cutting of the grain harvest, thanking God for His abundant generosity in providing food for His people.